Attempting DIY Bumper Repair........

[seismic22]

I'm looking to tidy up the unsightly damage to the rear bumper on my 320d touring. I bought the car like it and the previous owner seems to have been a bit enthusiastic with the halfords touch up pen on onside before thinking better of continuing onto the other side.

I recently made a small repair on a silver front bumper using a number of different grades of wet and dry, a miniscule amount of flexible bumper filler, halfords primer and halfords premixed manufacturer specific silver (it was a sunday, I was feeling impatient and only halfords was open!). I didnt get round to laquering it (i bought a can). My spray technic was to hold the can quite far away and very very lightly spray the area short and sharp, 2-3 times letting it dry a little in between and though very slightly darker on inspection the colour match was good and once fitted barely noticeable even with being laquered.


My question is, these scratches are bigger and on relatively flat panels where a repair is likely to be more obvious. Can anyone suggest/ give me a break down on the best method to do a good DIY repair?


I know I should go to a bodyshop but I have all the materials already to give it a go myself. If it doesnt work out, I can prep the bumper myself and send it to be painted or more likely hunt for a used item in colour instead. Thanks

[seismic22]

Swapping with a used one is what I have done in the past and would prefer to do this but seeing as I have the paint and would like to keep costs down on this vehicle I might still give it a try.

I know silver is the hardest (or one of) to match and I said I would never buy another silver car again due that reason but this car was too good too miss for other reasons.

[seismic22]

BuzzBravado said:

Forget about trying to save money just cause you have the paint, it will look crap. Another bumper in the same colour is the best way to go bang for buck.

Agreed that used is the best idea, but on that basis its not going to hurt or cost me anything to give it a go beforehand. I can spare a couple of hours..

Thanks

[seismic22]

73mark said:

It would help if you two read op's statement about him having the paint that is matched already and the fact he wants to give it a go.

I'm not naive to the fact that most repair attempts end up looking worse than started but giving it a go is going to cost me zilch. I have "patched" the front bumper of another Titan silver car as mentioned above and the colour matched well enough to the point that no one noticed I had done anything. Just wanted advice on how I could improve upon this previous attempt as I accept a flat panel like the one in question will be harder to hide.

If I cock it up, I'll buy another "used" bumper but be satisfied I tried. Like a poster said above I am only looking for a 85/90% result.

Thanks

[seismic22]

This is the corner of a front bumper I repaired (pretty much my first attempt at such a repair), there was a deep scrape to the top corner of the vent/fog opening and other deep scratches above. Took me an evening of rubbing back, filling and spraying, walking away and spraying again later etc etc. Very very very light coats from a distance. Doesn't look "st" to me, just a tad darker and a abit dull (no laquer) in the flesh. Just wanted any advice on doing better job on a flat/more visible panel as know this will be harder.

[seismic22]

I didnt get round to applying laquer on that bumper for reasons not worth explaining but I fully intended to prior to a change of plan.

If I give the repairs a go discussed in this thread then I will use the can of laquer I have.

[seismic22]

Well, I gave one side a go. I have given it a coat of lacquer but I was having to spray outside and conditions weren't great and I will have to give it another going over.

Given the cars silver, I personally dont think it looks "st" as people suspected it might look and I think its another case for people giving things a go instead of throwing cash around first. In this instance, time really is not an excuse. I wet and dried, filled, primed, painted lacquered across a number of evenings as and when I could.

Thanks to those who encouraged having a go.

[seismic22]

Yes I lacquered it as soon as the paint was starting to feel dry to touch (1-2 hours) but unfortunately the wind picked up and made spraying very difficult. Still its come out well enough to the point that nobody has been able to spot my repair.

Thanks

[seismic22]

Thanks for the links. Nice work. Completely agree with everything you say and I look forward to tackling something with a gun and compressor in the future.

For now whilst I currently don't have a garage or a compressor or a gun and anywhere to store a comoressor etc the rattle can has done a reasonable job.

Nice Garage btw.

Thanks