Touch up job

Hit some road debris in my 2026 X5 M60i and got some deep scratches in the rear passenger side door. Marina Bay Blue. It’s driving me crazy because the car is so new, but the body shop wants 1100$ for a full side respray. I used Dr. Color Chip and it’s decent, but I know it’s there. Thoughts? Before and after pics attached

I use Dr Colorchip at times but on those I would fill with a 00 artist brush then wet sand down.
Takes a bit of wet sanding to knock down edges first with 2000 and a foam block going across, lightly. Box in the spots with tape.
Fill with paint a few times allowing to dry in between coats. I clean my brush in between coats with Kleenstrip Prep-all.
Leaving it slightly shallow allows the next step, clear coat to grab and build up above the surface so you can bring it back down with wet sanding.
I would stick with 2000 and 3000 grit throughout the process. After all that you need a compound and polish with a DA polisher.

Takes a small investment to get everything together.


There is usually someone or some business around that does these jobs.
Here I can think of one business, Auto Color.

But then again, if you took a picture standing 5 feet away I probably wouldn't even notice it. Give it a bit and you might just say what the hell ever and forget about it.

Jg3293 wrote

Hit some road debris in my 2026 X5 M60i and got some deep scratches in the rear passenger side door. Marina Bay Blue. It’s driving me crazy because the car is so new, but the body shop wants 1100$ for a full side respray.

The first ding / scratch hurts the most.

I would advise against re-spraying the doors as the residual value hit from accident repair (most body shops report to Carfax) would be way worse than a scratch!

Jg3293 wrote

I used Dr. Color Chip and it’s decent, but I know it’s there. Thoughts? Before and after pics attached

You did a reasonable job making it better. Perhaps, it can be made better still with another few layers of touch-up, then polishing surface perfectly even with the rest of the clearcoat?

But it will never be 100% as good as new.
It is what it is.

HTH,
a

FWIW I agree. I've done some repairs like this, and they work out. Some make it better, some make it like new. Scares me every time I do it but it basically works. Fill it in, sand the edges, etc.

I'd think someone out there, some local shop would be willing to give it a go for you. Won't blame you for not DIYing it. Do agree filling it in is worth a shot, should work well if someone knows what they are doing. Just have to find them.

If you did consider professional repair:

Echoing the sentiment to DIY vs (a large or dealership) body shop who will quite likely report the repair for carfax reporting purposes, simply bc of how many of their software platforms are setup.

However, if you go to a smaller and/or local shop and are paying cash (not using insurance) it's very likely that it wouldn't be reported. You can even ask them about it, along the lines of "Hey, I want this minor issue repaired and I'll be paying cash. Does your shop report this kind of thing to carfax or other reporting agencies?"

tracer bullet wrote

I'd think someone out there, some local shop would be willing to give it a go for you. Won't blame you for not DIYing it. Do agree filling it in is worth a shot, should work well if someone knows what they are doing. Just have to find them.

I had a somewhat similar situation ~8 years ago and a bumper scrape (courtesy of parking valet). Long story short, no body shop wanted to do anything short of taking the bumper cover off, sanding it down, and respraying everything for $1+K.
Simple touch-up job wasn't worth their time - it was going to take them about as much time, but they won't be able to charge you $1K for touch-up, right?
Thus, paint touch-up remains a 99% DIY activity.

YMMV,
a

P.S.: I touched up that bumper rash and haven't seen it since. It's there, but so far out of the way that I forgot I had it until just now.

Honestly, from normal viewing distance, the repair looks pretty good. The fact that you know where it is means your eyes go straight to it, but almost nobody else will notice.
On a brand-new car it's understandable that it bothers you, but I'd probably live with the Dr. ColorChip repair for a few months before committing to a full respray. A quality body shop can match Marina Bay Blue well, but you're still repainting an original panel on a nearly new vehicle.
If it still bugs you after you've had some time to forget about it, then spend the $1,100. Right now I'd save the money and enjoy the car—you'll likely pick up another tiny chip eventually anyway.

afadeev wrote

P.S.: I touched up that bumper rash and haven't seen it since. It's there, but so far out of the way that I forgot I had it until just now.

It brings up a thought, one I subscribe to often - what's the worst that can happen? If one is about to take it to a shop to respray it, it kind of makes it OK to try DIY and mess it up - worst case, you take it to a shop to respray which you planned on anyhow.

I've been happy with my DIY paint touch-ups lately, I recently filled some rock chips in my X3 hood that made them 100% disappear, and I patted myself on the back. But it does take a while to get there.

There's also a little bit of letting go, it is indeed a car. If you want it perfect, you can't own it. I used to say that you can't drive it, but then my kid discovered ways to scratch things that aren't driven (I've done it too, to be fair). You might get it fixed, it looks 100%, and on the way home something new happens. After a while you stop looking at the imperfections and realize the other 99.9% of the car looks great, and that's good enough.

Considering the location and size, that can definitely be corrected without a body shop. Apply another layer of color to better match the surrounding area, then follow with clear coat to fill any remaining low spots. I prefer letting the clear sit about 1–2 millimeters above the surface, since the next steps will level it out.

Allow the clear coat to fully cure (I like using a clear with a proper hardener so the repaired area is as strong as the original paint). Once cured, lightly wet‑sand to smooth out any edge lines.

Finish by polishing the sanded area, blending slightly beyond the repair to restore a nice uniform clear coat shine.