scratch and dent repair advice needed :(

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it appears some **** bay-parked straight onto my door and left a massive ~12-15 inch scratch.
the scratch is down to the base layer and there's a visible dent on the panel itself.
there's a few other scratches, but i think those look superficial enough to be polished off...


the **** didn't have the courtesy to leave a note, so i guess i'll be footing the repair bill, unfortunately... :(

just wanting some advice really...would a dent and scratch repair done by a third party be enough?
bmw are quoting £500 for the paintwork :/

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Soldato
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@tamzzy - man, that's your 3800x/3900X money :/

would the smart repair fix the dent as well?
If 'smart repair fix' is another name for guy who comes around and repairs dent/scratch in a day then yes - from my very limited experience they can.

We had a number of small dents and scratches on the family car due to similar reasons, plus light scratches from being forced into hedgerows (country lanes) by BMW drivers :D - who were scared to get their own car scratched or just have zero spacial awareness (which is it tamzzy? :p).

I researched a guy who came to the house with everything - even a heating rail and a thingy that pulled out dents (i know all the technical terms). He: pulled, filled, sanded, painted, heated, taped and covered whole car- spent most of the day - and repairs looked like new at the fraction of the dealer price. We risked it as it was for the family car - but i would use him without hesitation for our other car. Fortunately wife doesn't drive that one as much so uncannily hasn't been damaged - apart from the front bumper skirt(?) which she likes to scrape over parking bay curbs - even when pointed out - it's like an affliction.

We saw examples of his work before hiring - would recommend doing the same as suspect like any independent tradesman - skills and attention to detail will vary greatly.

*Of course if 'smart repair fix' doesn't mean this then make sure it's cheaper than my explanation as i can see your road toy messing with your upgrade desktop toy!

**i'm not a car person (i'm an A to B guy in as much comfort as possible - preferably taxi) - but love F1!
 
Man of Honour
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No, I'm afraid that looks like a write off.
totes lol. wanna take it off my hands? :D

@tamzzy - man, that's your 3800x/3900X money :/
ikr ffs

who were scared to get their own car scratched
definitely this. i still can't believe someone can just bay-park into another car's door...like wtf...how bad can you get...

I researched a guy who came to the house with everything - even a heating rail and a thingy that pulled out dents (i know all the technical terms). He: pulled, filled, sanded, painted, heated, taped and covered whole car- spent most of the day - and repairs looked like new at the fraction of the dealer price.

how much did it cost?

Were you planning on dealing with it using the bog roll in your hand?
LOL! that was to dry the water. i sponged down the side to try and remove most of the bumper marks... ;)
 
Soldato
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how much did it cost?
Sorry, bud, not sure. I may be able to find invoice but was a few years ago.

*But, i do remember that he was significantly cheaper than car dealer and the local reputable bodywork-shop type place. I also remember that the 'paint' was expensive - as he had to buy to order.

Plus, the damage to our car isn't an apple-to-apples comparison to yours - he repaired damage to our bonnet, scratches to one side of doors/wings (similar'ish to yours) and dents/damage on rear bumper/wing - so price wouldn't be comparable - but the price differentiation should be (hope). He was ~half (I may be being too generous, perhaps 2/3s) the price of dealer/bodywork place and he did the job in day rather than us being without the car for days. He would have even done it at my wife's place of work had there been sufficient space - meaning no loss of time without the car (although he did prefer that we left it a night before use.). There may be an element of the more work you have done the more cost effective it is, as you pay for 'all' the paint no matter how much is used...

Quote/assessment was free - he came round spent about 30 minutes taking pics, writing/drawing on his car outline and quoted us there and then for labour - think paint price was a guestimate until he sourced it as was unusual colour at the time (dark rusty/brown - everywhere now). No expectation to do work - and we called a few days later for go ahead after 'confirmed quote'. As mentioned we had checked out his work and he had a portfolio of happy customers - before and after shots - for us to look at too.

Job done; one family car looking spangly and new, only to be banged up again before the year was out - money well spent :s

**Should add, had it not been a clear/dry day he would have taken it to his workshop (basically his home garage) - but no difference in price. I imagine the same for windy days etc... Looking at your pics a similar guy would have enough space at your place.

Quick google - no idea what ours did in detail as i left him to it - but this gives you an idea of what they can do at your home. I should stress none of our damage was as severe as this - but our doors/wing was a large area of sanding/paint for blending in paint:


Not sure i could tolerate a guy filming me as i worked. Tapped through it really quickly - our guy had a 'heat lamp rack' but 'orbital/hand' sanding/paint process looks similar (no grinder usage, on ours - just watched first bit) - but we only had a small amount of filler on two areas, but it did take up a lot of area compared to actual dent. Blending in i guess...

Or, you get a blue Sharpie for £1 and spend the money saved on x3800! It's only a blue container getting you from A to B (as long as inside is comfy - get heated seats and wheel - better than any paint job!) - who cares what it looks like when compared to playing with new architecture? :D
 
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Soldato
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in the very last shot where they 360 the car you could clearly see the shade difference between the newly painted panel and the rest of the car. That would be something that would bug me to my death :D
Yes, noticed that and would bother me too - and I'm pretty sure @tamzzy's noddle would't be able to compute if he suffered the same.

Not sure what our guy did but we didn't have that problem. He did mention during quote what he would do, as I specifically asked about colour matching due to dulling paint concerns - unsure if it was the paint itself or the process after applying paint (I really should have paid more attention - but he literally was talking about 'paint drying' :D). But, to his credit we couldn't see where the new paint blended in (even on the bonnet where he did spot fixes in some parts) - but this is where you need to research the tradesman's workmanship/attention to detail and probably the one upside of using dealership/bodywork specialist - recourse if not happy etc...

We were lucky in that he had fixed a neighbours company car a few weeks before (expensive Merc - scrape along drivers bottom side sill, below door) - I didn't know the service existed before then. The neighbours company used this guy for small scrapes so I was able to see first hand his handy work. And turned out others had used him in the road too - so easy was to vet his work. Needless to say, his rate was cheaper for us than the his rate for the company.
 
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Sorry, bud, not sure. I may be able to find invoice but was a few years ago.
ah crap. this is gonna get expensive.
went to a private body shop. got quoted £1500.
went to bmw...got quoted £850...

:(

and I'm pretty sure @tamzzy's noddle would't be able to compute if he suffered the same.
totally lol

i'm in two minds about getting a smart repair...it is quite a substantial amount the side (coupe door)
and i don't know how it'll look like with a smart repair
 
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How can the damage shown be £1500, that smacks of 'don't want to do it'..

What are they quoting for?

Honestly, I've always gone around all the local 'smaller' bodyshops, you often find a 1 or 2 man band who do excellent work but just don't charge that much.

I found one in Gloucester (not too far from me) that did the following on a Nissan X-Trail for £750 and the work was excellent
- Front Bumper Full Respray (Stone chips / small scuffs)
- Bonnet Full Respray (Stone chips)
- Rear Bumper Respray (not much to paint tbh, but scratched where the load area adjoins)
- Rear arch (inside door area due to seat belt damage)

Effectively he was in the £200 - £300 per panel for a full respray (perfectly colour and surface finish matched), £100 - £150 for a 'smart repair', which would have been fine but the stone chips where too wide spread for that.
 
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How can the damage shown be £1500, that smacks of 'don't want to do it'..
no bloody idea.
i asked the guy, he said he'd have to paint match and then remove the side panels etc...can't be masked etc etc... have to match to the front and rear quarter panels, and these will have to be removed and sprayed too...
tbh, i got a bit bored once he said £1500 and turned off at that point lol

chipsaway quoting £300...but as mentioned earlier, i don't know what the quality will be like with a smart repair. :(
basically whether i should stump up £850 and get BMW to do it, or chance it with chipsaway for £300...but if it sucks, then having to pay another £850 for bimmer to do it... :/
 
Soldato
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ah crap. this is gonna get expensive.
went to a private body shop. got quoted £1500.
went to bmw...got quoted £850...
Ask the body shop to leave out the diamond dust - may reduce the quote. :s

@Demon sounds like your best solution for compromise between peace of mind and cost. It may cost ~£100 more than 'Chipsaway' - which sounds like a franchise(?) and if they are i would be nervous too - but at least you could get a gauge of their work locally - plus, they may have finished cars for you to view. The guy i used was totally independent and reliant solely on his quality/service and word of mouth.

@Plec where about are you?
*Deleted* - presuming you saw - let me know if you didn't.
 
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Man of Honour
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How can the damage shown be £1500, that smacks of 'don't want to do it'..

What are they quoting for?

Honestly, I've always gone around all the local 'smaller' bodyshops, you often find a 1 or 2 man band who do excellent work but just don't charge that much.

I found one in Gloucester (not too far from me) that did the following on a Nissan X-Trail for £750 and the work was excellent
- Front Bumper Full Respray (Stone chips / small scuffs)
- Bonnet Full Respray (Stone chips)
- Rear Bumper Respray (not much to paint tbh, but scratched where the load area adjoins)
- Rear arch (inside door area due to seat belt damage)

Effectively he was in the £200 - £300 per panel for a full respray (perfectly colour and surface finish matched), £100 - £150 for a 'smart repair', which would have been fine but the stone chips where too wide spread for that.

Only way I'd consider £1500 is if they had some kind of decent guarantee included in the price as to the quality of the final product - some of these cheaper ones good luck if the end result isn't great :s one of the big problems with these jobs is individual companies can be very good and reasonable priced but unless you know someone who knows someone it is a bit of a gamble.
 
Soldato
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no bloody idea.
i asked the guy, he said he'd have to paint match and then remove the side panels etc...can't be masked etc etc... have to match to the front and rear quarter panels, and these will have to be removed and sprayed too...
tbh, i got a bit bored once he said £1500 and turned off at that point lol

chipsaway quoting £300...but as mentioned earlier, i don't know what the quality will be like with a smart repair. :(
basically whether i should stump up £850 and get BMW to do it, or chance it with chipsaway for £300...but if it sucks, then having to pay another £850 for bimmer to do it... :/
Might be worth asking main dealers slightly further away if you have them, my local BMW dealer is trying to pay for a swanky multi story glass showroom and over charges on most things compared to other dealers within 20 miles
 
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Only way I'd consider £1500 is if they had some kind of decent guarantee included in the price as to the quality of the final product - some of these cheaper ones good luck if the end result isn't great :s one of the big problems with these jobs is individual companies can be very good and reasonable priced but unless you know someone who knows someone it is a bit of a gamble.
Yeah, that's the trouble I'm having. I don't know of anyone...so the el-cheapo ones like chipsaway are literally a gamble. But the OEM one is (probably) overpriced... :(
 
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