[23109VC]

I have a 2018 M550 with about 60,000 miles.

I bought the car certified preowned about a year ago and I've done a lot of Freeway driving and have noticed a significant number of rock chips along the lower portion of the hood.

When I bought the car I did not do any kind of paint protection now I'm thinking I should have ….

At this point I'm thinking about having some kind of professional correction done but I'm wondering if it's even worth it is it too late ??

I'm planning to keep the car at least three more years before I sell or trade it in on something newer I am wondering if I could get the rock chips repaired and then have paint correction and ceramic film applied or if I would need to have the front end actually repainted.

Most of the chips are very small like little pinpricks there are a handful that are more significant in size if I were to do it myself I'm sure I would screw it up and it would take forever I figure a professional detail or paint correction place might have the ability to fix it before they apply a ceramic coating or if that would just look like crap and I'd be better off to spend a little bit of money and have the front portion repainted?

My car is med blue - my car looks identical to the blue car that is on the forums main page

It doesn't look bad it's just at once I wash it and wax it up you can tell the front end doesn't look as pristine is the rest of the car I'm sure most other people don't notice it but I notice it and I'm trying to figure out before I start calling paint shops what kind of actual budget I should consider for all of us to be done.

If it's gonna be crazy expensive I'll just spend the money for detail work and figure it'll look good enough but if I could do it for not crazy money I'd consider correcting it now so it looks sweet the rest of my ownership

Thx

[Joe-BMW33]

Originally Posted by 23109VC

I have a 2018 M550 with about 60,000 miles.

I bought the car certified preowned about a year ago and I've done a lot of Freeway driving and have noticed a significant number of rock chips along the lower portion of the hood.

When I bought the car I did not do any kind of paint protection now I'm thinking I should have ….

At this point I'm thinking about having some kind of professional correction done but I'm wondering if it's even worth it is it too late ??

I'm planning to keep the car at least three more years before I sell or trade it in on something newer I am wondering if I could get the rock chips repaired and then have paint correction and ceramic film applied or if I would need to have the front end actually repainted.

Most of the chips are very small like little pinpricks there are a handful that are more significant in size if I were to do it myself I'm sure I would screw it up and it would take forever I figure a professional detail or paint correction place might have the ability to fix it before they apply a ceramic coating or if that would just look like crap and I'd be better off to spend a little bit of money and have the front portion repainted?

My car is med blue - my car looks identical to the blue car that is on the forums main page

It doesn't look bad it's just at once I wash it and wax it up you can tell the front end doesn't look as pristine is the rest of the car I'm sure most other people don't notice it but I notice it and I'm trying to figure out before I start calling paint shops what kind of actual budget I should consider for all of us to be done.

If it's gonna be crazy expensive I'll just spend the money for detail work and figure it'll look good enough but if I could do it for not crazy money I'd consider correcting it now so it looks sweet the rest of my ownership

Thx

You definitely should have had paint protection film applied when you got it and it would have prevented those rock chips. I have a full front and PPF which is nose, hood, fenders and mirror caps. It's not too late though.

You can have a professional fill in those chips and then have it corrected, ceramic'd and PPF's. However, I highly recommend you give Dr. Colorchip a try. It is literally dummy proof. You can't screw it up. It is definitely work a shot. This is what a lot of the pro's use. After you try it, then see if you are happy with the results and if so, then have it corrected, then do Dr. Colorchip again, then ceramic and then PPF.

Watch some video's on Dr. Colorchip.

[rswitch]

Originally Posted by Joe-BMW33

You definitely should have had paint protection film applied when you got it and it would have prevented those rock chips. I have a full front and PPF which is nose, hood, fenders and mirror caps. It's not too late though.

You can have a professional fill in those chips and then have it corrected, ceramic'd and PPF's. However, I highly recommend you give Dr. Colorchip a try. It is literally dummy proof. You can't screw it up. It is definitely work a shot. This is what a lot of the pro's use. After you try it, then see if you are happy with the results and if so, then have it corrected, then do Dr. Colorchip again, then ceramic and then PPF.

Watch some video's on Dr. Colorchip.

Wow this is awesome, i have a lot of rock chips on my cpo and will definitely look into that dr colorchip! I have so many mini rock chips on my front lip and itll take time and patience lol

[Joe-BMW33]

Originally Posted by rswitch

Wow this is awesome, i have a lot of rock chips on my cpo and will definitely look into that dr colorchip! I have so many mini rock chips on my front lip and itll take time and patience lol

I wish I knew about Dr. Colorchip sooner. It's super easy to use and as I said, dummy proof. No globs.

[peteinpa]

I had the same issue on bumper and hood. Used Dr Colorchip for the most part on the pin hole sized chips on the hood. Came out really good.
For larger chips on bumper I ordered paint from automotive touch up and the langda kit. Also did spot wet sanding and used rotary buffer with megs 105. Is it perfect, no. However it beat spending 1k or so on a bumper respray. Without PPF chips will continue to occur.
A couple lessons learned. For a CPO car visual inspection is key most will already have chips. If found you can try to negotiate in a bumper respray.
For new I would definitely invest in PPF at least the front of the car would be done as Joe suggested.

[Joe-BMW33]

Originally Posted by peteinpa

I had the same issue on bumper and hood. Used Dr Colorchip for the most part on the pin hole sized chips on the hood. Came out really good.
For larger chips on bumper I ordered paint from automotive touch up and the langda kit. Also did spot wet sanding and used rotary buffer with megs 105. Is it perfect, no. However it beat spending 1k or so on a bumper respray. Without PPF chips will continue to occur.
A couple lessons learned. For a CPO car visual inspection is key most will already have chips. If found you can try to negotiate in a bumper respray.
For new I would definitely invest in PPF at least the front of the car would be done as Joe suggested.

Good advice, the only word of caution, dealers really cheap out of spraying the bumpers. It's pretty much protocol for lease returns with bumper chips to be sprayed by some guy in the parking lot. This is not the way to do it, the clearcoat always peels. The cover needs to be removed for a proper spray. When the sealcoat doesn't wrap around the edges of a body part, they peel. Definitely negotiate the price, but bring it to a shop after.

[admranger]

Originally Posted by Joe-BMW33

I wish I knew about Dr. Colorchip sooner. It's super easy to use and as I said, dummy proof. No globs.

Nope. Not dummy proof. I managed to make things look worse when I tried the Dr. Colorchip stuff. I just could not get the hang of it.

I went the hard route instead: Artist 3/0 brush, touch up paint, 2000 grit wet sand, rinse/repeat until every chip filled and leveled, Rupes 15 with coarse pad and coarse compound. 3 days later it was easy as pie to put the Avalon King ceramic coating on it.

[dhodory]

Keep in mind that Dr. Colorchip isn't really a paint chip repair. It's more of a paint chip disguise. It's very difficult using Dr. Colorchip to completely fill in a paint chip. It definitely makes the paint chips less noticeable (especially if your primer and color coat have a lot of contrast).

After initially using Dr. Colorchip as a "quick fix" I ended up coming back at a later date with actual touch up pain and sanding/buffing it down.

[Joe-BMW33]

Originally Posted by dhodory

Keep in mind that Dr. Colorchip isn't really a paint chip repair. It's more of a paint chip disguise. It's very difficult using Dr. Colorchip to completely fill in a paint chip. It definitely makes the paint chips less noticeable (especially if your primer and color coat have a lot of contrast).

After initially using Dr. Colorchip as a "quick fix" I ended up coming back at a later date with actual touch up pain and sanding/buffing it down.

No doubt it is not a professional repair, but it takes the edge off. If you are one of those people that puts a blob on a chip with a brush kit from the dealer, it's way better than that. I'd argue that those look hideous and are more noticeable than the chip. If you are going to go to the trouble of sanding and making multiple passes, I would personally just hire a pro. Dr. Colorchip is a peace of mind quick fix that leaves the touch up level with the paint.

[430Scud]

Dr color chip for small chips, I find using factory touch up paint with Langka better for deep chips. Langka is a bit more work, but equally goof proof.

http://www.langka.com/