Body Work Repair Questions

[SonnyZ4]

2003 BMW Z4 w/Aero front

When I bought the car, I knew the first owner (bought it from second owner) was not very careful. Theres a weird section of damage on the lower center of the rear bumper and some scrapes on the lower part of the front bumper. For the rear bumper the damage seems like it needs to be sanded down and some small spots filled.

Im I correct? Does anyone know of a forum that focuses on this? Does anyone have exp with paint and body?

My neighbor owns a shop and he gave me a good price. He'll know more than I will, but I always like to have some knowledge going in...

Thanks for any advice and knowledge!

Heres some pics:

 

[Mr Whippy]

Also notice the pinch marks at either side of the number plate (license plate) aperture, I guess where the base of the bumper has folded back and the bumper has raised up about the plate recess.

To be honest I think my car has had similar to you, either a bollard or something at low speed, as I can see signs of a repair if I look very closely at the line of that lower lip at a certain angle... and on eBay there are a fair number of Z4 rear-bumpers for sale with similar damage to yours, so a common place for small dinks/marks!


I imagine a body shop will rub it back around the areas to be repaired, add filler, smooth it off, then re-spray those areas. However, ideally, you would want to do the whole panel again (spray wise) following the repair, as smaller spot repairs on such a small panel will be hard to match in effectively with a good long lasting repair.
Probably best to just re-spray the whole thing while it is off the car and do a really nice job of it, rather than a small 'smart' repair that will have to have the lacquer, possibly, blended out badly, or run right to the panel edges anyway.


Dave

 

[SonnyZ4]

Thats what I was thinking is to respray the entire bumper.
Will you highlight the "pinch" marks? I don't see it... :scratchhead:

I have checked out ebay, I was hoping to find a good cond bumper from someone. ...but no luck!