[Monkeyboxers]

On the weekend the lower front bumper of my car was scrapped by something (a car?). My Blackvue didn't capture the incident as it was overwritten!

My wife has given me permission to touch up the car on a yearly basis, so I'm looking to have it fixed.



Can anyone suggest a local Melbourne, Australia (Based in Southside) business that can help repair the bumper? Whilst at it, I'm going to fix a rims as well - minor as well

Originally posted in the sub-forum region for Australia, but not getting much traction there.

[vanbmw]

If you don't get any luck here I suggest trying your local BMW shop or another high performance car shop. The BMW shop will have a shop they use regularly and get good results. When you go to that shop tell them the local BMW shop gave them a recommendation. This way the shop should do a good job. They do not want to do a shit job and have you go to the local BMW dealer and complain they recommended a shit shop. BMW dealerships give lots of body work to repair shops so they will value this relationship!

The other option I mentioned is a high car dealer or repair shop. I have a buddy that has a car shop that works on Porsche, Ferrari, Audi and Lambo's mainly. He is always sending cars for minor body repairs or to have body kits installed. Owners of these cars demand perfect results! He has a great repair shop he uses almost every week. I am sure a local dealer will give you a good recommendation.

[Monkeyboxers]

vanbmw Thanks! I found there's a BMW and Lexus approved supplier. I'll give them a call or drop by and get a quote.

[Monkeyboxers]

Update: So I went to 3 different repair shops and got huge price differences.

Independent body shop - $300
Approved BMW repair shop - $800
BMW Body Workshop - $1.3K

Since the damage is so small and it isn't on metal, I'm not too concern on it not being properly sealed and rusting (thoughts?).

My friend's good mate works at the independent shop so suggested I'd give it a go. They still take off the bumper sand it back and repaint and seal but with such a big price gap it makes me wonder....

[madmonkey]

Save money and go with indy shop

[Billfitz]

Originally Posted by madmonkey

Save money and go with indy shop

+1. That price seems fair. The 'approved' price is high, the BMW price is outrageous. I don't see the need to paint the entire bumper. I'd only do that if it had a number of spots that needed painting and I was going to sell or tun in the car, as one can anticipate a bumper will continue to collect dings.

[vanbmw]

My guess here...just a guess...is the cheap one may do the repair with the bumper on the car. Quick and easy. Tape off around the area...fill and sand...prime-paint-clear coat. Nothing wrong with this but if they don't do a good job of "feathering" the original paint to the new paint you will notice it.
The more expensive option may have the front bumper removed. This takes more time then expected. Then they will remove al the inserts/chrome etc...sand fill and paint the whole bumper. I had my front bumper repaired in this manner. I wasn't paying...the lady that rolled into my car paid. It was around $1200 if I recall. The finished product was perfect. Colour match was great and it looked like a brand new bumper.

[Monkeyboxers]

The cheaper one ($300) does take off the bumper and proper job, he said if just a touch up it'll be $150. IF my freakin dash cam caught the culprit I'll go with $1.4k fix!

[DrifterX]

You have zero rust concerns here. Get the BMW touch up paint (it's like ~$60) and be done with it because you won't notice it; one thing I've learned from owning a brand new car is that shit happens...

[vanbmw]

Originally Posted by Monkeyboxers

The cheaper one ($300) does take off the bumper and proper job, he said if just a touch up it'll be $150. IF my freakin dash cam caught the culprit I'll go with $1.4k fix!

Then I would vote for that repair. Money well spent if $300 paints it. I saw all the pieces they had to remove from my bumper to make the repair and it wasn't a quick removal. That is the way to go I would think.