Due to an extremely foolish mistake on my part (still kicking myself in disappointment), I managed to dent the edge of the driver's side door on my Silverstone II E93 M3.
The sheer emotion of distress at my own failure was difficult enough to overcome, but upon doing some research on my own and using a rubber mallet, a plank of wood, and a hot hair dryer to prevent paint from chipping, it dawned on me that molding the sheet metal in that area was no easy task.
My determination did net me at least one win: the interior door card was pretty badly damaged, and the little plastic unlock/lock pin that pops up and down had completely fallen out unto the ground. I found a handy guide here:
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showpo...19&postcount=8, took apart the door card, and completely repaired everything within - a small victory.
I was wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience, or if anyone has any tips for effective solutions to at least mitigate this terrible, self-inflicted eyesore?
I'm definitely not expecting it to be brought back to perfection, but I wanted to try and at least reduce the severity of the dent - I've thought about body shop + repainting, but blending the Silverstone II metallic color is very tricky, and I'm willing to just live with a small dent on my door edge, if it affords me the opportunity to get around the need to repaint. Thankfully, none of the paint in the area has chipped, and although the very leading edge of the panel has its paint scraped off, the primer is still there - meaning no rust worries for now.
Philosophically, I felt that I should probably leave the damage as it is, as a very personal reminder that even the most coveted of material possessions are just as mortal and vulnerable to any sort of mistakes as humans are... but then again, it is my beautiful M3.
I'd be enormously grateful for any helpful tips, or referrals to professional body panel restorers near the New York City area sans the requirement to repaint...
