[ClaretFozzy]

Long story short, I had my rear bumper repainted after just 2 months of ownership due to someone scuffing it and not leaving a note and while the paint and finish is in general pretty good, I’m really not happy about the finish around the parking sensor at the driver’s side rear. It wasn’t a BMW body shop that painted it, by the way.

I showed it to the paint shop and they said it’d never be perfect unless they removed the bumper and sensor holder and painted it again from scratch (they painted the bumper with it still on the car and I’m really not keen on going down this route for such a small area)

I’ve tried brushing in some touch up paint and am thinking I can flat it back with wet and dry to make it less noticeable or I have a rattle can so might attempt to mask and spray just this area.

Any suggestions on how to get it better? Before and after shots attached.

[Redbaron1973]

How much cut and polish have you given it? with it having "terrrain" you have have to be a little bit difficult - but i would have though you can get it a little more even. You may take all the paint off - but frankly if you do you have lost nothing as from where you stand it would need paint anyway....

I've made worse look better.... with a bit of work. I have also had it go wrong and stumped up for paint...

(For the record - im not a detailer )

[ClaretFozzy]

Hi, thanks for the reply.

I’ve not polished it at all yet. I’ve simply brushed/dabbed paint on and removed any excess with paint thinners.

[ClaretFozzy]

Would anyone attempt or advise against attacking this with a rattle can before I commit to it?

[Oldguysrule]

Hard to tell from the pic just how noticeable it is. A rattle can would only work if you could effectively mask off an area and not have a seam there when you remove the tape. If you can't do that you'll have a large area to feather and blend by wet sanding and then applying clearcoat and doing the same, followed by polishing compound. A small repair would be a lot of work and you could easily make it worse.

[ClaretFozzy]

Originally Posted by Oldguysrule

Hard to tell from the pic just how noticeable it is. A rattle can would only work if you could effectively mask off an area and not have a seam there when you remove the tape. If you can't do that you'll have a large area to feather and blend by wet sanding and then applying clearcoat and doing the same, followed by polishing compound. A small repair would be a lot of work and you could easily make it worse.

I was thinking I’d be able to just paint the insert part and remove any over spray with paint thinners, so rather than mask off I’d paint just that section through a hole in some cardboard to keep the area as small as possible.

[Redbaron1973]

i think that would be a disaster - can you not remove it from the bumper?

[ClaretFozzy]

Originally Posted by Redbaron1973

i think that would be a disaster - can you not remove it from the bumper?

You have to remove the bumper to remove the sensor holder and sensor on that side.

[teaston]

Looks fine to me, it's just a used 3 series, leave it alone and get on with your life is my opinion.

[SamS]

I recommend you just leave it. Don’t even try a rattle can!

Could be much worse, look at mine

[clivem2]

I agree with Teaston really. Leave it alone. You’ll only make it much worse.

[383vett]

You only see it if you look for it. Most wont notice it.

[ClaretFozzy]

Originally Posted by 383vett

You only see it if you look for it. Most wont notice it.

My wife keeps saying the exact thing, as I spend ‘just another’ hour trying to make it look 5% better.

And yes, I do have OCD

[ClaretFozzy]

Originally Posted by SamS

I recommend you just leave it. Don’t even try a rattle can!

Could be much worse, look at mine

Ouch!