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BMW 5-Series (G30) Forum Cosmetic Maintenance: Wash, Wax, Detailing, Repairs Recommendation to correct scratch

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      12-19-2020, 12:31 PM   #1
MrZazaboo
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Hey gents/ladies,

Picked up a CPO G30 w/ 24k miles a couple months ago. Long story short there was a dent in the front bumper and they conceded it happened on their lot & installed/painted a brand new bumper for me.

I have a beater I use for work so I've babied/garaged the BMW and barely ran through 2 tanks of gas in 2 months. Somehow I picked up a scratch on the front bumper. I just had the car ceramic coated & the guy said he would work on the scratch best he could. He said the next step would get expensive real quick. It improved but isn't perfect. I'm about to get an Xpel Ultimate clear bra installed but would like to fix the scratch best I can before the Xpel goes on over it.

Any opinions if some touch-up paint would be appropriate for this kind of scratch or any other DIY/lower-cost corrections to fix the scratch prior to clear bra?

First pic is before ceramic coating & second is after. **EDIT** uploaded pics wrong — first pic is it's current state and second pic is before ceramic coating** **Dark Graphite Metallic**

TIA
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      12-19-2020, 05:37 PM   #2
Jas387
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Looks like your detailer has done quite well to minimise it.

I don't work in a bodyshop or anything, but I'd guess that any DIY work you do to that scratch would probably make it look worse. Applying touch up paint might make the colour look consistent across the panel, but I'd think you'd notice the difference in texture. Whether the film would hide this to a degree or not, I don't know.

If it were me, I think I'd leave it as it is.
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      12-21-2020, 10:20 AM   #3
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So did you apply the ceramic coating over the scratch ?
Or maybe I misunderstood.
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      12-22-2020, 09:47 PM   #4
MrZazaboo
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Quote:
Originally Posted by raduron10 View Post
So did you apply the ceramic coating over the scratch ?
Or maybe I misunderstood.
Yes. The detailer didn't go into detail but said he "worked on it" and the whole car got a ceramic coat.

I've decided to get a clear bra since the ceramic coating and he said he will be compounding the front bumper to remove the coat, apply the Xpel, then re-ceramic coat the front bumper. I'm probably just going to let the scratch be.
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      12-24-2020, 10:22 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MrZazaboo View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by raduron10 View Post
So did you apply the ceramic coating over the scratch ?
Or maybe I misunderstood.
Yes. The detailer didn't go into detail but said he "worked on it" and the whole car got a ceramic coat.

I've decided to get a clear bra since the ceramic coating and he said he will be compounding the front bumper to remove the coat, apply the Xpel, then re-ceramic coat the front bumper. I'm probably just going to let the scratch be.
There was a guy on YouTube that showed putting Xpel on a scratched hood and it hides all the imperfections. He said detail shops are getting over by saying the cars paint needs correction before applying. He actually showed a example of it.
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      12-25-2020, 10:12 PM   #6
instalher
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well two things you can due... first use a heavy 1000 cut polish, wool pad, and a rotory buffer... that should get that out 90% and any ceramic coating will be gone as well.. if that isent enough then your gonna have to wet sand with 1000 grit sand paper,,, DONT CHEAP OUT ON THE SANDPAPER HERE!!!!! Meguires makes an excellent paper. lightly wet sand damaged area.. then due what I said at the start with the cut polish. THis will get that scratch out...
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      12-26-2020, 07:17 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by instalher View Post
well two things you can due... first use a heavy 1000 cut polish, wool pad, and a rotory buffer... that should get that out 90% and any ceramic coating will be gone as well.. if that isent enough then your gonna have to wet sand with 1000 grit sand paper,,, DONT CHEAP OUT ON THE SANDPAPER HERE!!!!! Meguires makes an excellent paper. lightly wet sand damaged area.. then due what I said at the start with the cut polish. THis will get that scratch out...
If his detailer has already polished it out as best he can and couldn’t get rid of it, isn’t it likely that it can’t be polished out?

I’d be very cautious about further attempts to polish this area if it were my car. The paint is probably quite thin if the detailer has done his best to polish it out already.
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      12-26-2020, 11:09 PM   #8
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he has polished the clearcoat not the paint.. so the only way to be sure how much clearcoat is left is to use a gauge to measure the depth.. but that gauge is very expensive... Sorry.....
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