FYI / Bad Luck/500E BBQ

[Beastie]

Hey Guys !,
I thought you might find this interesting ( as well as some sympathy). In the last 3 weeks my 92 500E, has gone from perfect condition without a scratch, to the body shop for 3 weeks.
About 3 weeks ago I was traveling home on the beltway where the average speed was 70mph. I had a car on either side of me and a truck about 4 car lengths in front. The truck lost a full cap from a retread tire and it porceeded directly toward my windshield and my face. I was able to hit the brakes ( thank the powers that be for ABS) and when the car on my left moved forward ( or corrreclty I slowed) I veered to the left so that the tire which was spinning through the air like an out of balance frisbee only hit my front bumper, headlight , lower spoiler and fog light. As I veered the next thing in my line of sight was a Jersey wall ( concrete construction barrier) which I narrowly avoided.
As it stood the car had approximately $2,600. worth of damage and I was heartbroken. This past monday (10/22/01) I drove the car to work as was prepared to drop it off at the body shop where I made my appointment. I started the car in the a.m. and noticed that it felt as though it was not running on all the cylinders but since this was the first cold morning we had this year I attributed it to something in the fuel inj/brain and I would address it when I got the car back. After driving 1 mile I came to a stop light and had smoke pouring from the rear seat and from the power window switchs. After pulling over and looking under the car I hit the flames with my in car extinguisher and called the local Fire department. The damage melted the rear console, carpeting under car insulation etc. After the incident with the tire both I and the claims adjuster looked under the car for damage but their was nothing visual out of place. I am meeting my adjuster on 10/30 to inspect the car but I am somewhat perplexed by the fire. I purchased the car in July of this year and had a thourough examination by a very reputable shop. The car had been running fine. my only thought is that maybe the tire hit the Cats underneath and loosened or broke loose some of the interior honeycomb of the converter. If this created partial blockage that would explain the poor running and it may have allowed the converter to overheat and start burning the under car insulation. When the fire department came they looked under the car and agreed with me that the converter was still glowing red hot and that the fire had started between the converter and the fiberglass cover on the fuel pump. Thank goodness ! the pump mounts actualy burnt and melted but no fuel leaked to add to the fire and damage. Sorry for the long story but I had to get it out of my system. Does my logic on the fire make sense ?.
Alan