Bumper scrape, what can I do?

B

BMW335i

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EDIT: PICS INCLUDED SCROLL DOWN



My car sits pretty low and I stupidly got a front bumper scrape...pissed me off like no tommorow.



I pulled up to a curb too far and it just scraped. You can't see the scrape from standing position outside but if you kneel down to the floor and look under the front bumper you can, still, it annoys me like crazy. I will get some pics later but for now what can I do? The paint on the plastic bumper got scratched down down to the black plastic in quite a few areas, and then you have the typical almost-fingernail depth scratches (they are scrapes, but still somewhat relatively deep). I want to at least lessen the appearance (even though no one could possibly notice it, it ticks me off).



Could I fill in the gashes with touch up paint, let it dry, wetsand the entire area till smooth, and then polish it out with scratch X? Any other ideas? Please help..:thx



All the scrapes are limited to a relatviely small area, its probably 1ft in length on the left drivers side).



I do all I can to keep this car looking great, then something stupid has to happen...(it was also an abnormally high curb, I was checking my distance in another cars reflection but apparently it wasn't accurate).



I will get pics (hopefully) but for now I am still recovering..
 
Yeah you could try to do touchup paint... that's really all you can do, other than repaint it. At least as far as I know :(
 
Yeah, if it's just the bottom part of the lip (bumper) then I'd just use touch up paint, since you can't see it standing up.
 
Should I bother wetsanding? The paint on the bumper is different from the paint on the panels. The scratches/scrapes feel rough to the touch..yet there is probably less than 1mm of paint on the bumper to begin with.



How would the process go?



1) Clean the area throughly

2) Apply touch up paint to 'down to' plastic areas (what is the best tool to apply the touch up, a toothpick?) This will be tedious as there are a bunch of areas that just barely reaches the black plastic underneath. My paint is silver so when you are looking for the scrapes, you can see them and they don't look good.

3) Let dry. Apply a second coat when dry. Let the second coat dry.

4) Wetsand with rubber block (what grit?) till the surface is smooth (i'm not looking for perfection, just improvement so that you can't see the ugly black plastic). Wetsanding will also act to lessen the lighter scratches so polish will be able to finish them off so they aren't that noticeable.

5) Polish? What is the best polish for this application? I will be hand polishing since it is in such a hard to reach spot). I figured ScratchX would do that trick...correct me if I'm wrong.



* I also want to be sure I don't end up removing too much paint. There isn't a lot but the car is new so the paint hasn't lost much clearcoat to begin with.



If you guys have any advice for me please let me know. This will be my first attempt at wetsanding, if you think I will screw it up, tell me. I don't want to be stupid and make it worse than it is.



Please critique. Thanks for your help. I will get pics especially if it will help you guys. It's dark out so I will have to wait for tommorow.
 
Here is a pic..I just want suggestions to lessen the appearance...I know the paint is removed in a few spots the paint in that area is just SO SOFT its like butter (it has to be because the plastic needs to flex).



DSC02565.jpg




From front view (you can see a tiny bit of light scratches..can I remove those somehow?

DSC02564.jpg




I am guessing its too large of an area for touch up? What can I do for the scratches that are seen on the outside (front view)? If you need better pics I will take closer ones.



Would ScratchX do anything at all for the lighter scratches? The camera seemed to only pic up the black gashes and not the lighter scratches.
 
I wouldn't run out and have it repainted......chances are it will happen again! That is just life!



What I would do is clean the area really well to start. Then lightly sand the affected area to smooth out the gouges and allow paint to adhere. Your local paint supply or auto parts store should have a areosol spray paint that should match. Just mask off the area really well and spray it, then clear it.



Simple and inexpensive fix. Until it happens again.



Hope this helps!
 
vdubbya said:
I wouldn't run out and have it repainted......chances are it will happen again! That is just life!



What I would do is clean the area really well to start. Then lightly sand the affected area to smooth out the gouges and allow paint to adhere. Your local paint supply or auto parts store should have a areosol spray paint that should match. Just mask off the area really well and spray it, then clear it.



Simple and inexpensive fix. Until it happens again.



Hope this helps!
Click to expand...



Do you think the paint they sell there would match close enough to my color? I am confortable using touch up paint from BMW because its the same paint they used on my car.
 
vdubbya said:
Maybe your local BMW dealer might be able to set you up with a exact match paint in spray.
Click to expand...



Sounds like a plan, do you think I'll need primer?



I know, I know, I'm being excessive. It just hurts me to know I did that to it..
 
I would use a primer on exposed plastic so that the paint holds.



Depending upon the paint, you may or may not need clear. I would say you more than likely will need clear.
 
Sadly enough, I will be doing this process sometime in the near future as well on my rear bumper. I backed into a van at work today, nothing major, but noticeable.
 
It may not be the best way(as we know) but it's the best and least expensive. Of course if money is not an issue and fixing the paint the cheap way is not sufficient, total respray at a good paint shop is in order.



I had a customer bring a Passat Wagon to me about a year ago for a detail. The rear bumper was scratched and the black plastic was showing. She said not to worry about the bumper because she was planning to have it repainted. I told her to let me see what I could do and save her a little $$$. About $400!



Long story short I fixed the problem so that it was ok and not so noticeable. The next month she backed into the same cement wall in her parking garage at work. Hit the exact same spot. Good thing she didn't waste the $400!



Things like this happen!
 
vdubbya said:
It may not be the best way(as we know) but it's the best and least expensive. Of course if money is not an issue and fixing the paint the cheap way is not sufficient, total respray at a good paint shop is in order.



I had a customer bring a Passat Wagon to me about a year ago for a detail. The rear bumper was scratched and the black plastic was showing. She said not to worry about the bumper because she was planning to have it repainted. I told her to let me see what I could do and save her a little $$$. About $400!



Long story short I fixed the problem so that it was ok and not so noticeable. The next month she backed into the same cement wall in her parking garage at work. Hit the exact same spot. Good thing she didn't waste the $400!



Things like this happen!
Click to expand...



Yeah, I guess I shouldn't get so worked up about the little things.



You know what the irony of this scrape is?



I parked my car and was leaving when I noticed a slightly better spot TO AVOID DINGS/SCRATCHES from other people.



So I got in my car to move it to this spot, little did I know this curb was abnormally high, I was looking at my cars front bumpers reflection in the car next to me as I was pulling up...then "screeeeech". Apparently I just misjudged. The damage was done in an instant.



I'm starting to realize that by being TOO cautious I am only getting careless.



Heh, and there are people lowering this car too, I wonder how they are coping.



Moral of the story: If it ain't broke, DON'T FIX IT. :rules:
 
Yea it always hurts, esp on a new car like yours. When I had my 325 coupe before, one time trying to park, I guess I must of pulled too much to the side of the curb and curbed my brand new wheels, piss me off to no end at the time. But hey what can you do right, the damage was already done, all I can do is just learn from it and not to make the same dumb mistake again.
 
BMW335i said:
Yeah, I guess I shouldn't get so worked up about the little things.



You know what the irony of this scrape is?



I parked my car and was leaving when I noticed a slightly better spot TO AVOID DINGS/SCRATCHES from other people.



So I got in my car to move it to this spot, little did I know this curb was abnormally high, I was looking at my cars front bumpers reflection in the car next to me as I was pulling up...then "screeeeech". Apparently I just misjudged. The damage was done in an instant.



I'm starting to realize that by being TOO cautious I am only getting careless.



Heh, and there are people lowering this car too, I wonder how they are coping.



Moral of the story: If it ain't broke, DON'T FIX IT. :rules:
Click to expand...



My 335i is lowered on coil overs and has the aero lip. Gotta be on your toes!



Anyway, I would do as other suggest. Clean well, sand with 2k grit, mask, spray prime, fill with paint (or spray), sand, with 3k, compound.
 
I just did the same damn thing!!! Was driving through a parking lot and the lot dipped down where it meets the driveway to the road and scrapppeee. Where does one pick up a primer?
 
Ouch, I scraped my sideskirt the first week I had my car so I know how you feel. Good luck getting it fixed, I'm sure with a little touch up work it will look good. In the future, try parking backwards, the rear bumper sits higher so it can help prevent things like this from happening.
 
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