[lovemybmw]

Evening all,

I've had some idiot scratch my car tonight, i'm now based in Leeds can anyone recommend where i can go to get this sorted?

There are 3 scratches very deep running alongside the drivers side from around the door mirror to the fuel cap.

Can't afford to respray the whole panels so anyone know where else i can take it for a good job done at affordable prices?

Thankyou so much in advance.!!!

[dkan]

Really sorry to hear this mate...gutted for you. My car was keyed by low life 2 weeks ago. I hope you get it sorted soon.

If its deep, i think a respray is the only fix. When I was looking for cheaper alternatives such as the Sprayless scratch repair, the chap doing it said the scratch on mine was too deep. I've posted some pics of the scratch on my car in another thread, maybe u can compare them with yours.

[Ant Man]

You can do it yourself with a lot of time an patience and save yourself a packet. Go and see your local friendly bodyshop and they should tell you what you need, ie BMW paint stick & lacquer, 3M flatting pad and discs, cutting compound that can be applied by hand rather than a machine etc etc.

It's not difficult to do as I have repaired a a big scratch on my previous car.
Basically you build up the paint in layers so that it stands proud and then flat down, cut, polish and wax. I posted up some details on the UK M3 section a few months back.

If you want a bodyshop to do it, ask your local BMW dealer who they use and go and see them.

[quattrogmbh]

It is highly unlikely that you will achieve a reasonable finish on a deep scratch with a touch up pen, wet sanding and compounding, unless its a solid colour.

The primary reason being that the metallic flake will sink to the bottom of the paint you apply with a brush. When you flat that back, your will polish the flake, making it brighter than the surrounding spray applied paint.

I don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but realistically, its a body shop job.

Smart repair is possibly an option depending on where the damage can be faded out to - a swage line or a panel edge.

[dkan]

Agreed, I was thinking of doing a DIY repair. Tried on a few stone chips and smaller scratches...and it just didn't work, matching the paint would be hard IMHO.

Originally Posted by quattrogmbh

It is highly unlikely that you will achieve a reasonable finish on a deep scratch with a touch up pen, wet sanding and compounding, unless its a solid colour.

The primary reason being that the metallic flake will sink to the bottom of the paint you apply with a brush. When you flat that back, your will polish the flake, making it brighter than the surrounding spray applied paint.

I don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but realistically, its a body shop job.

Smart repair is possibly an option depending on where the damage can be faded out to - a swage line or a panel edge.

[Ant Man]

I repaired a deep long scratch on sapphire black metallic and didn't experience any issues. I mixed the lacquer and paint together and applied several thin layers, waiting 24 hours between each layer. After polishing and waxing, it was extremely hard to see the repair.

[quattrogmbh]

Ant Man - Do you have a photo of your repair?

I'm open to be impressed :-)