Anyone have experience doing their own painless dent removal?

I took a pretty good door ding last week and need to fix it. Since everyone I have had work on the car has dinged or scratched it while they were working on it, I figured I can buy a decent paintless dent removal tool kit for about the same price as paying somebody and not wind up with any more damage to the car.

Have any of you done this yourself or have any recommendations on manufacturers or sellers of the kits?

Thanks!

your own pdr??? pay the pro bro!! a good guy can get out a ding almost 100%, you doing it yourself is sure to look like ****. I keep my pdr guy on speed dial. If your in Ny use my guy.

how much your guy charges ?

depends on the damage.

The quote was $350. I've had the rear door panels off a few times when we were chasing down a wind noise issue; there are a lot of things behind the panel that a hack could screw up (roller blinds, regulator, etc.) and since every "pro" to include the dealer has either scratched, dented or otherwise screwed something up each time I have had it in the shop for a mod or repair I'd rather do it myself and know that I'm not going to wind up with further repairs.

350 doesnt sound like a ding to me. I wouldnt try to do it myself. Ask around to some local places who the best guy in the area is. throw him a 20 before he starts and tell him dont f u my car bro. You can also wait while they do it like i do!! My guy usually comes to my house.

Originally Posted by 1bad540

350 doesnt sound like a ding to me. I wouldnt try to do it myself.

I agree. I had my whole rear quarter panel repainted to match on
my Ex-Chrysler 300 when a drunk motorcycle rider scraped it with
his handlebars. I wouldnt risk a "tacky" DIY job over a mere $300.
just MY opinion.

Originally Posted by 1bad540

350 doesnt sound like a ding to me. I wouldnt try to do it myself. Ask around to some local places who the best guy in the area is. throw him a 20 before he starts and tell him dont f u my car bro. You can also wait while they do it like i do!! My guy usually comes to my house.

That's my usual M.O.

While I have sat there as work was done (all at reputable places where I have had plenty of great work done before) I was able to witness:

1. A body shop guy sit in my driver's seat with a screwdriver in his pocket and scratch my outer bolster.

2. A tech drop my left headlight and knock the Adaptive Drive off it's track.

3. A different tech lean under my dash and scrape my lower rocker panel with the keys hanging out of his pocket all the way to the plastic. They had it filled and repainted for $300.00.

4. I went to grab a coke and came back to see tech #2 trying to "fix" the track issue on the adaptive headlight with a power drill and before I could yell at him to stop saw that he had stripped the plastic molding where the screwdriver would go. I can still adjust with an Allen wrench but WTF?!?.

5. My favorite mechanic who has forgotten more about bimmers than most will ever know gave me a nice 1/4" gouge on the fender lip with his metal flashlight at my last oil change.

These are all guys who have worked on my cars for years with no damage or issues, it just seems that techs/mechs lose their mind when working on a 7 series.

^^WOW...wrong body shops in my opinion. Seek more reputable ones.
Remember, you own a Bimmer, NOT a Hyundai and it should be
treated as one. But I do acknowledge your concerns because those things
can and do happen unfortunately.

Its tuff when your picky, but looks like you need to go to better shops that only do highend cars. there may not be any of them in your area, try specialty bmw places.

^^^Dang 1Bad..you and I on the SAME page today!

There was a Bentley GTC in the bay next to mine when he scratched the bolster, I'm not down at MAACO, lol.

Originally Posted by 1bad540

Its tuff when your picky, but looks like you need to go to better shops that only do highend cars. there may not be any of them in your area, try specialty bmw places.

That's a good point. However, you can't go two blocks without seeing a six figure ride where I am in Westlake Village, CA. No shortage of ridiculous whips around here and the shops I am going to primarily service high end cars. Maybe this one is cursed.

servicing a car is tuff.

Originally Posted by ShoNuff745i

^^^Dang 1Bad..you and I on the SAME page today!

Yea im pretty anal retentive.

Originally Posted by 1bad540

servicing a car is tuff.

It's probably the biggest surprise that came with the car. I've owned real exotics before and am familiar with the high maintenance costs that come with them (try the 30k mile service on a 348 for example), I never expected the car to get dinged up while in a shop with people used to working on higher end cars. It's never been an issue in the past with any of my cars, regardless of price.

I always let them know before hand that Im anal, please donnt fuk up my car and that im an a$$hole if they do. I usually follow that up with some cash to go around

Don't have experience with PDR, but I just picked up my car from the body shop, they removed the dents and dings on both front door panels. I am taking advantage of the $100 insurance deductible

Okay, I had lunch with one of my clients who just had a ding taken out of his 930 Turbo (or whatever the current model number is); he called the guy while we were at lunch, he met me a couple of hours later and rocked my world by making it disappear completely for $125.00.

If anyone ever needs a reference for a true dpr magician in the San Fernando or Conejo Valleys let me know and I will forward the info.

This is what he made go away, it was about 1/2" wide and almost 1/4" deep with a small crease in it.

I hope he made that go away, thats not bad at all. 125 is very fair.

Depending on where you live BMW dealers are running a deal for 129 a panel to removed dents

Originally Posted by 1bad540

I hope he made that go away, thats not bad at all. 125 is very fair.

It looks like a mirror again, I am pretty stoked. The first quote made me want to spend the money on the tools and do it my self. Spending an hour watching him was an education, I still may buy the tools and mess around with it.

Dealer techs scratched my hood changing wiper blades with the wiper arms - the hood is aluminum so no rust but WTF people just don't care anymore.

Originally Posted by MOPAULY

Dealer techs scratched my hood changing wiper blades with the wiper arms - the hood is aluminum so no rust but WTF people just don't care anymore.

Most 7's are scratched in that area, its because on some bmws the wipers dont hit it and the 7 does.

Sorry to dig up old post but I have a couple dings I need out.. they are very small on back door, but they are a little sharp.. I assume the door panel has to come off correct? I HATE having door panels come off with all their clips and covers, etc, something is always damaged... (clips, weatherguards, etc..) also if you still have that number on the PDR guy for SF valley I would appreciate it.