Visual appearance

[ilya]

Hey,
just wanted to take a small survey.. how much do you guys care about the visual appearance of your car(s)? i mean, if there is a scratch here and there (or even if there's a lot of them), are you going to go to the extremes to take it/them out?

personally, the most important thing to me is the way the car drives, handles, and feels. i have a good amount of scratches all of my e34 (stupid car wash!!), and while i would really love to take them out, i think im going to save the money that i would spend on detailing and spend it on maintenance. once summer comes, ill wash the car myself and use some of that ScratchX and polish/wax it. but i dont see myself spending hundreds of dollars to get the scratches out professionally. one of the main reasons being that im off to colelge in a few months, and there is NO way it will stay in that PERFECT shape once i park it there..

the only "visual" thing i will be paying for this year, i think, is repair of the damage after my accident a few months ago. still awiting on my tax return and then going to use that money. it's gonna be about $650-750, but at least t he car wont have a huge dent and a broken taillight.

[Dick Schneiders]

I want every scratch and ding gone from both of my 1991 525i's, especially my sexy black one with the Schnitzer body parts. While I don't usually spend a lot of money to get the job done professionally, I *will* spend what it requires and a lot of my time to make it as good as I can.

After a co-worker smashed in one side of my black 525i a few months ago in a parking lot accident, and it was professionally repaired and repainted removing all of the scratches and smudges, I can see a difference. Now I want both sides to be this perfect (and the top and the hood and the trunk). The two sides are really not all that different, but I can tell and it bothers me.

Anal, who me?

Dick Schneiders

Hey,
just wanted to take a small survey.. how much do you guys care about the visual appearance of your car(s)? i mean, if there is a scratch here and there (or even if there's a lot of them), are you going to go to the extremes to take it/them out?

personally, the most important thing to me is the way the car drives, handles, and feels. i have a good amount of scratches all of my e34 (stupid car wash!!), and while i would really love to take them out, i think im going to save the money that i would spend on detailing and spend it on maintenance. once summer comes, ill wash the car myself and use some of that ScratchX and polish/wax it. but i dont see myself spending hundreds of dollars to get the scratches out professionally. one of the main reasons being that im off to colelge in a few months, and there is NO way it will stay in that PERFECT shape once i park it there..

the only "visual" thing i will be paying for this year, i think, is repair of the damage after my accident a few months ago. still awiting on my tax return and then going to use that money. it's gonna be about $650-750, but at least t he car wont have a huge dent and a broken taillight.

[Brian C.]

....since, living in a large metropolitan area as I do, they will come whether you're careful or not. Between parking lots, commuting through construction zones, or working in an area that has many limestone rockpits, I seem to pick up a rock chip at least once a month. At the very least I get covered with white dust just going out to lunch most days. But what does bug me is that my clearcoat if now failing on my drivers front quarter panel. It almost completely hazed and flaked on my hood a year and a half ago and it looked so back I had the hood repainted. This was all due to a repair of an accident involving the previous owner. It wasn't obvious then, but now the side fender area is starting to go. If only I had seen it when I had the hood done. It's one of those things that makes me feel bad about driving it when I know that it looks bad. Completely cosmetic, but ....."Vanity....thy name is bimmer owner." I do try to keep the mechanical aspects up as good as I can afford first though.

Brian C.
'95 525ia

[icm5er]

too excited if I see a new ding or scratch as I am more concerned with its mechanical condition, I want it to look good but dont worry about it.





The 1991 M5 (foreground), 52k miles, garage queen, is spotless, kept covered and garaged, hand washed and dried with loving care, never driven in winter or rain, no dings or real scratches, and that is how it will stay.

[Paul in NZ]

i try to kep my car as well as i can.I had a mishap with the fender and got the hood and front bumper and valence painted at the same time.That was on me and i made sure that the body shop couls and would repaint as per BMW......Looks good for a 13 yr old 100 000 mile daily driver