RE: Seeking body repair advice in S.NH

["David R. Lefebvre" <drl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

If he has pin striping, this will also provide a good visual transition if 
they have to blend. The only good thing about pin striping.

To elaborate on the metallic paint comment, it is very hard to match. And 
light metallics are worse than dark metallics.

At 04:02 PM 2/25/03 -0500, you wrote:
>Suggestion for the paint shop especially if it is metallic, blending looks
>good the first day out of the shop but after the fillers from the buffing
>compound wash away after several washings the blend will be noticeable. If
>this is a nice car spend the extra $100 and paint the entire side to a
>breaking edge on the top of the doors and fenders. Send me your paint code
>and I will send you a qt. of base to do the entire side.      R.
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: David R. Lefebvre [mailto:drl@domain.elided]
>Sent: Tuesday, February 25, 2003 2:15 PM
>To: kohlbren-m-d@domain.elided
>Cc: bmw@domain.elided
>Subject: Re: Seeking body repair advice in S.NH
>
>If you don't have metallic paint, I would just get a dent-less used door,
>have it dipped and resprayed. Otherwise, you are going to need blending.
>
>If you can't find a good paint shop in your area, there's a BMW parts yard
>in Florida, and I have a buddy in Austin, Texas who's independent and does
>most of the BMW & Mercedes work in town. His work is better than factory.
>
>At 07:01 PM 2/25/03 +0000, you wrote:
> >Last Saturday, in the middle of a really slippery, slushy, snow
> >storm in S.NH, a van slid into my driver's door ('92 535i).  It
> >was a very low speed hit and damage appears to be isolated to
> >the drivers door.  It has a good size dent, the center trim piece
> >is trashed, and the door is tweaked such that the upper rear
> >corner is pulled out by about 1/8".  The seal in that area
> >doesn't and I get some air noise at speed.  The door opens and
> >closes fine.  The window opens and closes fine. The locks still
> >work fine.
> >
> >Now, due to the fact that the car is so old, my only option,
> >according to my insurer (Allstate...), is to show up at the
> >adjuster and drive away with a check.
> >
> >Before I show up at this scheduled meeting next Wednesday, I
> >want to do a bit of homework to ensure that I get the fairest
> >possible treatment.  My thought was to get some quotes from
> >body shops before meeting with the adjuster.  Also, I want to
> >find a quality bodyshop that will provide the best value in
> >getting this repaired.
> >
> >Will this likely be repaired, or will they hang a new/used
> >door?
> >
> >How much should I expect this repair to cost?
> >
> >Does anyone have a line on a quality body shop in the S.NH
> >area?
> >
> >Alternatively, how hard is it to hang a door myself, assuming
> >I could find a suitable donor and I was willing to deal with
> >paint matching and all that?
> >
> >Thanks in advance for any and all advice!
> >
> >Regards,
> >Mike Kohlbrenner
> >
> >p.s.  After the accident, the other guy left the scene.  I gave
> >chase, but while I had him in my sights on a couple of occasions,
> >he had enough of a head start to lose me on the city streets when
> >I got caught at a red light.  It was almost fun, though, as I was
> >sliding around following his tracks in the snow.  One or both of
> >the witnesses at the scene did get his plate number, however, so
> >the cops bagged him.  Turns out he was driving under suspension.
> >They plan to charge him with leaving the scene.  And he doesn't
> >have insurance either.  Oh well, at least I do...
> >--
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