Is this dent repairable?

At 7 days / 120 Miles of my new 535xi, picked up this dent from a parking lot

Any idea whether this can be fixed? Would paintless dent repair work?

That dent is right on a crease, I dont think paintless dent repair will work.

Originally Posted by The X Men

That dent is right on a crease, I dont think paintless dent repair will work.

Regular body work then? What would they do?

If you require perfection the answer is unfortunately no.

The PDR process doesn't work so well on bodyline dents but it will work. Maybe 90% in this case.

I assume the paint isn't broke, right?

Thankfully. no. I am not expecting perfection. "Less dented" would be wonderful.

As long as there is not an obstruction to the dent, use a good paintless dent repair. It may be 95% if the guy is good but it is far superior to painting the door. I had one right on a crease on my hood from a tree branch. Fixed it and you couldn't tell. Depends on the angle, who is repairing it and the how much time he puts into it. This is one thing that I have been sticky about for at least 10 years and I use the same guy. He is fantastic and he has never failed. Painting a door will be far more difficult to match and expensive. Try this first.

Thanks for the replies folks... The local Bimmer dealer has a guy who does dent work at the dealership. Will try to get him look at it.

Aluminum doors and on a crease, I am afraid you are looking a body work. My guess, it will be north of $650. Hang in there. It's all part of life!

I will try to do the paintless way and see if the dent can be made less visible. Then wait for the rest of the dents to appear and go to the body shop....

Originally Posted by Chuck W.

Aluminum doors and on a crease, I am afraid you are looking a body work. My guess, it will be north of $650. Hang in there. It's all part of life!

Actually I was figuring 1K if I need to take it to the body shop. Would that be a good ballpark number?

Originally Posted by bimmer40

Actually I was figuring 1K if I need to take it to the body shop. Would that be a good ballpark number?

Here's the rub:

A lot of body shops won't repair aluminum using traditional methods because they can't pull dents the same way as steel. So a lot of times, they recommend replacing the skin.

Don't get ahead of yourself.

PDR can be used to repair a dent in aluminum. The "success" rate generally isn't as high but you already mentioned you'll settle for less than perfect.

Originally Posted by mryakanisachoad

Here's the rub:

A lot of body shops won't repair aluminum using tradition methods because they can't pull dents the same way as steel. So a lot of times, they recommend replacing the skin.

Don't get ahead of yourself.

PDR can be used to repair a dent in aluminum. The "success" rate generally isn't as high but you already mentioned you'll settle for less than perfect.

Good advise. We'll keep our fingers crossed for you. Keep us posted.

PDR all the way...cheap and low risk. The best case scenario is that they can fix it and you're happy (with only about $50-100 spent). Worst case scenario is it can't be fixed via PDR and you go to a body shop.

Remember, park further away!!!!

Originally Posted by Chuck W.

Aluminum doors and on a crease, I am afraid you are looking a body work. My guess, it will be north of $650. Hang in there. It's all part of life!

I had a a number of smaller tree branches fall on my new 535 (1 week old) during a windstorm and it looked awful with a few scrapes to boot. The hood is aluminum. The PDR guy fixed it with no problems and took out the scratches/scuffs. I watched him do it, and I had one across the crease that he fixed - it was an excellent job. Aluminum can be fixed. Give it a try OP. If the guy is good he can do it. I've seen it done.

Originally Posted by mryakanisachoad

Here's the rub:

A lot of body shops won't repair aluminum using tradition methods because they can't pull dents the same way as steel. So a lot of times, they recommend replacing the skin.

Don't get ahead of yourself.

PDR can be used to repair a dent in aluminum. The "success" rate generally isn't as high but you already mentioned you'll settle for less than perfect.

Don't use a guy who pulls dents. You need a real pro who will push the dent out with the traditional tools they use. It's actually scary to watch. Most good guys do not use "pullers". Those are only for spots where there is absolutely no access and it can be very slow and tedious. Trust me OP, find the right guy and you will be okay. Painting the door is tough as I understand the paints are now water based. They are harder to deal with for a variety of reasons including the rate of evaporation.

Originally Posted by Die Wolfe

Remember, park further away!!!!

That's what kills me.... If it was in a crowded place, I would have perfectly understood.

I was a judge at an event at the local community college. (It was not a real contest; just giving feedback to local contestants who were going to compete in a state level computer science competition).

I had parked in the lot at what I call a reasonable spot. Away from the "prime" spots but not in an isolated spot. (Place is known for car thefts & windshield smashings). There were no cars immediately around me and there was PLENTY of spots around (at least 30 - 40).

Why the heck would someone want to pull in next to me, when there were tons of spots around

But, it was VERY windy (I could not get the trunk to close by touching the button; had to really press it down). Maybe the wind caught the other person by surprise.

Originally Posted by mryakanisachoad

Here's the rub:

A lot of body shops won't repair aluminum using traditional methods because they can't pull dents the same way as steel. So a lot of times, they recommend replacing the skin.

Don't get ahead of yourself.

PDR can be used to repair a dent in aluminum. The "success" rate generally isn't as high but you already mentioned you'll settle for less than perfect.

Thanks for the good advice. Looks like I am not very lucky with cars... The reason for getting the 535 now was that my Subaru got rear ended and is spending a couple of months at the shop. (My original plan was to get a car in the summer...).

Pardon my ignorance, but what is skin replacement? Is it changing the outer panel in the door?

Originally Posted by bimmer40

Pardon my ignorance, but what is skin replacement? Is it changing the outer panel in the door?

I'm sure that's what he meant. Then you have the whole non-OEM (original equipment manufacturer) issue, could get sub-standard door. Then they still have to paint it, with the whole paint matching issue -- they love to paint into neighboring "perfect" paint areas to blend. They'll want to clearcoat the whole side of the car after they apply base coat to the door. Best of luck with PDR. Avoid repainting if possible, is my suggestion.

I feel you. My car was 4 months old and a shopping cart nailed my door so hard it left a very deep dent. PDR could not fix it and it ended up costing me $1500 to repair since they had to blend panels. Aluminum doors are a pain for PDR. That quick trip to the market didn't seem like it was worth it afterwards and to top it off I was parked a mile away from anyone that day too.

Alan

Originally Posted by Alan L.

I feel you. My car was 4 months old and a shopping cart nailed my door so hard it left a very deep dent. PDR could not fix it and it ended up costing me $1500 to repair since they had to blend panels.
Alan

What did they end up doing? For body work, I might wait a few more months (and dents).

I am waiting for the body shop to complete work on my Subaru. (Last time they did some work on the Subaru, they did a fantastic job; but now they have changed hands, so let me see how it goes).

My X3 story is even better. In 08 got my new X3 (Subaru was in shop after someone had backed into it). Drove in from the dealer. Since there was the only car, wife took my daughter to the park. There was a similar dent. At 10 Miles and on day 1

Originally Posted by bimmer40

That's what kills me.... If it was in a crowded place, I would have perfectly understood.

I had parked in the lot at what I call a reasonable spot. Away from the "prime" spots but not in an isolated spot. (Place is known for car thefts & windshield smashings). There were no cars immediately around me and there was PLENTY of spots around (at least 30 - 40).

Why the heck would someone want to pull in next to me, when there were tons of spots around

But, it was VERY windy (I could not get the trunk to close by touching the button; had to really press it down). Maybe the wind caught the other person by surprise.

Some angry arseclown saw your car, pulled up next to it, and hammered the door of their shytebox beater (probably a pickup truck) into your F10, then either left or parked somewhere else.

Originally Posted by Keyser Soze

Some angry arseclown saw your car, pulled up next to it, and hammered the door of their shytebox beater (probably a pickup truck) into your F10, then either left or parked somewhere else.

Lol, it was probably an F150 vs F10

Heck, that is exactly what happened to my Pop's shiny new 528 back in 2000. He was in the checkout line and saw some turds pull up in a beat up pickup truck and do it and then peel out of the parking lot.

Originally Posted by Alan L.

I feel you. My car was 4 months old and a shopping cart nailed my door so hard it left a very deep dent. PDR could not fix it and it ended up costing me $1500 to repair since they had to blend panels. Aluminum doors are a pain for PDR. That quick trip to the market didn't seem like it was worth it afterwards and to top it off I was parked a mile away from anyone that day too.

Alan

Was it a regular shopping cart or one of those Home Depot specials?

I'm suddenly concerned that a regular shopping cart (unless it was full of cases of water or something) could cause enough damage to a BMW door that would require a 1500 dollar repair.

Does aluminum really fracture that easily? That was the real reason I dumped my Lotus - it bruised like a peach and every repair was expensive and a waste of time.

Man seriously people are f*cked up these days. If that was my car I would lose my mind. People just don't understand how hard people work to get nice cars...

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