[delmarco]

Went to pick up our baby from day care and my wife parked the car with the very edge of the passenger side rear tire on the curb.

In the past when this happened I would playfully and carefully nudge the car off the curb, by pushing the quarter panel, and the car would shift causing the tire to drop off the curb.

I've done this before without any drama on my 1995 E36 3 series, my 2001 E46 3 series, and a couple of other cheaper cars.

However when I tried it on my E90 this nonsense happened (AND no the dent was not there before) :

1)Please explain to me how does this happen on a $50,000 car!? What is this soft material that the quarter panel is made of? aluminum? plastic? fiber glass?

2)Also would paint less dent removal reverse this? how much should I expect a shop to charge?

I tried to push the dent out from the inside but it was like pushing against steel from the inside.

The quarter panel material flexes easily inwards from the outside but does not flex the same when pushed outwards from the inside.

Thanks!

[trixdout]

It's not that it's cheap. There is no support there from inside. If you open up where the battery is and see the panel its not thin and there is no support there. I've got an old 80's muscle car and the same thing happens. I can do the same thing on that 80's car i got.

[tlow98]

Why were you trying to push it off the curb? This would tend to just pinch your suspension, not that it's hurting anything by doing that.

Seems odd.

[patents]

Paintless dent removal guys can fix it very easily. And I don't think it's that expensive.

[Efthreeoh]

A good PDR guy will fix that easily like it never happened. I had a dent in my rear quarter 100 times worse than that, and it was taken out with no problem. They will pull that out without needing to go inside the fender. I'd estimate $300.

[seepete753]

Yea that's no problem for a PDR guy. I recently had my roof, hood and trunk smoked by a freak hail storm at 1am and my local PDR guy fixed everything perfectly.

[rsyed07]

My second car in high school was an Accord and the same area was soft. A friend of mine jokingly butted the quarter panel with her waist and it was pushed in. Luckily I was able to pop it out from the inside. I think in most cars there isn't much structural support there.

[John 070]

Originally Posted by tlow98

Why were you trying to push it off the curb? This would tend to just pinch your suspension, not that it's hurting anything by doing that.

Seems odd.

I've never heard of that...I get it, say it's too close and the tire is not making contact with the ground and its sidewall is jammed against a curb....can a car get pushed off? How, when the other 3 tires are planted?

[Wilt]

Teach your wife to learn to USE the passenger mirror to parallel park without bashing the wheels and tires against the curb and ruining wheel finish and wheel alignment (which accelerates tire wear), too.

[Cory S]

I would have divorced my wife. Maybe even ban her from driving my E90. I went out and tried pushing on my right rear quarter like that, and it didn't budge at all.....It's super solid. Did someone replace your quarter with thin sheet metal or fiberglass?

[Vincent_E90]

How in the world does pushing a ~2 ton car off a curb makes sense, it would take a lot of force to move it, and then all that force on a concentrated surface area like a hand (you could at least spread the pressure between two hands, but still a stupid idea)? You're asking for a dent. I'm pretty sure any logical person would just repark the car, or if you're a curb magnet you try finding a new parking spot.

[miker2013]

well now u know that u can't push a 3 ton car

[delmarco]

Originally Posted by Cory S

I would have divorced my wife. Maybe even ban her from driving my E90. I went out and tried pushing on my right rear quarter like that, and it didn't budge at all.....It's super solid. Did someone replace your quarter with thin sheet metal or fiberglass?

That is what I am wondering. I've had lots of cars over the years and never have I seen such softness on the quarter panel.

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

A good PDR guy will fix that easily like it never happened. I had a dent in my rear quarter 100 times worse than that, and it was taken out with no problem. They will pull that out without needing to go inside the fender. I'd estimate $300.

$300!

Wow!

I could've sworn people do this on YouTube with just a hair drier and rubber mallet.

[Underground6t9]

People just don't think. Any person with common sense would just re-park the car. To answer your question dent less removal is around $100

[delmarco]

Originally Posted by Underground6t9

People just don't think. Any person with common sense would just re-park the car. To answer your question dent less removal is around $100

I got excited.

But like I said I've done it before where I nudged the car off the edge and it dropped.

I certainly did not think the outcome on the E90 would make me question whether my birth planet was Planet Krypton!!!!

[John 070]

Originally Posted by delmarco

I got excited.

But like I said I've done it before where I nudged the car off the edge and it dropped.

I certainly did not think the outcome on the E90 would make me question whether my birth planet was Planet Krypton!!!!

I always wondered, what ever happened to all those Checkers (like the one in the background), or the Dodge Diplomats or Chevy Caprices, for that matter? It's like one day, they all just disappeared...

[trjn]

delmarco, my friend from e46fanatics. I had username "trj" there. Its good to see you here. I am not very active here as I was over there before. Dont have much time these days.

I am jumped to e92 from e46 as well. Sorry to see that happen to your car. I am going to go and do a push test(gently) on the quarter panel on my car.

Just try and push it out from inside. May be it will just pop out?

I'm glad to see you here though.

[kkasson]

Originally Posted by trjn

Just try and push it out from inside. May be it will just pop out?

That's what I'd try. If it pushed in that easily there's a good chance it might just pop right back out.

[belcom]

I recall you can use heat and cold to pop dents like that back out. Heat gun and a can of compressed air can possibly do the trick. Google it and give it a go. But careful with heat gun though. The hot air can damage the paint if you keep it too close and in one spot. Otherwise its safe to use.

[delmarco]

Originally Posted by kkasson

That's what I'd try. If it pushed in that easily there's a good chance it might just pop right back out.

That is the thing I tried pushing the inside out for like 20 minutes when I got home.

The inside is like a different material. It feels like pushing against a steel plate behind that panel. However when you push it in from outside it is soft and pliable.

I can feel the dent as a lump on the underside but the surface is hard and very much like steel.

Originally Posted by belcom

I recall you can use heat and cold to pop dents like that back out. Heat gun and a can of compressed air can possibly do the trick. Google it and give it a go. But careful with heat gun though. The hot air can damage the paint if you keep it too close and in one spot. Otherwise its safe to use.

Yeah I seen a video on YouTube years ago when a guy was removing dents from his Saturn car with a hair dryer and cup of ice water.

I just can't find the video right now.

Originally Posted by trjn

delmarco, my friend from e46fanatics. I had username "trj" there. Its good to see you here. I am not very active here as I was over there before. Dont have much time these days.

I am jumped to e92 from e46 as well. Sorry to see that happen to your car. I am going to go and do a push test(gently) on the quarter panel on my car.

Just try and push it out from inside. May be it will just pop out?

I'm glad to see you here though.

Yeah I miss my E46!

This E90 seems to be a disposable car. I'm already looking at what car i will get next and I've only been with my E90 2,000 miles and a couple of months.



I really regret not spending the extra money and getting a 2013 535i.

[trjn]

Originally Posted by delmarco

Yeah I miss my E46!

This E90 seems to be a disposable car. I'm already looking at what car i will get next and I've only been with my E90 2,000 miles and a couple of months.



I really regret not spending the extra money and getting a 2013 535i.

I miss my E46 too. RWD vs AWD handling is so much different. Well I got 187k out of my pre-LCI e46, so not much to complain there. But honestly, driving a lowered RWD in colorado for 6 years was really getting old. I got audi a4 for snow reason, and quattro is a beast in snow. Other than that I am very tired of 4 cyl turbo. After keeping two cars for two years, I realized I was throwing out money. Just dont need two cars. Hence, bought an xdrive coupe. A4 goes on sale now that I have an xdrive.

You are right about e90 feeling disposable. I just bought it 10 days ago. Already put 1200 miles on it. Went for a camping trip as an extended test drive. Thanks carmax for 5 day return policy. haha. But not returning it.
I think I will keep it for about 3 years. As I dont have more than two person at a time in my car, coupe made sense. If I were looking for a sedan, definitely a 5 series or a jag xf would have been my choice. I am looking at jaguar xk as a fun car and 5 series or xf as a DD when I actually will be needing four doors soon.

The main reason for this e92 purchase was it has every option I need. I have done all the retrofits on E46 and the audi. You had done all kinds of retrofits in your e46 too. You know the drill. Working on retrofits every weekend was tiring to say the least and then always being scared of what if I connected this wire wrong. It was fun, but still took way too much time, effort and research. So I made sure I buy one with all the options I want. Came with heated steering wheel as a bonus

Am I derailing the thread?

Back to your dented quarter panel issue, I'd take it to a PDR place. Dont try to hammer it back. And heat may not be a good option on the paint. I had a pretty bad hail damage fixed on my audi by a good shop. It looks like new.
Good luck man.

[csu87]

Originally Posted by delmarco

That is the thing I tried pushing the inside out for like 20 minutes when I got home.

The inside is like a different material. It feels like pushing against a steel plate behind that panel. However when you push it in from outside it is soft and pliable.

I can feel the dent as a lump on the underside but the surface is hard and very much like steel.





Yeah I seen a video on YouTube years ago when a guy was removing dents from his Saturn car with a hair dryer and cup of ice water.

I just can't find the video right now.




Yeah I miss my E46!

This E90 seems to be a disposable car. I'm already looking at what car i will get next and I've only been with my E90 2,000 miles and a couple of months.



I really regret not spending the extra money and getting a 2013 535i.

pretty sure you could do the same thing to a 2013 535. Anywhere where there isnt any support behind it will dent with little effort. Im pretty sure I could do that to my $70k audi too.

Try the compressed air and hair dryer trick. It worked on an old car I had when i had a similar type dent. Google/youtube it.