Dealer scratches instrument panel, how to remove?

[badfish]

Well, long story short. I ordered my M3 out of state, when it was delivered I took pictures of the odometer to document the mileage. Then I detailed my car and after I cleaned off the odometer which was hazy with water spots. I noticed it has several deep scratches that run several inches across the clear plastic lens on the instrument panel. I looked back closely at the pictures I took of the odometer and saw the scratches in the pictures so I am sure that my car came that way.

I e-mailed my dealer and they don't seem to want to do anything about it. Do you think I should continue to push them to fix it? They actually recommended that I go to Dent Wizard to have it fixed. These scratches are totally annoying now that the lens is nice and shiny. This is part of the problem with having a dealer that is out of state is that I can't just drive in and show up.

I've attached a picture with arrows, there are more scratches than I am pointing out. Pretty much anything that is an opaque white line is a scratch. The pictures with the arrow were taken just after the car was unloaded from the truck.

TIA

[the_stranger]

I say try to push them to order a new panel for you. It's a new car and you spent more than 65k for it.

[badfish]

Thanks for the reply. Since they are far away, does anyone know if I just take off the instrument panel if I can just snap the clear plastic part off and send it to them? On a parts catalog I only saw that the whole instrument panel could be purchased, not sure if that's the case.

[Deathboy]

That sucks, its a new car does the warranty cover that ?

[Technic]

Originally Posted by badfish

Thanks for the reply. Since they are far away, does anyone know if I just take off the instrument panel if I can just snap the clear plastic part off and send it to them? On a parts catalog I only saw that the whole instrument panel could be purchased, not sure if that's the case.

Do not remove anything or any chances of warranty work will instantly disappear.

Why you just go to your local dealership and tell them what happened? Perhaps they can talk to the other dealer and arrange warranty work for this.

In the worst case, your local dealership could simply use some plastic polisher and fix those scratches.

[ybbiz34]

I would start to give your dealer some serious shit. Tell them they can fix it easily and cheaply or they can have the car back, and never have your business again. I can't believe they won't volunteer to fix that. What assholes.

[Technic]

Originally Posted by ybbiz34

I would start to give your dealer some serious shit. Tell them they can fix it easily and cheaply or they can have the car back, and never have your business again. I can't believe they won't volunteer to fix that. What assholes.

The OP dealer is out of state...

[ybbiz34]

Originally Posted by Technic

The OP dealer is out of state...

Yeah, so?

[Technic]

Originally Posted by ybbiz34

Yeah, so?

So it is worth to you to ship the car back, for at least $1500 the round trip out of your pocket, just to get the car looked at without any assurance that you will get what you are looking for?

Come on...

[ybbiz34]

Originally Posted by Technic

So it is worth to you to ship the car back, for at least $1500 the round trip out of your pocket, just to get the car looked at without any assurance that you will get what you are looking for?

Come on...

I'd drive it back and tell them to fix it or take it back. If they still argued about it, I'd tell them it is their car now. Then, I'd get on my cell phone and buy a Mercedes and tell the Mercedes dealership to deliver it to my location (the dealer).

[Sedan_Clan]

From experience, the dealership should order you a new part. In the past, Riverside BMW scratched my interior trim during service, and once I requested that they repair it (..via a form), the damage was assessed and a new part was ordered and installed.

[Davinhci]

I would tell your dealership to order a new panel and ship it to your local dealer and tell them to fix it for you will all cost covered by the dealer the messed up.

[drvai]

Sending the car to the dealer won't be convenient.

I wonder if that would be covered by the warranty (the standard BMW USA).
Try at your local dealer....

[badfish]

My dealer mailed me a 3 step scratch remover kit. Comes with 3 bottles of varying abrasives. Nearly every aspect of my purchase was mishandled. I'm done asking these guys for help.

The lens looks like it cannot be ordered by itself. I'll try contacting some people at BMW corporate to see what can be done.

[bmwprince4life]

FIGHT IT

[badfish]

Originally Posted by bmwprince4life

FIGHT IT

I'm getting ready to. They F'd up my registration, after almost 2 months now I still don't have the title to my car and I paid cash for the damn thing. Always last minute stuff like having to smog the car and getting it inspected. I e-mailed the general manager, we'll see what happens.

[islandguy19]

ridiculous...FIGHT IT! My rear view mirror is all scratched up and BMW won't do anything.

[M2381]

Originally Posted by islandguy19

ridiculous...FIGHT IT! My rear view mirror is all scratched up and BMW won't do anything.

Yay for people reviving 5 month old threads...

If you explain your situation logically and approach them with a respectful attitude you may be suprised at how well the situation can work out.

Although that is not always the case, try not to make a big scene out of it and talk to someone higher up

And btw you should get some kind of form asking you to rate your dealer on service and a bunch of other stuff from BMWNA, give them bad rating and you should get a phone call from BMWNA and your dealer in a couple days

[tflynn6693]

The orginal crest toothpaste will take that out

[rawedge2]

i think you could fix that..

on my daily driver (g35x)
i was wiping all the shit on my floors around with a hard brush to make it look like i cleaned it.. moved up to the crevises in the console and dashboard, (was workin good), so moved on to see if it would remove the dust built up in the guages... when i saw it after it kinda looked like i tried turning it into a piece of brushed aluminum (the whole piece was couldy with scratches).. i most likely would have to pay for that with the lease return..

i grabbed a old bottle of scratch-X, (didnt wanna get the zymol or n e thing crazy out), i put a little more on than i would wax a car with, and let it sit for longer too.. and it cleared the whole thing beautifully..

it could possibly come back in time, but its been a month or 2 now and i havent noticed anything... and i would recoment rejex if you have.. it like a plastic wax for clear bra's and stuff, it seems to leave a thicker coating than wax.. (great for wheels too)

or any wax.. just give it a shot, and be carfull not to get any on the dashboard, it'll be annoying to clean.. good luck!

[rawedge2]

..i could of just kept it quick and said WAX IT.. haha

[NYK007]

Hi guys,

BMW is one the best cars of the world. After many pictures, posts, videos and information, we will finally see the 2009 BMW Z4 in its true form. This will happen between 17 and 25 of January. Some people might be interested in seeing the new 7 and 3 Series vehicles. Thanks

NYK
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