clk2k3

I am in the middle of getting my bumper installed on my car. My body shop informed me that he feels the primer that was coated on the bumper will not last with the paint and he wants to re-prime the bumper before painting it.

Questions is: Have anyone notice paint cracks on their Brabus bumper due to product wear (not wear and tear)?

Should I trust Brabus or my body shop? (The body shop was recommended by my local MB dealer, were all their cars go for repairs.)

What do you guys think?

BrabusClK04

Well, I think all good bodyshops would re-primer the kit first and then do the paint job. My kit was primered agian and the painted because it was included in the price i paid. I dont know about your bumper, but when i first got my kit with the new material, the kit looks really clean, well built, and the primer was great. The bodyshop i went to just re-primered the kit for me, cuz they usually tend to do nice quality of work, but they do cost alot.

I think you can get away without reprimering it agian. Brabus uses good quality of material to compose there kits. I do not see how a paint will crack unless you hit something or scrap your front bumper, or unless they use really cheap paint. If they are charging you a lot more to re-primer, i dont think it would be necessary. Hope everything goes well for you.

JAY500

You have great timing for this question. My kit was just smoothed out, primed and ready for painting today! I was happy with the way they looked out of the box also, but my body shop noticed a few minor imperfections that would stand out with Black paint. They were only going to paint the bumpers if they reprimed and finished the pieces to their liking. A little more work is well worth it in the end!!

Good Luck to you!!

jl88

Take it for whatever it's worth..

I had my SL bumper and my S class bumper both painted and installed by Brabus NA in Newport beach..

The paint in my SL bumper has already begun to crack.. you can clearly see spiderwebbing. Not sure if it's because of poor prepping or poor paint application. Plus my car is black, which makes imperfections stand out more. I will probably get my bumper repainted again soon, and i've only driven it for less than 9k miles in 14 months.

My S bumper held up reasonably well. The color was brilliant silver. I noticed an excessive amount of paintchips.

I would tell your shop to reprime the bumper and lay on extra clearcoat.

Frisco

How much did paint, prep, and install cost you guys? I started calling around today, and the first guy I spoke with quoted me 2k. The previous quote that I'd gotten (from another place) was 600-700, and I figured that the guy today was just trying to scam me...

BrabusClK04

for me, $1200, and that was hook up too. But they do really good work.

clkguy

the paint being applied will only adhere to the primer, and if the primer is not properly bonded to the bumper material you will have problems, if your painter has any doubts, strip it dowm, have them coat it with a etching primer then paint it, putting a good coat of primer over a bad one is useless

Frisco

Thanks Darrick.

BrabusClK04

np, post some pics when your done. would love too see your car. Yeah the norm prices is usually about $1000 which includes everything. Based on what jl88 wrote, make sure you tell your bodyshop to reprimer your kit. you dont want that paint to start chipping. that would Good luck with yoru kit.

freakinfreak

How much does this bumper cost w/ the new fog lights out of curiousity?

jl88

Oh, I forgot.. the reason why I used Brabus NA to paint/install is because it's frigging dirt cheap heh.. $300 paint/labor I believe. You get what you pay for tho.

Frisco

Thanks for mentioning that. I remember seeing that number in their catalog but thought that it was per bumper, putting it inline with the 600-700 estimate that I'd gotten from the auto shop that replaced my fender last year. I never bothered to get any other estimates because the two numbers matched pretty well, but they said that they also won't guarantee a paint match for bumpers and I figured that I better ask around. For $2k install, I'd rather just sell the bumpers and have $4k on the Kleemann compressor.

Harris

USD2,000 to paint two bumpers??????????? OMG!!! I'll fly down and paint for you!! Should be less than USD1,000.

clk2k3

Thanks alot guys, I'm definately going to let the body shop re-prime my bumper! I can't wait to get my car back this Friday!

AMG BRED

i had to get mine reprimed.. paid 600 bucks for it at the MB dealership.. they did an awesome job and sometime in spring, my bumper is going back in for 200 bucks they will strip it and repaint.. darn rock chips.