[mph999]

Went out to Kiwi this morning and what do I find - some numnuts has tried to remove the badge from her bonnet - not good, only three months old as well.

Anyone have good ideas for getting this fixed?? cost ???

I'll try a chip repair company first - spoke to one and they say it sounds hopeful, if I can avoid a respray then I get to keep the bonnet stripes, as if it's resprayed, I don't think they'll be going back on - it's getting too expensive. Admitidly, this woud mean that area of the bonnet doesn't meet BMWs paint standards, but considering the cost of a respray (£600 I guess) then it seems worth a go, if it needed doing in the future, then so be it. Most of the damage is under the badge, only the top scratch is above the badge, and if I reposition a new badge 2-3mm higer, it would cover the whole area I think.

Martin

[ALD0]

Gutted

IU'm sure it can have a little touch up without removing the Bonnet stripes

[Roofas]

what f***ing ***holes!! If you ever find who did it (not likely) you should try and remove their nose from their ugly face and see how they like it ****ing *****!!

[colink]

Gutted for you mate, lttle t s. You're bang on the money for a bonnet respray (£600) so fingers crossed you find another solution.

[sirdavid]

How could anyone do that to a MINI?

[minionefun]

touch up the scratch with a cocktail stick dipped in your mini touch up paint, let it dry then put a new badge on , by the looks of it the badge will cover the scratch. you wont need a respray, take it to a body shop. they will be able to fill and polish it out as if it was new. BMW group have been know to charge for a respray and have actually done a S.M.A.R.T Repair an airbrush and some cutting compound and some good polish can work wonders

[Cooper76]

Damn. Sorry to see that. What is it in the UK with badge-grabbing? What would anyone do with that even if they did get it off? Is it a gang thing?

Makes you want that spray that Bruce Willis used in The Jackal on his van in the parking garage. One touch on the keyhole or badge and it suffocates you through your skin...nasty...

[jasonfields007]

Hi Martin,

Sorry to hear about your badge! You could re-stripe your car. I've seen a few designs on here that would cover that. Like the racing stripe from cooperflags.com



Good luck getting it sorted.

Regards

Jason

[mph999]

Thanks for the comments guys, much appreciated - totally pi**sed off as you will appreciate.

Chap from "chips away" said it was first Mini badge he heard of - apparently it's usually Porshces, at least we're up there with the class then ...

Good idea about the re-striping, might consider that depending on how the repair goes - fingers crossed I can get it done without a respray. It appears to be down to the metal - not sure if this causes further issues.

What is a S.M.A.R.T repair ?? is it a technique, or a company ???

"Chips Away" are meant to be excellent - so will try them first - I have seen airbrush repairs, totally invisable, unfortunetely, although multi-talented ( ), artwork isn't my strong point.

The badge will have to move up about 2, maybe 3mm to cover the damage, unsure if the curve of the bonnet will cause an issue at that point.

Might even consider leaving it badge-less, or perhaps a transfer type badge to prevent this happening again, though there's still one on the back (fortunately they didn't try that one).

Wouldn't it be nice to put 240v through the badge, fry the bas***ds ...

Time to park my car more opposite my flat (my space is at the side) and CCTV job throu my window.

At least they didn't get the badge - perhaps it will stop that particular slurge from trying someone else's Mini.

Martin

[mendel williams]

BAS S Hope they rot in Hell , I am sure it will get fixed OK

[mph999]

Still waiting for "Chips Away" to get back to me, but in the event they can't fix it I went down to the BMW repair centre in Reading.

The good news is they said they could mask it off and just do the area, about £130 + VAT so not too bad after all.

M

[thebluecanary]

I think that is one of my biggest fears. Not getting hit, no not getting it stollen, but someone coming along and breaking bits off just because the could. Big meanies. I hope they cook them alive!

[Ady]

personally i would replace the stripes, masking off will still leave small ridges when they spray there is bound to be a little overspray. I bought bonnet stripes from my dealer for £22 each and a friend with a graphics biz fitted them, much cheaper that getting the dealer to do it

Ady

[MINI-Morgan]

Respray a bonnet £600??? Err its more like £50 from a decent spray shop that will probably do the work for BMW anyway. But a lot of companys can probably clean it up to look almost perfect and colour match.

Now all you need to do is find the screw driver they probably tried to use and show them where else it will fit! I have my badge stollen at the beginning of the year leaving a scratch down to bare metal...but they werent easy to get hold of as the MCS badge is different from the rest. Looked awful though with the big holes in the bonnet for the badge pins to go.

[Smurfn]

I have had the badge from both the front and back stolen. Luckily the scratches were under the badge, and were covered by the replacement badges

[mph999]

Thanks for the contined comments,

My first estimate was a bit high, BMW quoted £130 + vat , but called them today and asked to quote for the whole bonnet which will be a little more, I'll then put stripes back later.

However, my first point of call will be Chips Away, they did a mates wifes car (similar damage to mine but all down the side) and apparently you can't tell. They're coming to look on Monday and will give me a straight up answer if then can do it, this way, if they can, they'll just do the area involved and blend it all in, and I won't have to get the stripes redone.

If not, it'll go to BMW.

I was impressed with the guy from BMW who did the quote, he said I can put his details up here if anyone ever needs them, which I will do later. He was straight up and didn't push the fact that BM must do the repair or anything, so I think he deserves a mention.

Looking on the bright side, the damage probably isn't any worse than a nasty stone chip.

Martin

[Marysmin1]

Your poor mini, it really bugs me something terrible when you see things like this happening, its all just jealousy of course. Dont let this get to you, once your wee mini is fixed it will look as good as new. I am petrified that someone will damage my mini so much so that I have become rather obsessed in its wellbeing. Let us know how it goes and good luck.

[mph999]

Well, just to let you know, Kiwi will be off for a short stay at the mini BMW hospital in Reading ...

Decided that she should have the best private treatment available, therefore any unforeseen future complications will be dealt with.

Sadly, she will at first lose her stripes, but I suspect that a visit as an out-patient will allow the skilled plastic surgens to correct this matter.

Will book her in tomorrow ...

Martin

[willc38]

S**t, B*****d's

I had someone key all the way down my passenger door when my baby was only 2 weeks old!!! and i was p*****d

Theres some real jealous people in this world, to do something like this is just beyond belief.

Hope you get it sorted out anyway.

Ben

[mph999]

Thanks again for your kind comments, it's kinda cheering me up a little ...

Sorry to hear of you other guys who have had damage to their minis also.

I hope that this was a oppotunist (spelling ...), and so won't happen again. I am however looking into cctv ...

Perhaps we should start a RSPCM

M