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      08-29-2012, 11:53 AM   #1
trex858
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San Diego Bumper Re-spray

Looking to get my bumper re-sprayed due to many rock chips and and then have a clear bra put on.

I went to Brecht BMW collision center yesterday for an estimate and it was $1,300 to simply re-paint the bumper in le mans blue, no blending at all!

That seems outrageous and i was thinking it would be no more than $500 based on some searches i did and previous posts. Any thoughts on where else to check in San Diego or is around $1k normal for this?

I am going to check out Amato's Auto Body and Phil Thearle's Autowerkes for some other estimates based on recommendations to those places.

Thanks!
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      08-29-2012, 12:06 PM   #2
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$1300 is wayyyy toooo much.

Amato's Auto Body and Phil Thearle's Autowerkes are the best shops in San Diego. (I lived in SD till this year)
I have personally experienced Amato's quality work and many of my friends had great experience from Phil Thearles's as well.

However those are expensive shops. Most of normal shops charge 350-500 to respray a whole bumper.

Ask forum member, "Infamous" and "Sales@modmy3.com" about local good paint shops. They know a few good shops. Tell them Tommy referred. They'll guide you to good/reasonably priced shop.

Honestly, if I have to spend $1300 to repaint bumper, I'll either:
1. Buy euro bumper painted from IND (with a couple hundred more)
2. Buy brand new one get painted (550 bumper + 350 paint) and keep yours as back up or sell for 300 to get some money back.
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Last edited by isugoo; 08-29-2012 at 01:13 PM..
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      08-29-2012, 12:20 PM   #3
trex858
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That is what i thought as well. I would like to not spend more than $400-500 if at all possible and i know you get what you pay for so there is a fine line here based on price/quality.

I will touch base with the other two members you noted and see if they have any recommendations.

Thanks!
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      08-29-2012, 01:42 PM   #4
oldmarco
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If you're willing to drive up to us. I can have our collision shop, McKenna Collision, give you a quote on it. We are located in Norwalk.
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      08-29-2012, 02:10 PM   #5
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Ask Mark @ Chapparone Auto Body. Best paint shop in town. I had them do my LCI trunk on my E90. You can tell him Kevin with the orange volks sent you.
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      08-29-2012, 04:18 PM   #6
trex858
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kaiv View Post
Ask Mark @ Chapparone Auto Body. Best paint shop in town. I had them do my LCI trunk on my E90. You can tell him Kevin with the orange volks sent you.
Thanks. Going to drop by after work today and get an estimate from them. Will drop your name/car.

Much appreciated!
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      08-30-2012, 01:17 AM   #7
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My pleasure!

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      08-30-2012, 04:14 PM   #8
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I have had work done on my E30, E46 and E36 M3's at Amato's, Philip Thearles, and Chapparone.

My recommendation is Phil Thearle's Autowerkes! Very nice people, tons of attention to detail, worked with me for some aftermarket parts I wanted, and listened to what I wanted to have done. And when it was finished it was some of the best quality work I've had done.

Chapperone's - very cool guys that work there but quality wasn't quite as good as Philip T's....don't think they quite have that level of experience.

Amato's - rude people, shitty job, more rude people. Had E36 M3 there for front bumper repair after minor collision went to pickup car after it was "finished" and the brake duct was hanging out. A day later the Turn Signal fell out while I was driving down road and scratched up side of car. I take car back and they say it fell out because the car had wrong bracket holding the bumper on from previous repair - I was like "I just paid you $3,000 to fix whatever is wrong with the front end and you didn't put the correct bracket in?" They said I didn't tell them to replace that piece! WTF they are supposed to be the expert...I told them to fix everything. They then refused to fix the scratches on the bumper that the turn signal that fell out made. DO NOT GO TO AMATO'S Autobody unless you are looking for a junkyard to throw your car in.
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      08-31-2012, 01:50 AM   #9
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It shouldn't be over $800 to respray at a BMW certified collision center using BMW color system.
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      08-31-2012, 02:07 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dapopa9 View Post
I have had work done on my E30, E46 and E36 M3's at Amato's, Philip Thearles, and Chapparone.

My recommendation is Phil Thearle's Autowerkes! Very nice people, tons of attention to detail, worked with me for some aftermarket parts I wanted, and listened to what I wanted to have done. And when it was finished it was some of the best quality work I've had done.

Chapperone's - very cool guys that work there but quality wasn't quite as good as Philip T's....don't think they quite have that level of experience.
Clint, I'm not sure how long it's been since you gave a shot to Chapparone but when I had my trunk done they definitely met my expectations -which were very high. I didn't want to cheap out on the M3 so I went with whoever had the best/most reviews on yelp

They had a palette of several swatches for Alpine White each of slightly different shades (straight out of factory, years parked outside... that kind of stuff). They got the shade perfect on my trunk and the job was better than OE.
----
Edit: Advice to anyone wanting a high quality job on a budget: take your bumper/trunk/part off and bring it. Save on labor to have them take it off and put it back on.
-----
Phil Thearle... Personally I have had a bittersweet experience.

They handled the rear frame repair on my E46. Did a great job with it BUT when putting the car back together they forgot the gasket between the driveshaft CV and the diff.

No gasket = the grease escapes = dry bearings = cooked bearings, crazy vibrations etc.

Took me some time and money of my own figure out what was wrong with the car and fixing their mistake.

Mind you they work on BMWs a lot and have done 100s of those exact repairs. Sucked for me. Not gonna go there again.
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      08-31-2012, 04:51 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kaiv View Post
BUT when putting the car back together they forgot the gasket between the driveshaft CV and the diff.

No gasket = the grease escapes = dry bearings = cooked bearings, crazy vibrations etc.

Exactly why I cringe and hate to ever take my car anywhere for repairs! Even the good shops mess sh!t up. Wish I had all the time and tools to do everything myself(I typically can do all except this bodywork stuff).
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