P(*&&*(%%^ (minor accident advice needed)
 

First off let me say, I no longer look at raccoons as being 'cute' or 'kitschy' - here's why.....

I'm driving home in my '01 330ci towards Oakridge from kits this evening and took a scenic detour thru Shaughnessy between W. blvd. and Granville...something I do almost daily. As I'm coming thru a residential corner/curve, a frikkin raccoon jolts out from the left, and instead of squashing the shit, I swerve left around it as there's decent room on this street and no parked cars. Sadly, as it was about 1 -2 degrees - even with near new blizzak tires! - the cars' tail swings wildly to the right (ice) and I have to countersteer right to get it back in line - which I did - but unfortunately it responded by the ass-end penduleming left and I couldn't right it enough to get her straight before the front right corner hit the curb. Nothing fast obviously, but hard enough that it pretty badly curbed the rims lip (probably 1/3 the way around, though no 'dent' - still appears true and round) and the front 'M-tech (?) 330ci lip cracked from the wheelwells side almost all the way to the license plate area. Approx. 1.5 -2 feet end to end (just the lip, thank god!) Now the scary part - the steering wheel is now off center, though there's no pulling or anything wierd, or any new sounds or noises.

So my question(s)
-is it likely just an alignment issue or could I have destroyed a control arm, etc.?
-are fibergalss/plastic lips repairable at all (the crack is 'clean' in that theoretically it all 'lines up' still, but if you pull it, it will pull away.) It would seem that a proper adhesive and the repaint would at least be passable?....or am I nuts! I'm far from a bodyman.
-this is the tough one. If I make an ICBC claim, is this a guaranteed collision claim, or comprehensive, seeing as how it stemmed from avoiding a moving animal? My deductable is $1000 on coll. and $200 on comp. so if it's the former, it's not likely that the repairs will be $1000....unless I pooched my suspension!

Any advice/help is MUCH appreciated!

An example of the lip on my car.
99-04 BMW E46 Front Bumper Lip M-Tech Style (PU)

yes fiber glassis repairable if u do it right it would look good as new

Always hit them small animals! If you hit them, you're the victim. If you avoid and crash, it's 100% your fault.

Animal Collisions
Posted via RS Mobile

^ truth.

the way ICBC looks at it is that there is no evidence you can show to them proving there was any animal in your way and that your crash wasn't a result of driver error

Dads coworker experienced this first hand.
He said his companies new location is located around a few forests, and there are sometimes deer or w.e animal (not sure)
His coworker, not noticing the running animal, swerved and hit a bulldozer on the side of the road (new construction).
He was found at fault.

it's a collision claim, icbc will call it a 1-vehicle accident.

get the car up in the air and take a look, clearly somethings been damaged or thrown out of wack if your steering is off.

Thanx for all the good advice. I'm not even making a claim as the wheel is not that badly curbed - the lip is scuffed about 1/3 the perimeter of the one wheel but I sanded it down and touched it up with a close paint match and it's not that big a deal....I might take it to Panthers/Greens if it bugs me enough but they are winter wheels so it's not imperative. The front lip did crack and needs a repaint but again, I figure $200 should 'mend' it. I took the front wheel off and saw no discernible damage to control arm/ball joints/idler arms, etc....both sides are identical to the naked eye, though with the steering wheel off kilter, when I bring it in tomorrow for an alignment, I'll def. get a confirmation. It drives absolutely fine with no pull or noise so it probably felt a lot worse than it really was....more the shock of 'omfg I'm gonna plow into the curb! *&&*$^&%' lol I figure there's no way this is worth a claim unless the shop establishes I did a real number.

Sound peace of mind advice on future animal avoidences....as much as I love animals, shy of a cat or dog, its getting squashed!!

Thanx all!

it's either the little flurry thing or your pocket. Pretty easy choice.

Thats tough. My natural reaction would be to swerve out of the way. I don't know if I would be fast enough to think "OH shit! Better run over this skunk or I'm gonna have to pay $300"

I had a raccoon dart out from nowhere in front of my car once, didn't want to swerve as there was traffic in the on coming lane so I just smoked it, to this day, my front license plate on the TL is still bent from the point of impact lol.

Turns out I just needed an alignment as it got wacked way out of spec, thus the steering wheel issue. All else was tip top. And I found a new front lip for $100 (that I will paint and install myself) Finally, I touched up the wheels' curbage with a decent match, so all is essentially taken care of to the tune of $250. And to think I was going to make a claim! lol