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Originally Posted by hogzilla
I also need to get paintless dent removal of a few on the doors. Do they disassemble the panels to remove the dent or is it all done with everything as is? I know very little about the process.
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A couple of years ago our local BMW CCA Chapter had a joint Tech Session together with the local PCA chapter at Bumper Doc, a local paintless dent repair place that also does collision work, tinting, detailing and other automotive services.
They picked two cars from the members that showed up and demonstrated their techniques on both of them. One was a newer BMW, a 5 Series IIRC, and the other was an older air-cooled Porsche 911. They said that German cars already have access to many areas with existing body panel plugs, so for most door and side fender panels there's no drilling required.
They insert various length rods with various kinds of tips through the access holes and with the proper leverage and a series of strokes they literally progressively press the dent back out. They use mirrors and lights to give themselves the best possible view and even everything out so that you wouldn't even know the dent was there.
The BMW was easier than the Porsche because of the age and thickness of the metal and the available access on the Porsche. The BMW took only 15-20 minutes to fix three door dings but the Porsche's dent was in the front fender and took a lot more time.
I've had PDR done by Bumper Doc on previous cars and they did a great job. It was really impressive to see them actually do it and watch the dents disappear right in front of your eyes. Just make sure that you find a place that has lots of positive reviews on Yelp or similar. Sometimes LivingSocial, Groupon, or Google Offers have discounts available.