[Jamese93]

So the inevitable has happened - my car's a few months old and parked up whilst out for a Christmas meal with mates and someone's filled me with Christmas cheer by hitting the back of it with, I guess, some bullbars.

It's not cracked the plastic, but dented it on the top of the top crease line as it were, the paint's crazed and there's a mark underneath it too.

Luckily it's in one place between the parking sensors in the middle. Still really really annoyed though - not a mark on a 3,000 mile car a few months old then it's going to need paint! I guess it will need some sanding, a bit of plastic filling and painting. ARGH! Anyway, rant over.

I live in central London guys (and lovely gals....) and need to know if anyone has used or knows of people that have used good smart repair firms - stealers farm out all this work to them rather than repair in house.

I ideally want either a mobile firm but more importantly need to get it sorted before Christmas - any Xmas goodies on a damaged car ain't going to feel quite right

I'd really appreciate any help to get my bluewater back from bentwater.... Not good.

So far on the forum I've seen Chipsaway and Smartfix quick mentions but no-one seems to have definitively said "use these guys"!

Thanks and Happy Christmas one and all......

J

[singh182]

i used to work for chipsaway and can honestly say i would not let the chipsaway paint system anywere near my car...they use a lower spec paint system which after some time the paint will start to degrade.....your better of going via insurance / good bodyshop.

[superbow]

I had a repair done about a year ago with Chipsaway and was not impressed at all. lacqer started coming off. Ended up getting the guy back and getting all my money refunded. I would only use a proper bodyshop, which I did and it only cost me a fiver extra.

[Jamese93]

Mmmmm. I suspected this may be the case - proper bodywork place is going to cost near 500 notes though I would have thought - last thing I need in the recession and with christmas! Any other thoughts anyone?

I've had it done via a stealer before and the work held up well. It is a bumper after all...?

[Tunna_uk]

you might be surprised, if you get a quote from nearest BMW approved repairer . Sometimes they can be reasonable and helpful. I was quoted £150 for a bumper repaint.

[singh182]

make sure your local stealer will use a bodyshop and not a third party company like chipsaway as most dealer do this!!...ask them a quote from there approved bodyshop.

[Jamese93]

Thanks Tunna. Any way to find out where the local BMW approved repairers are?

J

[Rushall]

I used Revive for a similar ding on my rear bumper - personally, I would recommend, albeit my car's Saphire Black. In all liklihood, BMW will simply outsource the repair to a decent Smart repair company anyway.

I would get the car Smart repaired as quickly, conveniently and cheapily as possible. It will cost you about £100 and your car will look good for Christmas hols (which it sounds like you want). If your not quite happy with the finish you can either get them back out to sort it properly in the New Year but at least the worst of the problem will be sorted.

Good luck.

[Dr Dave]

Personally I think you will find it impossible to find a bodyshop who will be able to take on work this side of Christmas.

I fear a smart repairer job is the only way to go.

[Jamese93]

Dr Dave, Rushall, thanks for the advice! Inclined to go with a smart repair now and see how it looks - stealers have done good smart repair in the past on a previous car of mine so inclined to give them a go, and if they're crap, bite the bullet and cough up for a proper repair. Thanks for the heads up on revive.

Funnily enough a DP of a certain well known Thames Ditton dealership confided to me in the past that all of their cars on the forecourt had been smart repaired for wheels and the like. Hence I'm not quite as upset about the revive kinda route.

Will contact on Monday - in the meantime any more rec's would be gratefully received. After research companies that seem ok from web and comments included revive and chipsaway.

J

[Gibbo]

I feel your pain it's not nice to get your car damaged through no fault of your own.

The car needs a bumper off respray and it will look like new and in reality the only job you will be pleased with. Taking the bumper off is no biggy and will allow a full respray and bake which you just cannot do on the car. You will have to leave your car for 2 to 3 days for this to be done. When you pick your car up make sure the parking sensors are level with the bodywork if not they car adjust them quickly while you wait by removing the rear diffuser (if a sport model).

Any good body shop will do this for £250 to £300 if you explain it's not an insurance claim and you are paying yourself. The local smart repairs are for older cars, lease cars or if you are planning to sell in the near future and just want a tidy up. In time they will fade (6 to 12months) and you will have wasted £100 and want it done properly.

If you think this is a good investment the go for it but for me it's short term dead money if you want your car to look good for the future. Be patient find the right bodyshop and get it done correctly.

[Darren Edwards @ Sytner]

We are currently investing about £700k in state of the art smart repair facilities across our BMW division which uses BMW paint and kit such as full car and wheel only spray cabins, micro - bead blasters and individual wheel ovens. However, it's the technician's skill level that makes all the difference so until I am satisfied we have the right people in place using the kit, I wouldnt say rush on down just yet! ( We are recruiting at the moment)

May do a few freebies next year when it's all up and running for a few of you guys to see what you think?

[Gibbo]

Originally Posted by Darren Edwards @ Sytner

We are currently investing about £700k in state of the art smart repair facilities across our BMW division which uses BMW paint and kit such as full car and wheel only spray cabins, micro - bead blasters and individual wheel ovens. However, it's the technician's skill level that makes all the difference so until I am satisfied we have the right people in place using the kit, I wouldnt say rush on down just yet! ( We are recruiting at the moment)

May do a few freebies next year when it's all up and running for a few of you guys to see what you think?

Darren, that is a big investment what's your forecasted payback on this project?

[Jamese93]

Originally Posted by Gibbo

I feel your pain it's not nice to get your car damaged through no fault of your own.

The car needs a bumper off respray and it will look like new and in reality the only job you will be pleased with. Taking the bumper off is no biggy and will allow a full respray and bake which you just cannot do on the car. You will have to leave your car for 2 to 3 days for this to be done. When you pick your car up make sure the parking sensors are level with the bodywork if not they car adjust them quickly while you wait by removing the rear diffuser (if a sport model).

Any good body shop will do this for £250 to £300 if you explain it's not an insurance claim and you are paying yourself. The local smart repairs are for older cars, lease cars or if you are planning to sell in the near future and just want a tidy up. In time they will fade (6 to 12months) and you will have wasted £100 and want it done properly.

If you think this is a good investment the go for it but for me it's short term dead money if you want your car to look good for the future. Be patient find the right bodyshop and get it done correctly.

It just drives you mad when you care about something which you've paid a fortune for (let's face it, none of these bimmers are cheap) and someone else damages it for you!

I know what you mean - just had a smart repair chap on the phone that didn't fill me with confidence "we won't have to remove the bumper mate" - so you tell me how there's not going to be overspray etc. then? By doing a crap job, that's how! It really does need a full bumper off job as otherwise there'll be overspray which i hate. Don't mind paying up to 300, but not 500 qhich I dread to think is what a dealer will charge - exactly right re the insurance, certainly not going through that with 4 years ncb and a damn high premium already.

I'm going to call a few boyshops come Monday and see what they say - including Technic autos in Stamford Brook, Acton coackworks, Paintforce Limited in Hammersmith and a dealer or two.

Anyone heard of any of these?

And seeing as Sytner have just posted I'll have a word with them too!

Thanks again for all the advice everyone. Have just fitted the performance grills which look great so need to get the bumper sorted!

J

[Jamese93]

Originally Posted by Darren Edwards @ Sytner

We are currently investing about £700k in state of the art smart repair facilities across our BMW division which uses BMW paint and kit such as full car and wheel only spray cabins, micro - bead blasters and individual wheel ovens. However, it's the technician's skill level that makes all the difference so until I am satisfied we have the right people in place using the kit, I wouldnt say rush on down just yet! ( We are recruiting at the moment)

May do a few freebies next year when it's all up and running for a few of you guys to see what you think?

Just private messaging you Darren...

Cheers,

J

[dxb335d]

any pics mate? Hope you get it sorted soon!

[JLR1969]

Originally Posted by Jamese93

It just drives you mad when you care about something which you've paid a fortune for (let's face it, none of these bimmers are cheap) and someone else damages it for you!

I know what you mean - just had a smart repair chap on the phone that didn't fill me with confidence "we won't have to remove the bumper mate" - so you tell me how there's not going to be overspray etc. then? By doing a crap job, that's how! It really does need a full bumper off job as otherwise there'll be overspray which i hate. Don't mind paying up to 300, but not 500 qhich I dread to think is what a dealer will charge - exactly right re the insurance, certainly not going through that with 4 years ncb and a damn high premium already.

I'm going to call a few boyshops come Monday and see what they say - including Technic autos in Stamford Brook, Acton coackworks, Paintforce Limited in Hammersmith and a dealer or two.

Anyone heard of any of these?

And seeing as Sytner have just posted I'll have a word with them too!

Thanks again for all the advice everyone. Have just fitted the performance grills which look great so need to get the bumper sorted!

J

Took my car to Sytner BMW in High Wycombe for a rear bumper repair, needed respraying and filling etc. They outsourced the work to LSG in High Wycombe as they did not have any bodyshop facilities.

My advice have the whole bumper taken off and repaired properly, smart repairs are OK in certain circumstances but on a new car that's your pride and joy.......... DO IT PROPERLY

[Bigamos]

Just paint the bumper, and do the job 100%....

A standard bumper repaint shouldn't really be over £200 in my eyes...

[Jamese93]

Hey DXB

I'll try and take some tomorrow of the grill etc tomorrow - Have to say they make it look a lot less fussy shall we say.

Will also take some of that damn dent in the bumper.

Couldn't agree more re the bumper - have calmed down now and will get it done properly - tomorrow will be the trawl of the paint shops to see what they say.

Bigamos, JLR, couldn't agree more - if it was a rep banger I'd not care, as it's my own and I love it, time to give it the repair it deserves.....

Onwards and upwards!

Night night all.

J

[gadgetfreak]

James, not sure it it's too far, but there is a place I use in Barking that is very good and do a bumper off job so no overspray. Place it called Sira motors and they charge about £200 all in. Personally, if a smart repair was going to cost more than £80 -£100, i'd rather pay the extra and get the whole bumper done instead.

[Jamese93]

Gadgetfreak - many thanks. I'll look into it. Have had some eye watering prices today all - ranging from the 140 + VAT smart repair (no thanks) to 280 from a railway arch place, again with a few month old car no thanks really, to about the 380 mark, which makes my eyes water a bit. get the feeling they overspray rep mobiles all the time from their car parks. Waiting to hear from two official places at the moment. One place started rambling on about how the bumper needed replacing and they were all one unit etc - standing in front of the bumper where you could blatantly see the bloody thing was 10p sized. I pointed this out and they started rambling about me asking for a new bumper. Are they deliberately completely dumb and just don't fecking listen? Gawd.....

Will update more with prices as and when they come in.

[Jamese93]

Just got the car back having had the bumper sprayed by Hardev at Sira Motors in Dagenham. In and out the same day, 180 notes.

If any of you need any bodywork doing I'd wholeheartedly recommend, they've done an excellent job, and in and out in a day.

Paintwork now better than new.

J