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Subject: Paintless dent removal pics Author: DavidC (moderator) : member since December, 2003 : 12931 posts Posted on: 2004-02-07 22:12:09

These pictures were taken last April, but they're as timely as ever. Paintless dent removal is a good alternative to traditional body work for small-to-medium sized dents and dings. The PDR tech has an array of specialized tools that allows him to manipulate the metal from both sides of the skin to smooth out problem areas. It works amazingly well, IMHO. It definitely requires a practiced hand, so shop around for recommendations in your area. The repairs below cost around $150, as I recall, and took about 2.5 hours to complete.


The photo above shows how the hood had a very noticable dinner-plate-sized depression on the passenger side. Several body shops had already turned down repair, saying that it had to be replaced entirely.


Within about 15 minutes the PDR person had it and several other dents on the hood completely fixed. I was amazed.


Here, the arrow points to a long, horizontal crease in the driver's-side rear door. Ironically, I got this crease at a local BMW event but no one 'fessed up to it.








The crease was a particularly difficult repair because the E38's structural steel bar in the door made it hard to get the tools behind the crease. Though still somewhat noticable to me, the finished result is very good. It's virtually invisible to others, and the cost is dramatically lower than a new door.

All in all, I had a good experience with paintless dent removal and would use it again.

David Cecil
Lexington, KY
Titanium silver '01 750iL, 92k miles
Oxford green '97 740iL, 184k miles
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Charcoal gray '86 735i, 101k miles (for sale)

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