One VERY VERY tough scratch repair

[Totoland Mach]

This silver BMW came in yesterday with the worst scratch I've seen in a while. Someone had keyed the car from the front fender to the trunk with a nail file....it was deep and bad. The dealer decided to have me try a repair and if that didn't work, he was going to send the car out for re-paint/blending. That would have been expensive as it was fender, door, back fender, trunk lid...a real $$$ job.

It took about 3 hours of careful sanding, compounding, sand some more, compound some more, polishing, etc. There are 2 areas where the scratch was so deep, the base primer is showing, but with a silver car, you have to look at a certain angle to see it. He is going to let the prospective buyer make the decision: if he/she can live with 2 slightly visible areas, he will discount the price of the car, or they can decide to go for a re-paint and the car will be priced accordingly.

Here's a pic to show the depth of the scratch:

In process pic of wet sanding..I used 2000 grit, then 2500 grit, followed by light compound with a wool pad.

The door is compounded out and the fender is waiting in line

Gone! (and not in 60 seconds LOL)

The camera was reacting funny to the silver paint. Flash would not work in macro mode at all, but you can see the results.

I'll get some full car shots when I finish it. It's a tribute to the BMW paint that something this deep can be repaired.

Toto

 

[Jimmie]

Wow. Where is it? That's incredible. When I first saw that I thought maybe touch-up paint to level it some. That probably would have stood out, huh?

 

[The Skillmaster]

Awesome job! Some people amaze me sometimes. Destruction of someone else's property is completely tasteless and spineless.

 

[Totoland Mach]

Wow. Where is it? That's incredible. When I first saw that I thought maybe touch-up paint to level it some. That probably would have stood out, huh?

Jimmie: the problem with using Silver touch up is, it kind of stands out. I guess it's due to the directional nature of applying touch up or the hue is different.

This process involved: wet sand (2000 then 2500), compound with wool, polish with foam, check progress and repeat. In the end, it finished out and is acceptable to show the car.

Toto

 

[Showroom Shine]

Without question You are the Man! Great Work!

 

[lethalxls1]

Thats amazing!

 

[Tonya]

Gone! (and not in 60 seconds LOL)
hehehehe Good one Toto! I loved that movie!

Toto

You are the master Toto. I agree with Jimmie. I thought no way.. not even Toto. What can I say.... your the man! Outstanding work! Thanks so much for sharing!

 

[tommy]

Do you used tuch up in the procees of wet sadding as well? and what' compound use used?

 

[klumzypinoy]

Wow Toto I should bring our family's vehicles to you to take out some scratches n rock chips

 

[Totoland Mach]

Do you used tuch up in the procees of wet sadding as well? and what' compound use used?

No, I did not use any touch up paint. By wet sanding you are taking the surrounding paint and bringing it closer to the level of the scratch depth (but not exactly level). Compounding adds heat as well as removing the sanding marks and polishing refines the paint to blend the scratched area to the surrounding paint. It's careful work to be sure because too much sanding will ruin the area, too much heat will cause a rotary burn, etc. As far as compound, I'm evaluating a product called System One X3. It's actually a liquid and not as abrasive as the 3M stuff. The wool does the work, then you use the same product with foam as a polish. It is similar to the Meguiar's So1o system (which is formulated for new paint only), but this works with cured paint.

Toto

 

[TOGWT]

Kudos Totoland, you never fail to amaze me. Brilliant work as always

 

[dengood1]

Great work Mr. Toto! For the macro shot, try adding more light from your halogens for the pic--the camera should detect it doesn't need the flash.

 

[Totoland Mach]

Great work Mr. Toto! For the macro shot, try adding more light from your halogens for the pic--the camera should detect it doesn't need the flash.

Thanks much for the tip! I'm definitely a camera "hack" around the digital stuff. Should have never sold my old Olympus OM1....

Toto

 

[rwisejr]

You amaze me every time you are the man !!!!! So your testing that system one stuff. I was looking into that my self looks pretty promising !!!! Keep us posted on how you feel about it.

 

[Bonifax]

MR. TOTO you are just amazing!! it's incredible how you saved the car from being repainted, an artist work indeed

 

[lgtspecb]

WOW! Where did the scratch go?