Shattered tail gate

[blackbirdxx]

I have a 2022 BMW i3s to which the rear tail gate glass was shattered by a drunk cyclist crashing into my parked car outside my home. The whole incident was captured on my cctv and I was present when the accident happened and he promised to pay costs. He was a foreign chap who gave me his name but wouldn't provide me with an address or proof of id, although he did give me his correct mobile number. I have passed the issue to the police but have little hope of them sorting it as the guy's face is not that clear on the cctv. Currently, I have little hope of getting any money out of him, but who knows.

I know these shattered tailgates have been discussed before but wondered if there has been any development of how to repair it at a reasonable cost. The options are to go through insurance, I guess, and loose my Vol and Compulsory access (£600) and pay a hefty uplift on next years insurance. Alternatively, I can buy the part and fit myself. The cheapest tailgate I can find in the UK is appx £1200.
Is anyone aware of anywhere cheaper or is there an alternative and better way of sorting this problem??
Do you think I should just bite the bullet and go the insurance route? What have others done??

Thanking everyone in advance for any contribution.....

 

[blackbirdxx]

I can see that this is going to take a while to sort so I need to make a temporary repair.

The fact that the rear lights are now falling out, I'm looking along the lines of helicopter tape. Has anyone used anything more suitable?
What have others done??

 

[EvanstonI3]

What others have done is replace the entire tailgate. This has not happened to me and does not appear to happen often but when it does that is what people seem to do.

 

[blackbirdxx]

What others have done is replace the entire tailgate. This has not happened to me and does not appear to happen often but when it does that is what people seem to do.

Thanks for the prompt response...
Its looking more and more like an insurance job, painful as it sounds.

I think I've decided to use Gorilla transparent tape to hold everything together as a temporary solution so I can use the car in the meantime.

Still open to ideas if there are any?? Think I've written off the idea of getting any money out of the cyclist. That said, I've still got his bike as he was completely drunk. Don't think he'll be back for it despite my unanswered text messages as he thinks he's got off lightly and wants to keep a low profile. I would guess he's a Romanian immigrant. I'm stuck with a bike now, any ideas?

 

[eNate]

I love the unique, "concept car" design aesthetic of the rear tailgate glass and accept that in trade it offers little functionality and no practicality. Unfortunate as it may be, in my four years around the various i3 groups, I have heard of no practical solutions to avoid replacing the entire liftgate. It seems an odd engineering choice that this slab of glass wasn't designed to be replaced just like a windshield. Fortunately these types of glass break incidents are somewhat uncommon.

 

[blackbirdxx]

The fact I've still got the guy's bike who shattered my rear tail gate I'm hunting for ideas. I know the guy lives locally, I have his correct phone number which is also on WhatsApp which he doesn't answer. I have a name which I doubt is his real name. He says he comes from Romania and I have his pic and cctv footage of the incident. Anyone have any clever ideas of how to track this guy down? He did phone me the other day (but didn't turn up) to arrange pick up of the bike but this is the only thing I have on him. I appreciate I can't keep the bike as ransom but should I pass it to the police and let him know where it is. I presume he will require his real name to get it back. Any other ideas?

 

[EvanstonI3]

you are "hunting for ideas" to track this guy down now? This is a BMW i3 Group, not a Detective Group.

 

[chinesederek]

I parked my car in West Quay multistory carpark in Southampton and chose the upper level as it had fewer cars parked there to do a quick shop half an hour later I returned to find my car had been shunted forward a third out of the parking bay by a new Lexus the elderly lady and her husband were writing out their details to leave on my car ,the damage to my i3 was confined to the rear bumper and shattered the glass below the rear window and rear lights I refused to have the repair undertaken by my insurers recomended repairers and had the work carried out by the bmw workshop in Winchester as I wanted them to check if there was any damage to the structure of my car thankfully there was none . when I got in touch with my insurer the repair bill was in excess of £8000 paid by the other peoples insurer. Luckily the damaged was confined soley to the rear neither rear offside or nearside were damaged.

 

[Sarjoo]

I can see that this is going to take a while to sort so I need to make a temporary repair.

The fact that the rear lights are now falling out, I'm looking along the lines of helicopter tape. Has anyone used anything more suitable?
What have others done??

We used ultra-clear recycling plastic bags, to lay across the shattered glass area and taped using scotch tape on the inside of the trunk and on the upper glass on the outside, which was good as meant properly visible brake lights and kept them water tight. Worked well for the week or so we waited for a repair slot.