How do I repair this scratch?

[mziggy16]

I inherited the ugly scratches below when I bought the car. Not sure what caused them, but my best guess is a cat. They're deep enough that my fingernail will catch in there.

My original thought was Dr. Color Chip or similar, but figured I'd ask before getting into it.

That specific spot has been hit with the random orbital and Chemical Guys 36 and 38, but not the heavier compounds (32/34).

Thoughts?

[gpraceman]

If you spray the scratches with water, do they disappear? If so, then it would just be clear coat scratches that could be buffed out.

[mziggy16]

Originally Posted by gpraceman

If you spray the scratches with water, do they disappear? If so, then it would just be clear coat scratches that could be buffed out.

Still mostly there...

[gpraceman]

There's always touching up with a paint pen.

http://www.bimmertools.com/BMW-Touch...iABEgLxr_D_BwE

[Z4Lee]

As they say, that's not going to buff out. Past the clear coat and through the base coat. Get some touch up paint that matches your colour. Thereafter a dozen techniques to get it smooth.

[KevinM]

Since your finger nail catches it, either learn to live with it or take it to a respected paint shop and see what they say. I personally wouldn't tackle that one myself. To get it perfect, the body shop will need to repaint and re-clear the area and blend the paint in. Some shops will do touch up for you, which will likely be better than you could do but won't be perfect.

Here is a video on professional scratch repair. This scratch is a lot worse than yours, but you get the idea:

GL!

[garz747]

Respray is your only option. much to deep to massage out.

[3002 tii]

Wrap the car like me

[mziggy16]

How about Dr Color Chip or Chipex?

[Huz-Z]

Originally Posted by mziggy16

How about Dr Color Chip or Chipex?

I would definitely try Dr. Colorchip first and see if that does the trick before taking the car to a shop and spending a lot of $$. Be sure to review all their online videos to make sure you do it right (its not that hard by the way, I've used this stuff to remove a lot of bumper stone chips with really great results).

And that was no cat that made those marks. My cat used to bunk out on my canvas top and could get up there without a mark on the car (behavior corrected with a garden hose). Looks like someone scrubbed against the car with something abrasive on their clothes, like a rivet on a belt or leather jacket, or something similar.

[StickMon]

^WHS
Can't hurt to try it yourself. Keep in mind it may happen again. Might want to accumulate a couple more before going for a respray.
I have a couple of similar scratches from rocks and/or "road alligators" with steel belts.

[mziggy16]

Yeah, it's not getting a respray anytime soon, so I'll give the Dr. a call and see how that turns out.

[steffe]

http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/417081

[Westersund]

Originally Posted by KevinM

Since your finger nail catches it, either learn to live with it or take it to a respected paint shop and see what they say. I personally wouldn't tackle that one myself. To get it perfect, the body shop will need to repaint and re-clear the area and blend the paint in. Some shops will do touch up for you, which will likely be better than you could do but won't be perfect.

Here is a video on professional scratch repair. This scratch is a lot worse than yours, but you get the idea:
GL!

I saw this video a long time ago and I remember that I cringed, that is NOT professional! The best way to get rid of that is get some primer in (if the scratch is all the way to the metal), cover with paint, build up with clear coat, wet sand is smooth and then polish. You might have to wet sand the excess between primer, paint and clear coat. You don't fill in, leave the excess paint and polish it.