First Scratch

[tractioncircle]

Hello Folks

My 91 325i had its first scratch today. I scratched it against the fire-extinguisher box at work this morning. Feeling super stupid.

Wanted your opinions on whether I should DIY bondo and paint it? I have no prior experience with body work, so don't want to screw up the near pristine paint on the car. Is this something that could be handled with a DIY?

Here's the damage.

[efficient]

From there it only goes downhill.

[Dakotademon7]

You should take it to a body shop. It takes a bit of know how to get it to blend. I could fix it yourself but you would be able to see the repair do to the shade of the paint being off. A paint shop would have to do a custom blend of paint to make it match.

[tractioncircle]

I am thinking i will bondo and sand it and then take it to a body shop to paint it. Is that still a bad Idea?

[Roysneon]

I am thinking i will bondo and sand it and then take it to a body shop to paint it. Is that still a bad Idea?

Yes. If you're concerned with how it looks and have limited/no experience doing serious body work it will be more than worth whatever they want for a reputable body shop to do it.

[nando]

I am thinking i will bondo and sand it and then take it to a body shop to paint it. Is that still a bad Idea?

don't bother. you'll end up paying more when they have to fix what you did than if you just let them do it.

[Dakotademon7]

Most likely they will scuff the area,shot a high build primer,block sand then shot color mixed to the right shade to match.

[tractioncircle]

Took it to a body shop yesterday and the guy said he'd have to repaint the whole hood and fender.

I want to keep the repair as local as possible to the scratch as the rest of the paint is great.

He's quoting $800 for the job. I can definitely spend $800 in a better way. So search for a reasonable solution continues.

In the meanwhile masking tape yo!