[dxb335d]

Had a quote on some bits on the ///M, now are these sort of ''smart repairs'' a smart idea? Will the small areas which are painted match ok?

Any opinions?

[creepy coupe]

Small areas on metallic paint never work IMO as good as the colour match might be, the direction the paints laid on a how the light hits it can ruin the end result. Repairs mid panel need blowing in a large area.

[dxb335d]

Shall I just leave em then Del?

[rich1068]

And the other thing to keep in mind is that their skill can vary greatly. Not just Chips Away but all the other franchises. If you do go down that route only use a recommended repairer. Ask here or on Cutters etc for one local to you who's good.

[creepy coupe]

Originally Posted by dxb335d

Shall I just leave em then Del?

Put it this way Carl. The bloke who does all our work, is very up-front and won't attempt mid panel repairs without blowing in the whole panel and sometimes even goes into the next. He will for instance do a whole bumper or a section which has a very defined angle or cut off. But side panels definitely not.

[Chris100]

I have seen good and bad, good advice to go with someone via a recommmendation only.

Guy over here is fantastic and I would recommend him no problem but thats not really good to do you any good.

[makkan00]

Originally Posted by creepy coupe

Put it this way Carl. The bloke who does all our work, is very up-front and won't attempt mid panel repairs without blowing in the whole panel and sometimes even goes into the next. He will for instance do a whole bumper or a section which has a very defined angle or cut off. But side panels definitely not.

+1
Absolutely spot on!

[dxb335d]

Im thinking to get them done, (its 360 quid) because surely it will look better than it currently does?

BUT, I prob will want a full front end respray at some point anyhow to really bring up back up to its original mintness.

[dopper99]

Make sure you bill the old geezer for the damage. Whats happening with that one?

[Oli]

Chips away etc are shite, best to go to a proper paintshop. How can they expect to get a perfect finish working outside without an oven? ive seen their work and its terrible

Avoid if I were you

[Hotcoupe]

Originally Posted by dxb335d

Im thinking to get them done, (its 360 quid) because surely it will look better than it currently does?

BUT, I prob will want a full front end respray at some point anyhow to really bring up back up to its original mintness.

Put some pics up Carl.

I'd take note of what Del & Oli have said,take it to a decent bodyshop and get a quote and if it's reasonable, make sure there not VAT registered,you can pay cash then

[creepy coupe]

Originally Posted by Oli

Chips away etc are shite, best to go to a proper paintshop. How can they expect to get a perfect finish working outside without an oven? ive seen their work and its terrible

Avoid if I were you

I agree re Chipsaway. I've yet to see a good one. But I seen some good work without using ovens. Many paints dry well under IR lamps. The bloke we use add rocket2 hardner to his mix and I can't fault the results. He won't start a job if the weather iffy.

[RichardM]

Carl, I used Chips Away in Stortford and they were crap. I got them to redo it a couple of times as I wasn't happy and it looked 'ok' in the end but after 6 months became all pitted. That was just on a front bumper on the Alfa.

Much better to find a local body shop that will do a deal for cash.

[zltm089]

they're pricey aswell Carl!

[Cyprio]

Originally Posted by Oli

Chips away etc are shite, best to go to a proper paintshop. How can they expect to get a perfect finish working outside without an oven? ive seen their work and its terrible

Avoid if I were you

Absolutely +1 on this. I've seen their work carried out on a friend's Merc - it was shite.

If you're gonna use those kind of places you might as well take it to Halfrauds!

Steer clear my friend.

[dxb335d]

Ok thanks guys, I'll leave it.

[The_Bear_Yid]

Sounds like the right choice from what's been said.

A lot of people create threads like this and have already made their mind up to go ahead and ignore advice given.

[dxb335d]

Originally Posted by The_Bear_Yid

Sounds like the right choice from what's been said.

A lot of people create threads like this and have already made their mind up to go ahead and ignore advice given.

I've witnessed that so many times over the years on this forum it's hilarious. Makes you wonder why people bother asking!!

Thanks everyone for the advice, I will live with the odd mark here and there until I want to spend an age looking for a decent body shop!

[Kerr]

I'm going against the grain here.

On my Citroen C5 I stupidly even with parking sensors managed to reverse into the corner of a roughcast garage block.

The sensors were too far apart and did not register the corner sticking out at 90 degrees further than the sides.

There was a crease in the bumper and stone marks through the paint.

The car was getting handed back and I needed a quick repair.

Called the local guy to me and for £140 he did a really good job.

Granted my car was black but the look, feel and finish was very good.

Silver is a hard to work with though.

[Ant Man]

Originally Posted by dxb335d

Had a quote on some bits on the ///M, now are these sort of ''smart repairs'' a smart idea? Will the small areas which are painted match ok?

Any opinions?

No Carlos. I've yet to find any of these so called 'smart repairers' that use genuine BMW paint. I've also seen some of these repairs a few years later and some have not lasted whilst others have. The ones that lasted were done by a bodyshop with ovens.

My advice, take it to Boars Tye in Silver End (approved repairer for BMW, Land Rover, Jaguar et al) as their work is first class and excellent value for money. Speak to Anthony Herd.

[The_Bear_Yid]

Originally Posted by dxb335d

I've witnessed that so many times over the years on this forum it's hilarious. Makes you wonder why people bother asking!!

Thanks everyone for the advice, I will live with the odd mark here and there until I want to spend an age looking for a decent body shop!

Exactly, I think it's because they've actually made their mind up and just want people to tell them what they want to hear.

Good luck with the body shop search.

[m@rk]

I used Chips Away when I scuffed the rear corner of my Montego Blue E91 a few years ago.

I think the smart repair worked (in that you could not tell) because it was on a rounded section rather than a flat panel.

In any case, I was very happy with the result and when I got rid 3 years later, you still could not see where the scuff had been.

But the result is only as good as the guy doing the job. Since then my local Chips Away guys has retired and his replacement has done some work for my neighbour and to be honest, the results were rubbish.

But when my bonnet was hit with a stone (same car) and needs straightening, filling and spraying I was really surprised just how cheap my local BMW body shop was.

So if your Chips Away quote is £360 then it might not be that much more to get the job done properly. Worth checking out.