[alexwhittemore]

I have a bit of a curb rash problem on my bumper. That's not the only spot, but it's the only one that comes up high enough to be noticeable and annoying from standing height.

Anyway, I've seen lots of posts that touch-up paint comes out looking awful, and that dr. Colorchip is the way to go, but then also a bunch saying that's only for small chips like you'd get on the highway, etc etc.

This is a pretty big area, but at the same time, even if it looked not-great, the simple fact that it'd be red would make it a lot less distracting and annoying than the big black streak it is now. But then people also say the touch-up paint is crap on the plastic parts.

So, suggestions on how I should fix it?

[Amini77]

Same thing happened to mine except part of my bumper chipped off as well as the paint around it chipped off..I covered it with plastidip My car is darker so you can barely see it..I suggest red plasti-dip lmao!!! Seriously if you're planning on upgrading to M-tech bumper who cares.

[alexwhittemore]

Originally Posted by Amini77

Seriously if you're planning on upgrading to M-tech bumper who cares.

Well, yeah, duh. But I'm not.

I'm considering clip-on splitters, but the idea of $100 for a clip-on addition is kind of ehh to me.

[AddictedToBavarian]

Touch up paint and Dr.Colorchip won't be effective for that large of an area. Aside from a repaint splitters is your only option.

[alexwhittemore]

Originally Posted by AddictedToBavarian

Touch up paint and Dr.Colorchip won't be effective for that large of an area. Aside from a repaint splitters is your only option.

I mean, literally spraypaint and a good mask would look better than the scraped-off-black that's there now. Is there a particular reason touch-up won't work, like it won't adhere to plastic? Is there a way to prime it?

[AddictedToBavarian]

Originally Posted by alexwhittemore

I mean, literally spraypaint and a good mask would look better than the scraped-off-black that's there now. Is there a particular reason touch-up won't work, like it won't adhere to plastic? Is there a way to prime it?

If you gently sanded that down and applied touch up paint I guess it would work, but it would look like crap. I guess if your mission is just to cover it up and not see a black scuff go for it, but if you care about your car like I do you won't be happy.

[SHEEDI]

get it fixed by professional and get your front bumper,fender,hood and headlights/fog lights covered in PPF.

[alexwhittemore]

Looking into it more, I might try this with black on my own bumper:

http://www.f30post.com/forums/showpo...4&postcount=20

If that looks silly, I'll try it with red and see if the matte-on-gloss looks good. Maybe maybe not. Either way, failing both of those, these guys sell a matched crimson red

http://www.automotivetouchup.com/

in spray form for $20 a can. Not cheap, but also not much more expensive than the brush-on bottles. With proper technique and sanding, a pretty good looking result should be possible. Not I'd-use-it-on-a-visible-panel good, but good enough.

Anyone ever used that stuff before?

[///M3NACE]

Take some alcohol and remove the white paint residue or anything on it. I would use touch up and do it very slowly. Dont just do it all it one time.If you want perfection wet sand it after and do a good buff. You know how I know this I did this on my W203 (mercedes C240) and it came out fine. Mine was black so I ended up not wetsanding it but it wasnt even noticeable. GOOD LUCK

[Dr. G]

Originally Posted by alexwhittemore

Looking into it more, I might try this with black on my own bumper:

http://www.f30post.com/forums/showpo...4&postcount=20

If that looks silly, I'll try it with red and see if the matte-on-gloss looks good. Maybe maybe not. Either way, failing both of those, these guys sell a matched crimson red

http://www.automotivetouchup.com/

in spray form for $20 a can. Not cheap, but also not much more expensive than the brush-on bottles. With proper technique and sanding, a pretty good looking result should be possible. Not I'd-use-it-on-a-visible-panel good, but good enough.

Anyone ever used that stuff before?

The stuff from automotive touchup will be just fine. The results can be pretty awesome if used right.

[alexwhittemore]

That sounds pretty good to me. I think I'm going to buy a can, sand the rash down neatly, mask, do some proper spray painting, then wet sand and final coat. We'll see if that goes well enough.

[divisionbell77]

Originally Posted by alexwhittemore

I mean, literally spraypaint and a good mask would look better than the scraped-off-black that's there now. Is there a particular reason touch-up won't work, like it won't adhere to plastic? Is there a way to prime it?

Really? You drive a BMW, not a Yugo. Stop being cheap and spend the couple hundred.

[alexwhittemore]

Originally Posted by divisionbell77

Really? You drive a BMW, not a Yugo. Stop being cheap and spend the couple hundred.

The fact that I drive a BMW doesn't mean that, therefore, a small out of the way visual annoyance is worth a few hundred dollars to me to fix. More to the point, if I had the whole bumper re-painted every time it got a bit of rash, I'd just be throwing away $500 a month. Maybe I'll have it done after a year or two's worth of rash, but for that little spot it would be silly.

The real point is that I'd sooner buy a booth, gun, and paint and get professional training to do it myself than have something that silly fixed by someone else, because that's how I operate.

I fucking HATE the "you drive a bimmer, what's a few hundo?" argument. Most of us didn't get into a position to buy one by being stupid with our money. And for that matter, it's not the most special vehicle in the world. Mine cost less after 3 years of depreciation than my friend's new GTI, and hell, his came with Bluetooth streaming, so shit. Until my 328 starts giving me road head when I hop in the driver's seat, the underside of the bumper is not going to be worth "a couple hundred."

[divisionbell77]

Originally Posted by alexwhittemore

The fact that I drive a BMW doesn't mean that, therefore, a small out of the way visual annoyance is worth a few hundred dollars to me to fix. More to the point, if I had the whole bumper re-painted every time it got a bit of rash, I'd just be throwing away $500 a month. Maybe I'll have it done after a year or two's worth of rash, but for that little spot it would be silly.

The real point is that I'd sooner buy a booth, gun, and paint and get professional training to do it myself than have something that silly fixed by someone else, because that's how I operate.

I fucking HATE the "you drive a bimmer, what's a few hundo?" argument. Most of us didn't get into a position to buy one by being stupid with our money. And for that matter, it's not the most special vehicle in the world. Mine cost less after 3 years of depreciation than my friend's new GTI, and hell, his came with Bluetooth streaming, so shit. Until my 328 starts giving me road head when I hop in the driver's seat, the underside of the bumper is not going to be worth "a couple hundred."

I fucking hate people that can't not hit shit with their bumper once a month.

Learn to drive better. Really? You scrape your bumper once a month? Jesus is that pathetic.

[alexwhittemore]

Originally Posted by divisionbell77

I fucking hate people that can't not hit shit with their bumper once a month.

Learn to drive better. Really? You scrape your bumper once a month? Jesus is that pathetic.

The underside. Can't help it if there's such a big trench pulling out of the parking lot that you nose into it. The worst one is in the Hawthorne, CA Home Depot parking lot. I swear to god, it's like they tried to dig a moat to keep people out.

Other than that, my car has come into contact with another object exactly once, after a 30' slide on black ice with no ABS. No damage, and it was so gentle I didn't even realize there was contact until the person I'd tapped got out and verified no damage. Having a totally spotless driving record is a pretty clutch way to save money.

[thetedderbear]

Originally Posted by alexwhittemore

Until my 328 starts giving me road head when I hop in the driver's seat, the underside of the bumper is not going to be worth "a couple hundred."

got a good laugh out of this. I understand the money situation completely, we aren't all ballers. Like some others said, sand it down, wipe it down with alcohol, basically clean it up as best you can and reevaluate it. To look perfect, you'll have to shell out to get a respray. Of your alternatives, I'd skip touch up paint, as it won't cover that big of an area. You could always use red plasti dip like someone suggested, then get a can of spray clear coat like they sell at autozone to cover it and make it glossy and not matte. By no means a perfect fix, but it's cheap, and completely reversible should it come out looking awful. Just make sure you really tape up the area well to prevent overspray.

[thetedderbear]

Originally Posted by divisionbell77

Really? You drive a BMW, not a Yugo. Stop being cheap and spend the couple hundred.

Jesus, is it really necessary to be an ass? This is in no way helpful to his question, and it's just demeaning and defeats the purpose of this forum. There's nothing wrong with a cheap alternative, this forum saved me $1000 the first day I owned my car, all because people offered advice, instead of telling me to nut up and pay.

[Viick]

Originally Posted by alexwhittemore

I fucking HATE the "you drive a bimmer, what's a few hundo?" argument. Most of us didn't get into a position to buy one by being stupid and frivolous with our money. And for that matter, it's not the most special vehicle in the world."

HAHA!! Mad , I so wanna put this on the signature thing, added one word lol..but So freakin true dude

Do leave feedback on how you fixed it, Have a spot on my door which im trying to figure out how to fix

[SHEEDI]

Launches

:P

[imz lci]

i used touch up paint on my bumper recently , similar scuff but half the size, came out looking pretty nice, just make sure you lay small coats every 10 min and then polish it the next day to blend it in and make it more even, cost me 11 pounds

[alexwhittemore]

Originally Posted by imz lci

i used touch up paint on my bumper recently , similar scuff but half the size, came out looking pretty nice, just make sure you lay small coats every 10 min and then polish it the next day to blend it in and make it more even, cost me 11 pounds

Perfect, "pretty nice for $20" is just what I'm going for. I'll get a can in the next weekend or two.

[rogers08m3]

Man, you can make that 80% better with $30 for sure. Get some touchup, get some lacquer thinner, get a little abrasive polish if you don't have some. Hit the area with the abrasive to remove any transfer. Touch up lightly (as mentioned), let dry, repeat...light, light coats, looks like you'll need a few. If you get a blob, dab with thinner. After last coat, let it dry an hour, lightly rub with thinner... golden.