[Rachet]

Hello BHPians,

You never know when you are going to have a bad day. Mine came on my final day of Mudumalai-Bandhipur trip. Sharing my 6 GT's first accident experience with you all.

https://youtu.be/HgyfClFmyAs

The plan was to come back home via Ooty - Kothagiri.There was no intention to stop anywhere for sightseeing, but to enjoy the drive through the scenic roads.



A last minute change of plan to visit the suicide point - Doddabetta peak, made me take the right. It was a long weekend and there was high traffic. The Nilgiri police were having hard time controlling the traffic moving towards the suicide point. I took the right as directed by the police and parked behind a queue of vehicles.After maybe a min or two , all we heard was people outside screaming to someone and within seconds we felt the car shake.It took me a few seconds to realize that there was an impact at the back of the car. It was a truck with almost 10 people in it carrying carrots. The truck driver had no sense of his left. Even after the police officers shouted at him giving him warning that he was going to hit the car , he moved the truck forward. The impact created a minor dent in the boot top lip , and tore out the ppf in that place and also in the spoiler.




There was no paint damage done, thanks to the ppf installed. This is exactly why it is a must-have accessory. If you have not checked out my article/video on the accessories yet, you can do that using the links below.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modif...-ppf-more.html (Review of BMW accessories | BMW dashcam, car cover, Paint Protection Film (PPF) & more)


The most frustrating part is that it was 10 a.m in the morning. The police officers had the truck pulled over. We waited for more than an hour for the truck owner to come to the site. After another 2 hours of discussion with the complete support from Nilgiri Police , I agreed to leave the site without filing a case. The truck driver finally agreed to make a minor contribution , the best he could and which he did. Even if it cannot solve the problems I have in hand (Fix the dent, replace the ppf in the boot top lip and spoiler completely), it should at least teach the people who drive with sheer carelessness a lesson.The day for sure did not start the way I expected it to for us , but I was extremely happy with the support provided by The Nilgiri Police. They really set a good example for how a good Police should do their job. The way they speak , handle the situation, give you advice on things really eased out the pressure and frustration in me.

I would like to take this opportunity to appreciate and extend my thanks to the real Police officers.
1. Officer Senthil Kumar - Sub Inspector Ooty rural sub division
2. Officer Gnana Ravi Thanga Durai - DSP Ooty rural sub division
3. Officer TR. Dharmarajan - Head Constable Ooty rural sub division

I spent enough time speaking and sharing details with the 3 of them. They stood by what was right and dealt with the situation properly. They are perfect examples of how approachable Police officers are. They never asked me 1 irrelevant question.Finally when everything was settled, they insisted that I should not leave without*visiting the Doddabetta peak. But I had already lost 3 hours there and we had to take a bio break as well. So I decided to hit the road. Officer Senthil kumar even asked me to stop at any resorts that I find next and give him a ring if they did not permit me and my wife to use the toilets. That's how cooperative and helpful he is. He had also shared his number with me and insisted that I call him anytime I am in Ooty.In the end , I started thinking in such a way that if not for the accident , I would not have met these good officers and more over good human beings. It solidifies my belief in the saying, "Everything happens for a reason".
Took couple of days for me to come out of that incident and then I set off on my journey to Chennai next weekend. Was just 20kms away from my destination and a monkey just appeared in front of the car from nowhere. There was no time for me to brake or steer away. There was nothing much I could do there and all I could hear was a thud. I knew that the poor thing would not have survived. Felt really bad about the incident. Added that isolated stretch of the road to my list of roads where I should exercise extreme caution. Reached my destination and checked for any damages to the front, found a very minor dislocation of the fittings in the airdam area.



And it does not end there. By now you all know from my article/video on the accessories I bought that I have a BMW Advanced Eye installed in the car.Now that there were a couple of impacts , one in the back and one in the front, I wanted to see the footage that the dashcam has recorded. To my shock I was not able to find anything related to the impacts. Infact the recorded videos were very minimal and after further analysis I found that there are only footages recorded based on the shock sensor during the driving mode alone. The dashcam cost approx. 45k+ additional charges for the installation as well. I was so frustrated that it did not work. I mean who will not be?.
I took the car to the BMW service center, the people from the diagnostics department checked the memory card and I also took them with me for a small drive giving them proof that the dashcam is not saving any recordings. I told them the gravity of the situation. The accessory which I bought paying huge money did not work when I really wanted it to. I was driving the car this long under the impression that it is working the way BMW has promised it would work. After realizing the mistake at their end, they assured me that they will provide the best solution possible. They asked me for a couple of days' time.*After that I was informed that the camera's are working perfectly fine and during the time of installation some settings were disabled which had prevented the recordings from getting saved.Kun BMW accepted the mistake at their end and as a good gesture towards customer satisfaction they agreed to fix the dent for free. I really appreciate Kun BMW for that because it is for this very experience people spend so much money on a premium product. You can make an awesome product but if the after sales service is pathetic then you will end up having sleepless nights.I would like to call out a few names of employees from Kun BMW who coordinated with me to get this issue fixed. They prioritised my issue and made sure that proper resolution was provided.

1. Mr. Rajasekhar - Manager , Kun BMW , OMR Showroom - He was in touch with me even on the Sunday when the first incident happened and helped me with all the details I needed. Even after that, he helped me with booking the appointment with the service department and was constantly providing me with updates on the progress.
2. Mr. Dinesh -Service Head , Kun BMW , Meenambakkam - He took the ownership to solve the issue for me. We spent time understanding the issue. Made sure that he has all the required information to take this issue to the management to get proper resolution. He asked for 3 days and made sure that it is done within the time he asked for. He made sure that I was kept informed on the progress on the matter.
3. Mr. Venkatesh -Service Advisor, Kun BMW , Meenambakkam - He worked closely with Dinesh on this.

And thanks to Management Kun BMW for approving and providing a hassle free experience.
Yes, I have to now take the car to OCD to get the ppf installed again where the repainting had happened.I am happy in the end that my car is back to how it was . Had great experiences , met wonderful people during difficult times.And I believe life is all about that.

Have a wonderful day

[GForceEnjoyer]

On the narrow road to Doddabetta peak, it's a miracle the truck didn't do more damage. Good to see that nothing too significant happened and that everyone is okay.

Originally Posted by Rachet

There was no paint damage done, thanks to the ppf installed. This is exactly why it is a must have accessory.

This is brilliant, hard proof of its effectiveness.

[Raghu M]

Good to know that there was no physical damage to anyone. I am now relieved a bit that my car is protected against these kind of incidents. Good luck.

[RaviKBobba]

Relieved to know no harm to any of the members travelling.
So, the PPF did give some protection the way it is supposed to in such scenarios.

Coming to BMW Advanced Eye dash cam, didn't expect such carelessness from SA.

Btw, Weren't you reviewing the videos on your mobile device prior to noticing this issue ? Lucky that no other major incidents happened when the dash cam was not recording.

[Shank0447]

Good to hear that no one is hurt.
And could you provide information about what settings were changed in the dash cam as it would be helpful for others too to check and turn them on.
And this incident did prove the effectiveness of ppf coating .

[Rachet]

Originally Posted by RaviKBobba

Relieved to know no harm to any of the members travelling.
So, the PPF did give some protection the way it is supposed to in such scenarios.

Coming to BMW Advanced Eye dash cam, didn't expect such carelessness from SA.

Btw, Weren't you reviewing the videos on your mobile device prior to noticing this issue ? Lucky that no other major incidents happened when the dash cam was not recording.

PPF is best when authentic product is used and done from a proper place. Most of the vendors who are giving ridiculous discounts are using duplicate products.

I was not given an induction on the dash cam. They installed it and the car was delivered. I was under the impression that I can access the memory card when required. So there was no app installed in my mobile. It was after resolving the issue, the personnel from the diagnostic centre gave a proper induction and then I downloaded the app , he helped me with how to connect with the car and check the configurations.

Originally Posted by Shank0447

Good to hear that no one is hurt.
And could you provide information about what settings were changed in the dash cam as it would be helpful for others too to check and turn them on.
And this incident did prove the effectiveness of ppf coating .

Thank you. There is this BMW ACE app which needs to be installed in the mobile to connect with the dash cam . Once connected, you can check out the recordings. Also there is a configuration option which list down the configuration preferences like the below
1. Ability to select the camera which you want to use to record. Like front, back or front and back.
2. Enabling and disabling the G sensors and Radar sensors -> These settings help to record based on movements and the shock experienced.
3. Enabling and disabling the mode in which you want to record -> like in the drive mode or in the parking mode.
4. Ability to configure the sensitivity based on which the cam would record-> Like when the G- Sensor sensitivity is set to high, then this would record even when the car goes over a speed breaker.

When the car was delivered to me , most of these settings where disabled and only the G Sensor while on drive mode was enabled and that too sensitivity was set a low.

[Sahil]

Sad events but great turn of events with stellar support from the BMW dealership. This is what luxury car ownership should be!

[Cyborg]

Bad and sad turn of events including the poor monkeys life. There was nothing you could have done to prevent it either. Glad everything turned out well in the end.

Mainly Rachet, admire your calmness, presence of mind and acceptance of the situation in the manner you have exhibited

Cheers

[Rachet]

Originally Posted by Cyborg

Bad and sad turn of events including the poor monkeys life.

Thank you . That was a happening week and really happy that I was able to meet some wonderful people because of all that happened.

[Atom]

Relieved that no harm was caused to the occupants of the car. Glad to see that the Nilgiri Police was so supportive.
In a sea of posts about car dealership issues and service concerns, admire the gesture and support provided by Kun BMW. Appreciate their customer focus.

@Rachet Most importantly despite all that happened, I admire the way you handled the situation. Cheers!!

[DevilzzzzOwn]

First off, thank god that everyone bar the Monkey is safe in both the incidents.
Regarding the first incident, my past experience says that the only reason you got so much support from the Police is because it was a BMW you were driving. For a common man to receive this kind of support is virtually unheard of, atleast by me.
Coming back to the topic, do you have any clips showing the installation of the PPF after the incidents? Curious to see how they remove the old PPF and apply new one. Is there any shade loss in the panel observed? Any shade that gets stuck on the old PPF?

Drive safe.

[Rachet]

Originally Posted by Atom

In a sea of posts about car dealership issues and service concerns, admire the gesture and support provided by Kun BMW. Appreciate their customer focus.

@Rachet Most importantly despite all that happened, I admire the way you handled the situation. Cheers!!

Thank you and yes great support from the dealership.

Originally Posted by DevilzzzzOwn

do you have any clips showing the installation of the PPF after the incidents? Curious to see how they remove the old PPF and apply new one. Is there any shade loss in the panel observed? Any shade that gets stuck on the old PPF?

There was a dent which needed fixing, so BMW corrected the dent. Then I took the car for reinstalling the ppf. I have the reinstallation video

https://youtu.be/hsSPSwPY-RU

But I have seen them removing the ppf from other cars, they do it gently by blowing hot air carefully so that the film comes out clean. I have not seen any shade loss on the surface or shade getting stuck on the old film. I have heard from expert at OCD(the detailing shop where I did the installation) that such things happens when low quality and cheap film is used.