[willougs]

I have a pretty deep, small'ish (5mm long) chunk taken out of the paintwork on my drivers door, just below the mirror. I have an unopened official BMW touch-up set, which seems to consist of a paint pen and a lacquer. Now, I'm not the most patient, hands-on DIY'er, so was looking around for alternatives that can be applied in a single go, as simple as possible.

I checked Chipex and their kit seems overkill (and pretty pricey), and could probably start up my own bodyshop with the equipment needed.

Has anyone ever used an alternative to BMWs official paint and had good results? Is the Chipex solution worth the 40 quid and close to fool-proof? Car is Black Sapphire if that makes any difference.

Thanks in advance

[xenon]

Use the proper BMW one, it's quite easy even if you're a bit cack-handed but you're right in that it's two-step. Clean the scratch, ideally with an alcohol wipe, and then very gently "fill" the scratch with the base colour by dabbing it in with a wooden cocktail stick - IME the brush is too big / coarse. Leave it a few hours and then repeat with the clearcoat. You'd be surprised how well you can make a small scratch like that almost invisible. 5mm is small enough for the lease company not to kick up a fuss if it's going back.

[lnlyssg]

I've used Chipex on my Black Sapphire to touch up loads of paint chips on the bonnet and a couple of minor scuffs on the doors and I'm happy with it. CHIP10 gets you 10% off but there may be other codes available.

quick edit: plenty of reviews on YouTube if you want to see some real-world examples e.g.

I've also seen https://www.drcolourchip.co.uk mentioned but that's even more expensive!

[alFR]

There seem to be quite a few alternatives about now (I've been looking as I need to touch up a chip on mine):

• Official BMW 2-part kit (if they supply in your colour - I understand they don't for some e.g. Skyscraper grey which is my colour, not asked the dealer yet though).
• Chipex 1-step system (paint and blending solution)
• Dr Colourchip 1-step system (paint and blending solution)
• Paintnuts.co.uk 2-step system (paint & lacquer)
• Touch Up Paint Factory 1-step system (mix of paint and clear coat in 1 applicator)

No idea if any of them is better than the others, although my gut feeling is that a 2-part paint and lacquer system is going to be more durable than a 1-step system. I have no evidence for that though!

Be interested to hear how you get on with whatever you choose.

[willougs]

Originally Posted by lnlyssg

I've used Chipex on my Black Sapphire to touch up loads of paint chips on the bonnet and a couple of minor scuffs on the doors and I'm happy with it. CHIP10 gets you 10% off but there may be other codes available.

quick edit: plenty of reviews on YouTube if you want to see some real-world examples e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWuhDucj4Aw I've also seen https://www.drcolourchip.co.uk mentioned but that's even more expensive!

That's really useful. Thanks. Gives me an idea what I'm in for if I go that route (and probably other routes too). The scratch I have is pretty deep, so looks like it may be taking me a while

[Bianchi Dave]

Another one for Chipex. Nothing comes close IME. It lasts for ages but if you do ever need extra blending solution they do sell it separately so no need to buy another full kit.

Bigger chips or deeper scratches just require some patience, with plenty drying time between coats to 'build up' the paint.

A word of warning though if you have a ceramic coating - I've only had to use it once since my G21 was ceramic coated and it did not play well with the little blue 'blending cloths'. Marred a small section of bonnet which required a revisit to my detailer

Works perfectly fine otherwise, as I also use it on our Mini, which has no ceramic