[kaishang]

Some careless chump has collected the side of my car with something in a carpark. There's no dent, but the paint is pretty badly scratched

Here's some pics. Sorry if it makes you cringe





There is also a scratch abou 3/4 inch long on the rear door too.

I've just been down to a BMW bodyshop and the estimate is £850

So there is a small scratch on the back door, large scratch on the front door and they think the front door scratch is close enough to the edge of the panel that they will need to also blend the paint into the front panel ahead of the front door as well.

What do you think I should do:

- Claim it on insurance and pay £220 excess plus a bigger premium next year (have the protected NCB, but the base premium will still go up)?

- Cough up the £850 myself and not go through insurance?

- Find some cheaper repair option and pay it myself? Are there any other repair options?

Errrrrrrrrrghhhh.

[kaishang]

The estimator at BMW, when he saw the car was a '10' plate did console me by saying he's just repaired a 60 plate 5-series with 17 miles on it whose owner had reversed it into a pole....

BTW If you are reading this, 335diesel, check out my mudflaps in the 2nd pic.

[coopersim]

What about someone like chipsaway? Got to be cheaper than the £850 from BMW, your only problem then would be if you have to put in a claim against the paintwork (which in my opinion is shocking on my 08 325d) in which case your warranty wouldn't be valid on the panels that have been repaired.

It's pretty bad that chap, I nearly had the same issue this morning when some tool parked a shitty old land rover literally within an inch of my car - I nearly had heart failure, and in a near empty 500 space car park

[Vid]

I hate to see things like this bud, really feel for you, there are some right tw*ts in the world, they should be hung by the nuts and set on fire!

Hope you get it sorted out!

[Jamese93]

Jesus that did make me cringe. Again, if it's any consolation when I was at my body shop recently there was a 60 plate 3 series with the side taken out, and a 10 plate merc CLC with teh rear end off - and only 60 miles on the clock....

I wouldn't smart repair - not likely to last too long and with the whole side done rather than just a numper corner, you'll really notice it....

[flyfs6]

Sorry to hear that OP. Like James said don't smart repair. Go to an independent body shop with good reputation or direct to the body shop your dealer uses (they're likely to be charging similar amount, so would stick with dealer so that you have more piece of mind). I use a good body shop in Barking, and James has used them too. If you're willing to travel to them it might be worth your while.

James - I saw cars similar to those.

[kaishang]

I've got an over-the-phone estimate from Chipsaway, subject to taking a look at it to confirm a price. It's less than half the BMW price.

Chipsaway says the repair would be a repaint of the full door panel in a bodyshop plus probably the rear door too (rear door not shown in photos, but also has smaller scratch). Even though Chipsaway is in a bodyshop, the Chipsaway repair takes 1 day vs 3 days at BMW. Also unlike BMW, Chipsaway is not proposing to blend into the front panel ahead of the scratch. Why the difference? Is the Chipsaway a "smart repair" or a standard bodyshop repair?

What about the paint? I assume if I get it done at BMW, there's some chance I'll get BMW OEM paint but with Chipsaway I won't.

So the alternatives so far are Berry Chiswick BMW who have their own bodyshop @ £850 through my car insurance (ends us costing me about £400) or Chipsaway at under £400 but not going through insurance.

Originally Posted by Jamese93

Jesus that did make me cringe. Again, if it's any consolation when I was at my body shop recently there was a 60 plate 3 series with the side taken out, and a 10 plate merc CLC with teh rear end off - and only 60 miles on the clock....

I wouldn't smart repair - not likely to last too long and with the whole side done rather than just a numper corner, you'll really notice it....

[m@rk]

Originally Posted by kaishang

So there is a small scratch on the back door, large scratch on the front door and they think the front door scratch is close enough to the edge of the panel that they will need to also blend the paint into the front panel ahead of the front door as well.

BMW bodyshops don't do any blending anymore. They will match the paint and just paint the panel that needs it.

Did you speak to the service desk or did you go to the BMW bodyshop directly. Experience has shown you get 2 very different experiences.

Originally Posted by kaishang

What about the paint? I assume if I get it done at BMW, there's some chance I'll get BMW OEM paint but with Chipsaway I won't.

Of course using the BMW bodyshop will keep your paintwork warrant intact however I don't think these things are particularly prone to premature rusting etc so might not be a concern to you.

In addition, BMW will be able to order the right paint in the right colour. Chips Away will try and match by mixing it.

[acerboo]

dont like the idea of blending but certain colours like silver really need blending. if you can find the approved bodyshop that bmw use you would probably save £200, ive used independants but you cant always guaranttee a good match although on a dark colour it should be easier good luck with it anyway. as for parking you can be sure if you park in an empty car park when you come back some pratt will have parked so close to you that you cant open your door! 13 years of socialist brainwashing i put it down to!!

[M3-FAST]

I would 100% use a proper bodyshop - chipsaway type places simply dont have the same resources that a proper bodyshop has. Years ago I had a company Laguna (I had to take a swap at work as this one was getting high mileage ) and when I was given it there were scratches all over it. The bosses called out chipsaway who set up a gazebo and infra red lamps on the car park and literally resprayed the sides of the car on the car park at work in a morning. In all fairness they did a pretty good job but it wasn't my car so didn't really give a toss, but the finish wasn't the best. The sprayer was concerned about getting mine done as he had another 3 jobs to do that day.

I also got a scratch on one of my M3 door handles within days of getting the car. I was parked in a nice wide parent & child bay in Sainsburys' but there is still no protection from lazy gits who can't be arsed to put trolleys back and let them roll into other customer's cars I used my local chipsaway place and they have done a pretty crap job of the handle to be honest. After seeing the amount of cars they were trying to complete at the same time, the finished result didn't surprise me

A proper bodyshop will keep your warranty intact.

More importantly keep the pictures, etc and receipts - if you come to sell you might have to justify why the car has had the side resprayed - some buyers may presume 'accident damage' and walk away

[chris330D]

Ouch, I feel for you, some people just don't care about others property Have you tried to get a quote from another dealer?

[dxb335d]

So sorry to see that it's happened.
That's gutting! Hope you get it sorted soon!

[Cygnusx1]

What's a carpark?