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Just curious where most stand on this. I have quite a few rock chips on the front bumper and some on my hood. I am not sure it is worth it to have the bumper, etc. repainted. In the past when I have had a front bumper painted it looked good at first, but eventually got chips too. Painted bumper can look worse at times than the original painted bumpers when chipping.
Probably a personal preference thing, but do you have front bumpers and hoods repainted, or do you just let the chips do their thing?
I would fix them with some paint touch up ( if possible) then put clear bra on the bumper, mirrors and partially to the ( front only) fenders and the hood, have this done on all my cars, not chips whatsoever.
2019 SL450, 2019 E450 Luxury Trim Wagon, 2024 BMW I7 xDrive60
The problem is that repainted panels will usually offer less protection from stone chips than the original factory paint. Where a tiny stone may put a “poppyseed” size chip in original paint, the same stone impact may produce a “pencil eraser” size chip in a repainted panel. If it were me, I would have the paint restored and then covered with a “clear bra” type of removable, protective film or some such material. I personally have never done this, but from what I have read, it could be the way to go.
What do you mean by “have the paint restored”?
I was thinking about one of those clear bras/films that cover over the front, but it may peal off any non factory paint if ever replaced those films.
Originally Posted by Streamliner
The problem is that repainted panels will usually offer less protection from stone chips than the original factory paint. Where a tiny stone may put a “poppyseed” size chip in original paint, the same stone impact may produce a “pencil eraser” size chip in a repainted panel. If it were me, I would have the paint restored and then covered with a “clear bra” type of removable, protective film or some such material. I personally have never done this, but from what I have read, it could be the way to go.
I would leave it to Streamliner to respond to your question but let me add my .02. Depending on how bad the chips are I would not repaint the whole bumper unless it is done by a Mercedes certified center, just touch them up and then cover everything with a good quality clear bra ( Llumar, 3M, etc ) I had these for many years on, now departed Mercs, and did not have any problem. My cars however exposed to the sun heavily.
A partially front cover will however be around $1000....( bumper, etc )
Just curious where most stand on this. I have quite a few rock chips on the front bumper and some on my hood. I am not sure it is worth it to have the bumper, etc. repainted. In the past when I have had a front bumper painted it looked good at first, but eventually got chips too. Painted bumper can look worse at times than the original painted bumpers when chipping.
Probably a personal preference thing, but do you have front bumpers and hoods repainted, or do you just let the chips do their thing?
Get it properly fixed and drive with a bigger gap from the car ahead. Chips are unavoidable but come mostly from the car ahead of you. I’ve done 18,000 miles and have 2 chips.
I typically have good distances gap. Distronic is also helpful. The issue is there are several areas of construction on the roads that I travel. Some of my chips were already on the car when purchased, however I do have more now.
Originally Posted by rorywquin
Get it properly fixed and drive with a bigger gap from the car ahead. Chips are unavoidable but come mostly from the car ahead of you. I’ve done 18,000 miles and have 2 chips.
I’ve always found it difficult to justify the high cost of a quality PPF installation. Neither do I like the repainting idea.
I have taken the approach of trying to avoid rock chips with appropriate following distances, and for the few that I do get, using a quality touch up paint to minimize the appearance. After quite a lot of trial and error I have concluded that Dr. Colorchip is the best that there is. (No connection with them.). It’s key to have the right expectations: 1) no system is going to make the chip go away completely, and 2) it takes a lot of work (many coats) to get right.
Here are before and after pics of a hood chip (approx 1/4” x 1/8”) on the R129 SL500 that I acquired last year - the paint is Smoke Silver Metallic. From up close the chip is still there, but I guarantee that if you’re not looking for it you don’t see it, whereas before you did.
I typically have good distances gap. Distronic is also helpful. The issue is there are several areas of construction on the roads that I travel. Some of my chips were already on the car when purchased, however I do have more now.
Wasn’t having a go at you.
Filling the chips is also quite effective. If you do it carefully and take your time (several layers) only you will really notice where they are.
As others have suggested, if there are a lot of chips, a paint job at a MB approved workshop is the way to go. However I’d wait until the road construction on your route is completed.
I’ve always found it difficult to justify the high cost of a quality PPF installation. Neither do I like the repainting idea.
I have taken the approach of trying to avoid rock chips with appropriate following distances, and for the few that I do get, using a quality touch up paint to minimize the appearance. After quite a lot of trial and error I have concluded that Dr. Colorchip is the best that there is. (No connection with them.). It’s key to have the right expectations: 1) no system is going to make the chip go away completely, and 2) it takes a lot of work (many coats) to get right.
Here are before and after pics of a hood chip (approx 1/4” x 1/8”) on the R129 SL500 that I acquired last year - the paint is Smoke Silver Metallic. From up close the chip is still there, but I guarantee that if you’re not looking for it you don’t see it, whereas before you did.
I also used Dr ColourChip on my white SL. As stated in an earlier post, I can see them but only because I know they are there. Nobody else will notice them. Certainly a lot better than not filling them in.
I didn’t think you were, so no worries. I am pretty careful on distance, but it has always been to avoid window chips/cracks. I don’t like the paint chips either, but primarily I was more concerned with the windshield when driving. The paint chips is just what I am noticing more when washing the car.
Originally Posted by rorywquin
Wasn’t having a go at you.
Filling the chips is also quite effective. If you do it carefully and take your time (several layers) only you will really notice where they are.
As others have suggested, if there are a lot of chips, a paint job at a MB approved workshop is the way to go. However I’d wait until the road construction on your route is completed.
Our 2014 had chips on the front that had been touched up when we bought it. You could feel them if you rubbed your hand over it the paint, but was very difficult to see. It is Lunar Blue metallic so pretty easy to see spots where the paint gets chipped. We did the XPEL PPF on the front bumper and that has taken care of the problem. The cost was $950.00 and worth every penny to me. Our roads are horrible and always have small bits of gravel and rock anyplace you drive. Without the wrap it would look like someone used it for practice with bird shot from a shotgun. We have a 2021 E63s that was picking a few chips up with just a few thousand miles. That is now wrapped from the windshield forward.
Yeah, I just order the paint kit, so for around $65 bucks I will give it a shot. If my car were new I would likely have purchased a PPF rightaway, but I am not spending that at this point with my car having over 100k on the clock and being a few years old.. I love my car, but in 5 years or so I may be looking for an upgrade.
Anyway, I will see how the corrections go and will post the chip work updates..
Originally Posted by tx170754
I would leave it to Streamliner to respond to your question but let me add my .02. Depending on how bad the chips are I would not repaint the whole bumper unless it is done by a Mercedes certified center, just touch them up and then cover everything with a good quality clear bra ( Llumar, 3M, etc ) I had these for many years on, now departed Mercs, and did not have any problem. My cars however exposed to the sun heavily.
A partially front cover will however be around $1000....( bumper, etc )
My SL had PPF on the front end when I purchased it. It had yellowed so the dealer removed it BUT it lifted some paint so they had to paint the front fascia. However after getting the car home and driving it for several weeks I noted that the paint was not an exact match. I tried to get the dealer to repaint it but they said the Diamond White paint is very difficult to match and they refused to repaint it.
After several more weeks I was really unhappy with the paint so I took it to a local body shop that I had used several times in the past and asked them if they could guaranteed a perfect match. They said yes so I had it resprayed. When I picked it up they said whoever did the first respray not only did a ****ty job matching the paint they also left out several fasteners when they put the fascia back on the car. The front end now perfectly matches the rest of the car and I am a happy camper.
I am not a fan of PPF as I have had it on a couple of previous BMWs. It does provide some protection from small objects but it will not hold up against larger pieces of debris. I would rather pay for a respray every several years as long as you can find a body shop that can match the paint.
Added: I paid $550 to have the front end resprayed which is probably less than the cost of PPF.
Last edited by rmorin49; Jun 12, 2022 at 01:54 PM.
I have tried to spot paint chips with limited success. Some colors are easier to hide the chips than others. I have the cardinal red paint and find it more difficult than a non-metallic red to get it to look good afterwards. The good news with our cars, however, is the aluminum body will not rust if exposed like steel would, so doing nothing is not a bad strategy. **** happens unfortunately. About a month ago a young man who appeared drunk ran into my car on an electric bike in a parking garage. The end result was no serious damage other than a few small scrapes and scratches in my paint. For an OCD person like me, it was catastrophic, but no one seems to notice other than me.
In Orange County, CA where I live there were a few guys who actually made a business of using this product, but with their experience and expertise, were promising nearly unnoticeable repairs. I ended up selling the car before I had the paint chips repaired, but I was impressed, at the time, with what I had learned about the procedure and the potential results. You might check it out and see if there are any “experts” in your area. Seems to me that the company actually had referrals to some of them.
I live in a fast growing county west of Houston, Texas adding 40k new neighbors per year and construction is everywhere. I also drive I-10 twice a week where 75-85 mph is the norm where you cannot keep any reasonable distance from the car in front. If you do so someone immediately pulls into the gap. A tremendous number of gravel haulers and concrete trucks use this Interstate. I had a previous Z3 that after 4 years had 46 chips in the paint. I counted them before I had the front end repainted. After that I have had XPEL applied to all my vehicles from the bumper to the windshield with no problems at all. I can hear the tiny rocks hit the front end and have had 5-6 skip across the hoods on my cars with no damage. So far the two “stars” to my windshields lately have been filled in and cannot be seen.
Last edited by Utopia Texas; Jun 12, 2022 at 07:42 PM.
In Orange County, CA where I live there were a few guys who actually made a business of using this product, but with their experience and expertise, were promising nearly unnoticeable repairs. I ended up selling the car before I had the paint chips repaired, but I was impressed, at the time, with what I had learned about the procedure and the potential results. You might check it out and see if there are any “experts” in your area. Seems to me that the company actually had referrals to some of them.
Back in Portland, OR in the Porsche club, we had a "spring clean" event each April that had various companies come in (paint chips, glass repair, leather repair, wheel repair, etc) to a local shop and did work on the cars on-site while we drank coffee and chatted all morning and afternoon...we signed up first thing as a first come first served deal. It was pretty sweet. I had a Seal Grey 997 that had a bunch of chips and rash on the bumper that the "chip guy" worked on. In about 45 minutes he had the car looking great...if you looked real close you could tell, but after a good wax/sealant it was good to go for a few years. I have also used the Dr ColorChip product and have had very good results on my cars, most of which were grey or black. For the cost and time, I found it to be a good deal. If it got really bad I'd do a respray- did one on a Cosmos Black M Roadster in Colorado (the sand on the roads and wind would beat up cars) and have also been happy- but did a lot of research to find a "good" body guy, and yes, it's never quite as good as factory, sadly.
My Dr ColorChip should arrive in a few more days, so on the next sunny weekend I plan to work on the chips. The road construction in the area has been ongoing for years and will likely not end soon. They would just start on another road afterwards. I think they just keep starting work to burn up the budget, or they won't get as much of a budget the next year.
I will for the forum, but also for me. It will be my first attempt at these repairs and the eyes can sometimes play tricks on you. Before and after pics tell it like it is. Kit should be here by Saturday.
My Dr ColorChip should arrive in a few more days, so on the next sunny weekend I plan to work on the chips. The road construction in the area has been ongoing for years and will likely not end soon. They would just start on another road afterwards. I think they just keep starting work to burn up the budget, or they won't get as much of a budget the next year.
Anyway, stay tuned for updates....
I'll be following this thread as I am very interested in how well Dr. ColorChip works for you. My SL is pretty much free of chips but the front of my X5 is really beat up. I need to decide if it's worth buying a kit from Dr ColorChip. I have an OEM BMW touch up kit but have found it nearly impossible to get decent results.
Last edited by rmorin49; Jun 16, 2022 at 02:52 PM.
I too am interested. Can’t wait to see what happens.
Originally Posted by rmorin49
I'll be following this thread as I am very interested in how well Dr. ColorChip works for you. My SL is pretty much free of chips but the front of my X5 is really beat up. I need to decide if it's worth buying a kit from Dr ColorChip. I have an OEM BMW touch up kit but have to found it to be easy to get decent results.
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