Scuffed Bumper, thoughts?

[Tutankhamon]

What a crappy way to start the day. This would've had to happen either last night or this morning when I stopped by a store. No notes left or anything. Anyway, I'm trying to figure out if the whole bumper needs to be repainted or if I can get away with painter's tape and using a spray (I have a can of spray paint of my color code). Any opinions on what would be the smartest solution? Pardon the iPhone cam pics. Also it's worth noting that I posted this same thread on E46Fanatics and a popular option over there is to simply have an airbrush guy take care of it. Would anybody know of contact information for such a person/business that does that? Right now I'm gonna simply start by getting a quote from budd's collision.

[dbworld4k]

A full respray would be around $500. PM username Derek on here, he knows someone that did really good work airspraying in spot damage on body panels.

[jeff2]

That sucks man.

[desmo]

Any short-cut other than full removal of the bumper and refinishing will result in some sacrifice on quality. That doenst mean that your only option is 100% or nothing.

-Anything from a rattle can I've never seen look too nice. You may cover the scratch, but the blend with the remaining bumper will never look right. High potential of making it look a lot worse IMO.

-Blending only a corner of the bumper professionally, or "blowing in", will achive the right clear-coat and shine, as well as allow you to fill in the depth of the scratch with some product (if needed).
-The downside here is again, the blend to the remainng bumper is tough. Misting the clearcoat over, with no solid vertical lines to cut off that corner can be hard to wet-sand and buff 100%. Also painting on the car involves the obvious masking or remining car & imperect lines where bumper meets tail-light, 1/4 or trunk lid etc..

My opinion. Overhaul and clear the entire bumper on the car. Remove all chips/scratches/ imperfections and do it right. This is a good balance between quality & expense. (saving money not R/I bumper)

Option 2. Get proper touch-up paint. Not a rattle can, and patiently fix-up the bumper. Save your money for when you find another scratch that makes it worth doing the whole car.

- Michael

[Tutankhamon]

Thank you all for the advice and PM's, very helpful. I decided to go with Budd's as their work in the past for me has been top notch. I was also quoted a reasonable price (hundred bucks and change) along with a 5 hour turnaround. Figured can't really get much better than that anyways and I know their workmanship. They won't be taking the bumper off, rather they'll properly sand it and blend it all in. I will post the results.

[Tutankhamon]

All done

[dbworld4k]

For a hundred or so, that looks fantastic even though it's tough to judge from those pics. As long as it looks like nothing happened, you're set

PS. Is that a nasty dent in your wheel arch?!

[bmwm5lover]

Budds BMW?

[davericher20]

should have went with dr colourchip.

That looks like shit, sorry man.

[Dysantic]

^^ That odd discoloration you see that you may think makes it look like shit is his reflection in the paint. He's down on one knee taking the picture and it looks more like a blotch in the paint than his reflection.

To me, based on those pictures it looks like a great fix for the cost. Maybe I should call them up and get them to do some touch ups on my car. lol

[davericher20]

Oh wow, I see it now thanks. That looks amazing!

[Blades]

[Tutankhamon]

lol sorry guys, that's my reflection that makes it look like garbage. And damn the other reflection looks just like a really nasty dent. In hind-sight that's a horrible pic haha

And it was Budd's collision, they do bodywork for all the budd's dealerships.

EDIT: Here it is with some flash on it, again - I can only do so much with an iphone at the office lol

[kevin325]

Looks pretty good to me!