steve1173

Have an 03 CLK500 in brilliant silver & an 03 SLK230 in Magma Red. Where I live we don't use front license plates but both cars came with the mounts already attached. Dealer said if I want he will send both out to the body shop & have the holes repaired & repainted. One told me they just repair the small area of the holes & another said the whole bumper gets taken off & repainted. Either way I am skeptical about it looking the same & lasting as long. My questions are should I do it, I am not sure they can do the same quality as the factory & I have seen other cars with ripples in the clearcoat including one of mine previously that was hit. Would you leave it as is & put a fancy plate on or send away for bumper plugs. I heard with bumpers they have to put the right amount of flex in the paint or else it peels. What would you do???

Rowdy Audi

I would take it to a shop that knows what they are doing. Matching a factory paint is very easy to do, they have paint codes that tell them exactly how to mix the paint. A good painter will be able to do as good if not a better job than the factory. And if it's not perfect, make him fix it or do not pay for it.

steve1173

There is the problem, the dealer is paying for it. Had a bad experience with clearcoat as it seems no matter what it is never a smooth as the factory. Hate to redo both bumpers & who knows peel in the future.

corgiman

Factory paint is baked on under very controlled conditions. They start with an absolutely clean, dust-free piece and paint in a very controlled enviroment. Not so in the field. A reoaint is never as good and/or durable. Go for the plugs ( painted to match)>