fender repair or replacement

[andrewgoldin]

Hi Folks,
Last night I carlessly pulled out of a garage parking space and scratched the front fender of my Z4 3.0i (pic attached). Damage doesn't seem to be *that* bad but I am anxious to get it fixed-up. After all, this car IS my 'baby'

An older thread recommended the use of Springfield Auto Body. Arlington BMW uses First Choice Auto Body off Rt 1 near Crystal City. The Arlington location is somewhat more convienet for me, but Springfield is also within range.

What's the latest word on body shops in Arlington/Alexandria/Fairfax area? Is Springfield auto body still "the place" ?

Thanks!

[andrewgoldin]

Here's an update.
I got estimates at both places. Initial impressions of both body shops are pretty positive. Both estimates came in at around $700 and were provided without charge. Tom, at Springfield Auto Body, was nice enough to get a cleaning compound to clean up the scrape so it looks better (I suppose it's also easier to see the extent of the damage). Repair cost will be around $700 and will take two days. Meanwhile, Pete at First Choice Body Shop quoted me at about the same price. Time required would be about 5 days, and he wouldn't be able to take the car for a couple weeks.

Any thoughts?

[andrewgoldin]

OK, so here I am closing out my own post. I decided to go with Springfield Auto Body. I worked with Tom Butterworth, who was very honest and conscientious. After negotiating a bit over a bit over the price by eliminating the headlight replacement (getting rid of the scratch on it didn't seem worth what they were charging) I got the price for the work I wanted to just under $700.

While they were doing the work, I got a call asking if I'd like to pay another $100 or so for the mechanic to sand the other nicks and imperfections in the bumper? The car's been on the road for three years and I could believe his claim that I "wouldn't be happy with the work" unless I got that done as well. The cost of that and a replacement mounting bracket added on $130 to the total. I'm not quite sure where the need for the replacement mounting bracket came from. I suspected that the mechanic broke it when removing the bumper for service but couldn't say for sure. Nonetheless, I agreed to the additional work and am glad I did.

The car was ready as promised. I got a call from the mechanic that it would be ready in an hour and went by to pick it up soon afterwards. From the presentation and condition of the car when I came by to pick it up, I could tell that the guys really take pride in their work -- and it showed. The car was parked at the customer pickup area, looking spotless, shiny, and freshly washed. The bumper looked great -- smooth, shiny, and the color well matched to the rest of the car. Pictures attached. Overall I feel like I really got what I paid for. After this experience I can recommend Springfield Auto Body to whomever is looking for quality work on their car.

[mcoupemindy]

Very cool. Thanks for updating everyone.

[Nick325xiT 5spd]

At least on the E36 and E46 plastic bumpers, there is a plastic mounting bracket on the side, which is directly underneath the damage there. It's very likely that you crushed it in your incident, so I'd actually lean towards believing them there. They probably ought to have included the work to sand it in the upfront quote, though. They should have spotted that.