Keyed car

[pjswan]

Hi All,

new to this forum,

just discovered my 11 plate 3 series in Le Mans blue has just been keyed down two panels (drivers and rear door), definitely through the paint and down to the primer, very visible as the car is blue. Scratch is about 50 cm long.

Any suggestions re Chips Away/SMART repair versus proper body shop job....?

many thanks

[MarsellusWallace]

On an 11 plate BMW I would say you definately need a body shop job.

Can you feel the scratch with the edge of your fingernail?-if it's not too deep then it may flat and polish out.

[pjswan]

you most certainly can feel the edge..!

Do the chip away/ SMART people not use similar techniques as a body shop nowadays...?

Im just fearing for a huge BMW bill if I take it to a 'proper' body shop...

What sort of price do you think I should expect ?

[Alfahorn]

I would take it to a proper bodyshop and reckon a cost of £100 per panel.

[tlrracer]

I have just had my burgundy Nissan quasqui done, same sort of damage, plus slight dent in other door, paid on insurance but total bill was £1040, apparently they had to spray both sides of the car, which was total blx as i could feel the overspray on the front wing! that was by an insurance approved bodyshop....

[roadend1981]

Sorry to hear that,try chips away or similar,I know alot of garages ie BMW,Audi that use these without customers realising.

[FreeLitres]

OP, please remember that some popular chips repair companies are franchise setups so the quality of work will depend entirely on the expertise and skill of the local guy.

For example, this is the repaired (yes REPAIRED) scratch on my old Jag that the local, erm, “Chips-be-gone” style guy did.


This was after the 2nd time he tried to repair it, as I wasn't happy at all with his first effort and called him back a few days later. I would have asked him to do it again, but he had worn the lacquer so thin around that area that I didn't want him to make it worse.

Of course, there will be some amazingly talented local guys out there and this example will by no means be typical.

My advice, go to a proper body shop.