Paint Repairs - Bumper and Bodywork DIY Repairs

[Fred Smith]

I have a number of issues with the bodywork on my new E86 and will probably attempt some DIY repairs (but I will almost certainly leave some bits to the pros). The car came with a touch up pen and "Paint Spray Basecoat" and "Paint Spray Clearcoat" in the appropriate BMW colour.

First questions, and please forgive my ignorance. After using an appropriate primer are the basecoat and clearcoat that came with the car suitable for metal panels, plastic (bumpers) or both? Aside from filler / prep, primer, basecoat and clearcoat are there any other stages that need doing?

The first job that I am definitely going to attempt myself is painting a new headlight washer jet cover.

The other jobs I might attempt are touching up some big chips near one of the rear windows, and the small, poorly finished touch up jobs on both rear wheel arches.

Thanks in advance and sorry for what might be stupid questions.

[coldel]

I think you might have to post up pictures, what stuff you have, how bad the damage is etc.

From my own DIY repairs (and bang average they were too!) I was using wet sand to prep, then base, then colour, blend, then coat. Even then it looked every inch a DIY job lol

If you colour a line in with a pen, you will need to blend it in and polish it, just drawing the line will leave a very clear line in most cases.

[Fred Smith]

I think you might have to post up pictures, what stuff you have, how bad the damage is etc.

From my own DIY repairs (and bang average they were too!) I was using wet sand to prep, then base, then colour, blend, then coat. Even then it looked every inch a DIY job lol

If you colour a line in with a pen, you will need to blend it in and polish it, just drawing the line will leave a very clear line in most cases.

Thanks. I am an enthusiastic amateur happy to spend hours on youtube and keen to learn. And I bought one of the cheapest E86's on the market and if I don;t do a great job I can always (1) leave it! or (2) pay a pro to make good.

You say "base, colour, coat"... do you mean "primer, base colour, clearcoat"?

I am planning on buying one (or even two, one big, one small) buffers in due course and fully expect to have to put in a lot of work to have any chance of a half decent job.

[raymond.harper]

It really needs to be warm, dust free also helps, before using any paint. In my experience, bodywork is best left to the professionals. By the time you pay for all the grades of sandpaper and paints and see the result, you are better off getting someone in to do it.

[Fred Smith]

It really needs to be warm, dust free also helps, before using any paint. In my experience, bodywork is best left to the professionals. By the time you pay for all the grades of sandpaper and paints and see the result, you are better off getting someone in to do it.

You may well be right... on the other hand... tiny areas... I have most of the paint and sandpaper I need already (and another car which could do with similar TLC that I am DEFINITELY NOT paying to have done)... I want to learn to do as much as possible... I want to keep my costs down because I don't want to spend loads of money on a high miler that is never going to be worth huge amounts more than I paid. And I definitely want to learn to be a good automotive cleaner and detailer, and that seems to be a significant part of how you make sure that a paintwork repair looks good.

And I'd quite like to get rid of imperfections and rust treat to be sure there is no damage being done beneath uneven paintwork ASAP, whereas I am definitely not going to a body shop for at least another three or four months when I have got used to the car a bit and got it through an MOT.

[Zedebee]

You say "base, colour, coat"... do you mean "primer, base colour, clearcoat"?

That’s right.
If you are just filling scratches and chips the other alternative is to buy a Chipex kit or similar. I had some good results on my Monaco Blue, which is a “difficult” colour. Once you start sanding, you might find the job getting bigger and bigger.
I definitely wouldn’t take your car to a body shop. If you need professional help go to a mobile PDR / scratch repair specialist who will generally charge you a fraction of the cost of a garage respray and you can usually watch, chat and pick up tips.

[Fred Smith]

That’s right.
If you are just filling scratches and chips the other alternative is to buy a Chipex kit or similar. I had some good results on my Monaco Blue, which is a “difficult” colour. Once you start sanding, you might find the job getting bigger and bigger.
I definitely wouldn’t take your car to a body shop. If you need professional help go to a mobile PDR / scratch repair specialist who will generally charge you a fraction of the cost of a garage respray and you can usually watch, chat and pick up tips.

Thanks. And good luck with the recommendation if you give them a call... I really hate recommending people... I hope you found my message useful!

[Deepseaskateboard]

Learning how to do scratches and stone chips isn't that difficult.

It’s all patience, and using the right things.

Most stone chip touchups look awful because people leave the bumps of paint on after filling the chip.

I learned how to touch in chips myself.

The method I use:

1. Fully clean the area where the chip is.
(Doesnt even need to be a whole panel clean, just ensure the area and maybe a 10cm radius around the hole is clean.

2. Fully shake your paint touchup. The older it is, the longer the shake.

3. You then need to apply the paint into the chip. You can use a micro applicator for this
https://amzn.eu/d/co19aom
Some people talk of using syringes, but never had much joy with them. Some paint pens come with really great nibs, but the bmw oem ones do not.

4. Leave the paint to cure. After using a micro applicator, your chip will likely look a bit of a mess. There could also be bits of overspill. Don’t worry too much about this. Leave to try for 24 hours.

5. Again, wipe down the area of the chip. Make sure it’s clean.

6. Get some 7000 grit sand paper. 7k is super fine, and you can’t cause too much damage with it if you apply minimal pressure. Rub over the paint bump in the stone chip and sand until flat. You will at this point create a 'burn mark' around the surrounding area. You can wet sand with 7000 to get a little more bite. I would advise wet sanding with it.
This is the messy part I suppose and your aim is to get the paint bump flat, and the same as the surrounding paint. Keep sanding until it’s totally flat. You will be sanding the clean un-chipped paint here too.

7. You now may notice after sanding that the chip has a small hole in it, this is where there was a bubble in the paint. If you notice, then repeat all of the steps again till here.

8. Once you are happy, do a final polish with some auto glym paint renovator. It’s really good stuff for this, and should (with enough work) remove most of the visible marking the sand paper did.

9. Buff off with a micro fibre.

10. Apply a layer of wax to the area. If you didnt clean down the panel prior, then clean the whole panel and wax it.



There are several more things you can do, like apply clear coat, but never had much luck with it.

You could also try some super resin polish, let it cure and wax over the top of it.

Another stage early on, if you are brave is to actually use sand paper to clean up the chip around it’s edges. Perhaps leave this until you have done a few and get used to sanding.

I can recommend fusso coat for the wax.

The biggest improvement you can make after all that sanding will be a machine polish over the area. I have a cordless makita DA, but only have used it twice! Never get the chance.
It does give good results tho. Hand polishing can also achieve decent results as you are working a small area.

Please keep in mind, this is just the method I use. It’s not 100% perfect. It would be better to master clearcoat.
The results I get is that I can’t see the chips from a reasonable distance and without scrutinising the paint, they can’t be seen.

Would a professional do a better job? Yes.
Would a professional do it faster? Yes.

Some times it can take me 72 hours waiting for it to cure and re-applying, sanding again etc.

The downside to the professional, is their hourly rate, and if you can learn how to do it, it saves a lot of money.

Best of luck!

If anyone else has any pointers, would be happy to learn. Especially clear coat application.
My main blocker to clear coat is that the paint fills the hole. There is no room to apply it.