Dent removal without having to dismantle door interior?

[Funk]

Spotted that someone's very kindly left me this on my driver's door. It's right on the swage line but isn't deep and hasn't broken the paint. Is it feasible to have this repaired without having to take all the door innards off? BMWs have a history of using plastic fixings which break if you dare look at them and I'd be keen not to introduce any rattles...

Dead centre here where the Peugeot's wheel is in the reflection:



You can see how much it distorts here:



Again, the reflection of the Peugeot's wheel really shows it:



Or just leave it and wait until it inevitably collects more dings and do it then...?

[Funk]

Thanks for all the input - what sort of figure should I be expecting from a PDR company? I'm in W.Sussex so any recommendations too would be appreciated!

[Funk]

Thanks for the advice all, the guy that valets my car gave me the number of his local 'dent guy', Russ at Panel Perfection (07717 796 622). He's done a great job, was great value and I'd recommend him if you're in the Sussex coast area too.

A better 'before':



Here's the 'afters':





Apparently the job was a little trickier than initially thought as the car's mostly made of aluminium which is a bit more of a faff to work with according to Russ - as someone mentioned above, he chose to go through between the window rubber and door skin to work the dent out from the inside without the need to remove anything.

Edited by Funk on Tuesday 6th April 01:30

[Funk]

paintman said:

After the hailstorm that went across Leicester a few years ago I had a long chat with the owner of one of the local PDR firms.
Problem with ally panels is that the metal tends to stretch as it deforms so with bigger sharp dents you're trying to put a quart back into a pint pot.

Interesting; I wondered why it might be trickier but didn't have much time to ask him in detail. He went over the car and most of the panels on it are aluminium - I found this from BMW:

"An aluminium monocoque construction is used for its doors and the outer skin of the roof, while elements such as the bonnet, front shear panel, engine subframe, front bulkhead and rear bumper support are also made from aluminium. The plastic boot lid, the magnesium cockpit support and the use of carbon fibre-reinforced plastic in the centre tunnel help to both reduce weight and optimise distribution. As a result, the four-door is only 70kg heavier than the Coupé."