[CosmicWizard]

Hi, after 3 blissful years of incident-free ownership of my 2021 X3, law of averages finally caught up with me and woke up to see the below dent in the rear black plastic bumper It most probably was doing of valet guy of a star hotel I visited early this week but can't do much as I didn't notice it then.





BMW ASS has given me estimate of Rs 1.2L, which means involving insurance, taking hit on NCB bonus and leaving car at garage for a week atleast.

Will taking it to an FNG be any cheaper? Any recommendations in Bangalore (whitefield) area for the same?

DIY: I have seen youtube videos of people pouring hot water, using heat guns to pop the dent out from plastic bumpers but my assessment tells me that DIY will not be easy. I see the bumper is quite thick and riveted to blue one and heating them in place to pop them out may not fit my skill levels.

Or how about just ignoring and living with it? It's not very visible, unless you are looking for it but I do plan to keep the car for another 5-7 years, so...

Please share your thoughts.

[androdev]

I see you are from Bangalore. Trying to keep your car in showroom condition is very taxing here. My personal approach would be to do the best possible repair without a repaint. In this case, I would get the dent removed without damaging the paint, give it a proper polish and touch up the deep scratches with good-enough paint match, etc. Basically you will still see the damage but it won't be obvious at a quick glance.

This is the regime I've decided to follow after my initial years of trying to keep things in 10/10 condition which was like constantly playing whack-a-mole game. However, if your spirit has not yet been broken down, I'm sure others will pitch with recommendations for a good bodyshop. The cost of 1.2L quoted by A.S.S is excessive and when it comes to repaint jobs, A.S.S has no clear advantage.

I shared few tips to avoid fender benders here:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/stree...ml#post5548413 (Basic rules to follow to avoid dents and scratches while driving a luxury car)

[Way2Jimny]

This damage is nothing. If I were you, I would ignore and fix it whenever I get some time. Any good body shop in your city will fix it for you. It really does not warrant a replacement.

[Akshay1234]

It should be easily fixable by a large amount. Get a good bodyshop to just straigten it out after opening it up, and you should only be left with a few scratches.

[shikh_oberoi]

I think you can source the black part(rear diffuser) from some good car accessories shop which imports car parts.


Source : indiamart.

PS: even my Elantra's bumper black part is damaged and new one costs a lot for a little plastic. I have asked my FNG guy to source it maybe you can do the same.

[Vinod_nair]

A good FNG denter will remove this in minutes, I had a bigger dent on the rear bumper of my Nano some years back.

I took it to my denter he warmed up the inside with a hand glow torch, and pushed it, it popped out no paint damage, paid 150 bucks, it's easy don't stress.

[ashpkd]

I would chose to ignore it for the time being. It is not visible. However if you want to fix it, it would be way cheaper in your fng. Anything cosmetic it doesn't make sense to go to BMW.

[tbppjpr]

Go in kitchen, boil lot of water in a large pot/vessel. Gradually start dropping this boiled water on the dented plastic and try to push from inside using something like thick bamboo or the handle of hammer which does not have sharp edge.

The trick will work if the thickness and quality of the dented part is similar to the upper painted bumper.

I have done it once on my Polo rear bumper (first type) which is made of very thick plastic. Initially when I tried first, I thought to give up but the job was done with bit of muscle power, patience and time.

[civic-dk]

I had a big dent in the plastic bumper in my Tiago due to a motorcycle guy hitting it from the rear. Took it to the FNG, who opened the bumper, applied some pressure from the inside with a plastic hammer, and the bumper popped back with no sign of dent or paint damage visible.

You may try it out with a FNG and see if it works.

[CosmicWizard]

Originally Posted by tbppjpr

Go in kitchen, boil lot of water in a large pot/vessel. Gradually start dropping this boiled water on the dented plastic and try to push from inside using something like thick bamboo or the handle of hammer which does not have sharp edge.

The trick will work if the thickness and quality of the dented part is similar to the upper painted bumper.

I have done it once on my Polo rear bumper (first type) which is made of very thick plastic. Initially when I tried first, I thought to give up but the job was done with bit of muscle power, patience and time.

I too was thinking of trying this hot water technique but given slant angle of the dented part facing down, water will just fall off quickly. Another hard part is lack of enough clearance on the inside for pushing it out with any force. I thought of removing the bumper first and then pushing it out from inside but that itself doesn't seem very easy thing to do for a novice.

So, ignore for now and find an FNG at leisure, it is. Voice of the people is my command. Thanks everyone :-)

[SakJel]

Hi,

If you can't take out the bumper then take boiling water in a steel tumbler and keep splashing it gently till the damaged part is really hot, if it's possible to push with a rod or something from behind will do the trick, but you have to push it when it's really hot.

Even if it's not possible to push it from behind still try with boiling water, sometimes it bulges out on itself. Worth giving a try than not doing anything about it.

Cheers...

[Rshrey22]

Bumper work happens for 1000 rupees without paint and 2500 rupees with paint for most C and D segment cars. What you are being quoted is daylight robbery.

You'll find bumper repair guys on any good FNG. Plastic welding, painting, crack repair and what not. Save your money and time.

[autobahnjpr]

For people who love their cars and would like to keep it pristine a scratch on it is like a scar on the heart. But, sometimes it is better to live with that than to go for open heart. This dent is minor and does not cause any interference with the running of the car. It might be an eyesore but even if you get it repaired with whatever possible course of action, it is not guaranteed that you will not get something again.

So, if I were you, I would make peace with it, accept it as a reality and move on with smile. Take it as a evil destroyer omen like the one people sometimes hang outside their new homes - an ugly face with large tongue sticking out. Long back, when I had bought a new Dzire in 2008, the next day of delivery, an auto banged from behind breaking a part of the rear tail lamp while i was returning from office. I was heartbroken but I kept it like that and for the next 14 years, it acted like an evil eye.

[sridhar-v]

Look on it as a "kala tikka". Just get it popped back by a good denting chap. If it was my Maruti I would pay 3000 including repainting. On your BMW you will have to shell out a slight premium.

[AsphaltNomad]

If possible make peace with it in the current form. Maybe if possible you can think that this dent averted something much bigger! Now coming to 1.2 lakhs, not sure whether the dealers have that much margin on the sale of a brandnew X3, leave alone charging it for a bumper replacement.