Scratch repair/Rock chips summary: What do you guys think?

[edgewise]

Posted on our BMW board, what do you think? Anything to add? Anything you wouldn't recommend doing that I am doing? I always welcome feedback. I've used this method in the past and posted it for some members.



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I have good luck with this method. As you can see, this time I had a nice deep scratch to the primer. Both of these could be felt with the fingernail, however the one on the left is down to the primer.

The primary tools I use for deep scratches are:

~Random Orbital

~3 foam pads

~1600 Grit wet/dry sandpaper

~2000 Grit wet/dry sandpaper

~Spliced toothpicks (paint brush)

~Pencil with a good eraser



Products for this type of scratch/gouge:

~Griots Machine Polish #1 (Gritty, but not rubbing compound variety!)

~Griots Machine Polish #2 (Medium polish)

~Griots Machine Polish #3 (Mild Polish)

~BMW matching Paint

Clean the area on and around the surface area you’re to work on. Use rubbing alcohol on a cotton cloth to ensure all the wax is removed from the work surface. Cut the tip of a toothpick down to a point. Wet the toothpick end with BMW color matching paint. Apply at least 3 thin coats, allowing 30 min to dry between applications. Allow the paint to dry over night.

Using first 1600 grit, then finishing with 2000 grit sandpaper, cut a small square that will wrap around the end of a pencil with a good eraser head on it for padding. Tape the sandpaper on the pencil eraser. Have ready a small dish with water and wet the sandpaper-tipped pencil. Begin working the area of dried paint in linear motion for linear scratches, circular if you’re touching up rock chips.

Cont. next post:

 

[edgewise]

This is what the surface looked like after sanding(Pic below). You may panic somewhat your first time doing this, but rest assured, high blood pressure after scratching up your clear coat is normal. We’ll work this out with Machine Polish.

Beginning with Machine Polish #1, use the random orbit polisher up and down, left and right over the area. Finish up with Machine Polish #3, using a separate pad for each. Your finish will be as good as new, with a slight hairline “fracture� where you did the touch up.

I do not use the clear coat that comes with the BMW paint kit nor the application brush. 3 or 4 coats of paint is plenty, and the clear coat topping seems like a waste since you end up sanding off the high spots anyway.



Don’t be afraid to try it if you have the proper tools!



And if your friends come over, don’t give them fish, teach them to fish! I put Mark to work (mv945) with the PC and machine polishes on his Jet Black M3 after he had an encounters with wood on the roadway, kicked up along the side of his finish. The Machine polishes and the PC took just about all evidence of any scratches (since these scratches did not penetrate to the primer)

 

[imported_Greg1]

http://www.autopia.ws/articles.php?articleId=27



Check that out.