Question regarding paint

[R8cerY]

Is it common protocol to remove the whole rear bumper to paint a small section?

[harrison]

Thats the PREFERABLE method. That way the whole piece can be clearcoated, without taping or masking off the ENTIRE rest of car. Costs a little more but the end result should be PERFECT. You want your R 8 perfectly done, right ??

[R8cerY]

Yes, of course I want it to look perfect. The estimate was close to $2000 for some scratches, with no dents. The same damage on a lesser car would be like $500 to repaint. I wonder if the shops charge more just because the car is worth more?

[SDR8]

Taking off the bumper should not be that big of a deal. I would rather them take off a piece if possible than get over-spray elsewhere. No matter how good they think they mask or protect other areas, paint seems to get all over and you will continue to find it for a long time. You should have a couple of places give you quotes. Make sure that they are comparing apples to apples (same quality of paint and steps).

[desperado]

Also, if any of the work you intend involves aluminum body panels, I would check and make sure the shop is "aluminum certified". Otherwise, the corrosion protection of the coatings might be compromised.

[mngolfer]

When I jacked me car up and put it on "tire Skates" for the winter the jack moved against the car and made a mark on the rocker panel. Same thing happened on the other side when I was taking it down in the spring.

If I removed both panels and delivered them to the best autobody repair shop in MN they quoted me $700 per panel. The repair book quoted FIVE hours time to paint each panel once it was off the car. That is NUTS. When I said I wanted to be present and time the five hours they said no.

R8's are expensive to paint.

[R8cerY]

I was parked in a structure, and when I came back, the damage was there. The damage is relatively minor, with no damage to the bumper, but some red paint was transferred and some of the scratch marks had the paint completely removed to the panel. You barely notice it unless you look for it, but I had to get the thing repainted because I know it's there. It's been a stressful past couple of days, choosing a body shop, having the adjuster look at it, etc. Hopefully the paint will match and it will look as good as new when I get her back.

[mngolfer]

I strongly suggest you get a recommendation from the local dealer on which company to use for the repair. There are Audi, BMW and MB certified repair shops. Using others may be your worst nightmare.

[willyjp]

if your scratches aren't thru the primer to bare metal, you shouldn't have a corrosion issue; IF bare Al is exposed, it has to be primed with some kind of "anodic" primer like zinc chromate; none of this is rocket science...any boat yard that is used to dealing with marine aluminum knows how to handle it...it's just foreign to the experience of most auto body shops; painters of aircraft also know how to handle Al properly.

if bare metal is not exposed, I'm a BIG fan of the "micro scratch and dent" techniques that I've posted about a lot on this forum: I have a local guy here who does phenomenal repairs at very reasonable cost (made a "key" scratch over front fender and 2 doors disappear on my A6); these guys use airbrush techniques and (this guy has a local franchise of "SameDay Scratch and Dent Repair") has access to the most amazing paint matching system;

if you haven't already committed your bumper to the body shop approach, it might be worth getting one of those guys to take a look at it; you'd be talking a couple $100's MAX (not $1000's), and if you didn't like it, you could always still go the body shop route; also, it'll be done in your own garage in half a day or less!

PS: your BMW or MB shops aren't necessarily going to be able to handle Aluminum any better than the run of the mill places; your R8 manual tells you how to find an Audi Aluminum certified body shop (R8 concierge is 866-892-2834), IF the "aluminum" issue IS involved (down to metal).

[R8cerY]

I have decided to go with an Audi Aluminum certified body shop because I believe one of the scratches is rather deep to bare metal. Will update once I get the car back- but the microdent and scratch same day repair definitely sounds interesting. I will consider it in the future, but I believe though small in size, the scratches are rather deep. Any idea on how long it should take to paint the rear bumper? I'm hoping to get it back by next week.