marcadelic

Guys I came out to my car this morning and noticed I had been either hit by a car or shopping cart at some point yesterday. I'm not sure how or when it happened as I was running errands all day and stopped at half a dozen of location.

It looks like it was scraped/dented by something. My original assessment was "holy **** I'm going to need a new quarter and rear bumper"

However after calming down a bit and some further inspection it looks like I may be able to get away with some solid work for a reputable shop.

What do you guys think? Any suggestions?





I've been debating having the car liquid wrapped (check out theautoskin.com) due to my front bumper having plate holes as well as spider web cracks from a horrible repaint before I purchased the car. My rear bumper also isn't in the best shape (even worse now).

BLKROKT

That sucks, but it doesn't look bad at all. Any decent shop should be able to get that back in shape pretty easily for not much $, although you'll probably need paint. A whole new rear quarter is definitely not needed there.

marcadelic

Ok that's great news, I was really worried when I first saw it.

I'm thinking about holding off on paint and having the car liquid wrapped. The wraps look exactly like paint and I'd be killing two birds with one stone.

akmatic63

A Widebody kit would fix that

m a x i m u s

If not liquid wrap, I would look into paint less dig repair and some buffing, especially since you say your bumper isn't in great shape as it is.

marcadelic

was the first thing that crossed my mind, when i swing by the shop tomorrow to get a quote im going to ask for one to widen the rear too

I'm guessing fender work with no paint is still going to be north of 10k

bhamg

This. Looks fixable via PDR and a machine polish, to that 95+% level. White will hide most imperfections but find someone GOOD and they will be able to do amazing things.

flubbernub

Sort of off-topic but is your car diamond white? Mine is diamond white and noticed the color variation from quarter panel to bumper on your car is very similar to mine. Is that due to how the paint bonds to different surfaces? I'm sure lighting plays a role here too.

Always wondered if the previous owner repainted the bumper or if it comes from the factory like that.

beejAMG

sorry to see what happened to your car OP. definitely a car, trolley cant make that impact.

not sure if a PDR can fix the rear panel, too close to the edge, but worth a shot.
the bumper looks dented as well, that cant be fixed by a PDR though.

pardon my ignorance but whats a liquid wrap? (plasti dip?) dont you have to fix the damage first before the liquid wrap goes on?

marcadelic

tbh I'm not really sure what the difference is between dip and these new liquid wraps. I believe the liquid wraps have a much longer application process and the cars I've seen look much, much better than any of the dipped cars I've seen

The damage will still need to be fix first but I won't have to have it painted, just bondo'd and sanded down.

I'll be talking with a pdr guy in the morning to see what he says

beejAMG

is it cheaper than vinyl wrap?

keep us posted and hope you sort it out with minimal dent on your pocket. nothing i hate more than hit a run. you might wanna consider dashcam after the wrap.

marcadelic

Ya, all said and done these "wraps" cost anywhere from $500 to $2500 depending on color, finish and if you want any Candy/Flake/Pearl. A good wrap costs between 2-4k.

I'm hoping to be out the door for around 1500 including body work.

I'm going to stick with a basic satin gray color to keep cost down. Something similar to Eurotech Motorsports project car they did awhile back.

beejAMG

goodluck mate.

satin seems to be the thing nowadays. i know its vinyl but check out the last page on this w212 thread. couple of cars wrapped. may give you another option with the color.

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...thread-94.html

Don Nguyen

Unless you plan on keeping the car for a long time, you might as well have that area painted/repaired properly. If you're to wrap the car, when you go to sell the car, you'll end up having to have it repaired properly anyways or have to sell it at a lower price due to the damage.

betrezra

I 2nd that thought..... I would get it repaired properly.
Also if there is a crack in the paint.. if you wrap over bare metal you might find some rust in a few years.

Phil Chow

Paint it properly.

Or, buy those FL HMS Fender Flares, and then do that. You'll save 1/2 the paint/body work already since you have to do body-work anyways

Eric ATP

$300 to refinish the bumper.
$750 to do the quarter panel. The issue is it needs to be reclear sprayed all of the way up to the front fender. It's one piece with no breaks.

Both are simple jobs for any competent body repair / painter.

My front fender got damaged requiring hammer and dolly work and paint/clear. It is aluminum. $300...

marcadelic

Pretty much right on the money, I was quoted $1300 to fix the panels, paint the rear and also fix my front bumper (previous owner drilled licenses plate holder into the bumper and also cracked the paint pulling to far forward in a parking spot)

I also got a quote to widen the rear fenders to "match" the front. Looking at about 4k (seemed a bit low) there. I'm probably just going to wait a month or two and go that route.

m a x i m u s

How are they planning to widen the rears? Just curious if they are going to fabricate something or use premade pieces, or some other method.

marcadelic

From the brief convo I had with the owner he said they would pull the existing fenders a bit and add more metal to them.

We didn't get into anything too detailed though, I'll be reaching back out in the next couple of weeks to get some references from them and really put together a game plan.

AMG3.2

Done and done. $4k seems about right depending on what part of the country you're in.

marcadelic

They're supposed to be the best in Tampa so I'm glad to hear that.

I'll keep my build thread updated. Hoping to start in November but it may get put off till Dec/Jan depending on when a few deals close at work