Scuff marks on bumper & fender

[Skaven252]

Managed to scuff my pride and joy against a concrete pillar tonight when parking. And this was at home, on top of that. *whips self* It was the front left corner. There are scuff marks on the front bumper and plastic fender. Fortunately no marks on the paintwork. Phew.

Save for replacing the parts completely, what would be the best way to make the scuff marks less visible?

[angie4m]

A good quailty polish and some elbow grease would probably do the trick. As proper polish (not the wax that says its polish) is abrasive and a little should do the job

[Skaven252]

Thanks. How should the polish be applied? With a drill cotton polish bit, or will just a rag suffice? I was also thinking about wet polish sandpaper, does it work on plastic or is it not recommended?

The bumper is shiny, so polish will work there, but I suppose the matte finish on the fender will require something else...

[angie4m]

By the looks of it you have NHB so I wouldn't use a rag, if you are going to use a drill with the cotton polishing attachment go easy. I would use a good polishing cloth and do it by hand, but that could be hard work. As for the plastic fender, a bit of the wet sand paper should do the trick, again not going too hard at it

[Skaven252]

OK, I went and bought some things I thought I'd need and got to it. I was, and still am, a complete n00b at doing this, so the results were pretty bad at best.



I started by giving the bumper a water sanding using a sandpaper-covered sponge thingy (I found them ready-made), and finishing it with a fine water sandpaper. "Finishing" is a misnomer, because even the finest wet sandpaper only gives a matte finish.

I then proceeded with the black plastic polish - only to find out it was actually meant for the trim, not for the bumper. Also, it turned out the bumper is not made of the same plastic throughout, but covered with a black surface coating that isn't very thick. Sanding made the lighter plastic underneath show through.

First I reckoned I had no stuff that could do the job, then, being impatient and desperate (and the shops being closed), I opted for the touch-up pen. It's the right shade and all, but there's a tiny amount available in the pen, and the brush is tiny as well. And I had just sanded a somewhat large area around the scratches.... *insert banging head to a wall -smiley here* ... so off I go, trying to cover the whole area with the touch-up pen. Hardly a smooth job.

In retrospect, I should have 1) tried to cover as little area as possible and only get rid of protrusions, not try to smooth out anything else or 2) just use the touch-up pen and not sand at all

Perhaps shiny black spray paint could cover up the rest? I just wonder where on earth I could find the right shade. Or, I could just not care about the exact shade and use some off-the-shelf spray paint... (yes, feel free to cringe at that thought)

Here, I'll let the pictures (before, sanded, after) speak for themselves:

[Dimplyred]

Get a price to have the bumper resprayed and get in touch with your dealer for a price for a new wheels arch trim.

It probably won't cost as much as you think. They are very easy to remove an fit.

At least you tried.

[Skaven252]

Yeah... I'll phone and ask for a price tomorrow. I hope it's not as expensive as I'm afraid.

I can already see the repair dude(tte)s laughing at my attempt to fix it when they see it....

[Skaven252]

Hmm, I actually found a can of black shiny spray paint in my storeroom. I sprayed some on a sheet of paper and am going to let it dry, then I'm going to compare the shade with the bumper's shade. If they match closely enough, I just might try again.

I only hope the spray paint won't react with the bumper's coating. I remember once being ordered to spray paint a number of door knobs with black spray paint. I ran out of paint so the guy brought me another one, which was a different brand and supposedly had a different chemical composition. When I sprayed that over the previous paint (which had already dried), the paint shriveled up like a prune.

This spray paint, though, is bought from a shop that specializes in car-related supplies, so I'm not that worried. It's probably the same kind of paint they use on cars.

[Dimplyred]

Originally Posted by Skaven252

Yeah... I'll phone and ask for a price tomorrow. I hope it's not as expensive as I'm afraid.

I can already see the repair dude(tte)s laughing at my attempt to fix it when they see it....

I bet they have seen a lot worse. Who cares anyway as long as it gets sorted.

[big-kim]

my car has the exact same scratches
and i mean exactly the same !!!!

[Skaven252]

The protector turned out pretty difficult to polish, but here's information for those (including me) who are looking to have it replaced:

The spare part number is 74165-SMG-E01 (front left protector - don't know what the front right protector's number is), and at the local brand dealer the part costs €73, while having it replaced costs €23.