Before I leave on my trip soon, I need to get some painting done on my car that has been waiting for me… the PO painted the side rocker panels and lower rear bumper. The rear paint is fine, but the sides only look good from a distance. Up close, it looks/feels like orange peel, and it’s finally starting to chip off. It appears like the plastic surface was not prepared properly :/. A local auto painter said he could sand both side rocker panels, repaint them, fix a crack in the front lower bumper and paint that whole bumper too for $300. Does that sound reasonable? Now, on to my main dilemma:

I’m wondering if the 1995 E34s with painted rocker panels have those two “cracks” on each side. As you can see in the pictures, they line up with either the door edge or some lines on the step when you open the rear door. They are obviously by design, and I’m assuming they are there to facilitate water drainage (?). The guy can either bondo up those “cracks,” and paint smoothly over the top, or he can leave them there and finish around the edges (Looks like the PO tried to paint over the rear crack as you can see in the pic). Your advice please!

Thanks so much,
Greg