Joined
·
2 Posts
Hopefully this helps someone else out. I couldn't find much information regarding paintless dent removal near the grills on our e46 BMWs. Cliff notes are at the end.
I had a dent in the middle of the grills on my 01 e46 330xi from a low speed accident involving the rear end of a SUV. The accident caused a dent, pushed the very bottom of the hood in a little, and caused the grills to not sit flush with the hood. In my case, the actual plastic grill pieces sustained no further damage in the accident than what was already present (all the cheap plastic tabs were already broken that secure the grills to the hood). Furthermore, the dent did not touch any edges of the hood. If your dent touches an edge or has cracked paint, that is a different matter that is beyond my experience.
I took my car to a PDR tech in Southern Maine and was told it couldn't be done due to the hood being two seperate metal sheets leaving very little room for a tech to work with. My other options were to hammer the dent out, take the car to a body shop, or buy a new hood.
I did a little research and found HammarTime PDR in Arundel, ME owned by Dan. I dropped the car off at 10:00 AM and picked it up a few hours later. He was able to pull the dent out and the grills now sat flush with the hood. I was very happy with the results.
Attached are before and after pictures.
Cliff notes: Paintless dent repair can be done on the e46 BMW hood near the grills.
I had a dent in the middle of the grills on my 01 e46 330xi from a low speed accident involving the rear end of a SUV. The accident caused a dent, pushed the very bottom of the hood in a little, and caused the grills to not sit flush with the hood. In my case, the actual plastic grill pieces sustained no further damage in the accident than what was already present (all the cheap plastic tabs were already broken that secure the grills to the hood). Furthermore, the dent did not touch any edges of the hood. If your dent touches an edge or has cracked paint, that is a different matter that is beyond my experience.
I took my car to a PDR tech in Southern Maine and was told it couldn't be done due to the hood being two seperate metal sheets leaving very little room for a tech to work with. My other options were to hammer the dent out, take the car to a body shop, or buy a new hood.
I did a little research and found HammarTime PDR in Arundel, ME owned by Dan. I dropped the car off at 10:00 AM and picked it up a few hours later. He was able to pull the dent out and the grills now sat flush with the hood. I was very happy with the results.
Attached are before and after pictures.
Cliff notes: Paintless dent repair can be done on the e46 BMW hood near the grills.
