How to Repair Minor Scratch Advice

[wavyyyy]

Hi,
Need help repairing a minor scratch on the front of my G80. Attaching an image. I tried a clay bar and that didn’t do anything. There is a part that’s chipped but I’ve ordered paint for that already, not sure what to do for the other part of the damage. Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks!

[diablo2112]

Dr. Color Chip

[wavyyyy]

Originally Posted by diablo2112

Dr. Color Chip

Part of it is chipped however there’s also the line going across that isn’t a scratch but appears to be something on the surface. Used elbow grease already and it didn’t work.

[diablo2112]

It may be a scratch in the clear coat only. First, try a clay bar + detailer. If that doesn't polish it out, then consider using the Dr. Color Chip technique with BMW sourced clear. The BMW touch up paints come with 2 bottles: color and clear. I'd use color in the chip (using the Dr. Color Chip method: apply next to chip, use squeege to smooth over the chip, let dry 3-5 minutes, then use blend solution to gently dissolve and blend excess paint around the chip. Repeat this with clear on the clear-scratched portion.

[Alekss]

It is really hard to tell without looking at it in person.
Clay bar does not repair scratches. Clay bar will remove surface contaminants which a regular wash otherwise would not. However, you can use clay to remove paint transfer, which at first may look like a scratch.
Since you have a chip followed by a scratch, the biggest question is, how deep is the scratch? The paint chip is likely deep enough such that it is through your clear coat and into the base coat, maybe even down to substrate. There is nothing you can do here other than touch-up paint. As far as the rest of the scratch goes, you can locally paint correct this area. Again, depending on the depth of the scratch, the paint correction technique will remove or reduce the appearance of the scratch.

[Chad11491]

my "rule of thumb" is that if you can feel the scratch with your fingernail, no amount of polishing will fix it. If you CAN'T feel it, and you don't have a polisher on hand, try getting some Griot's fast correcting cream compound, a microfiber rag, and put some elbow grease into it. It should come out. Otherwise it will probably require paint touchup like mentioned above.

[TboneS54]

Probably a combo of both. In these situations, I like to apply a little Dr. color chip (to the worst part, actual base or metal showing), then come around a day or more later and buff it by machine with a regular polish and poishing pad, not compound and dense foam or MF pad, so as not to remove much of the Dr. Color chip, have it look natural and high polished which makes the scratch or the part of the scratch that didn't penetrate the base coat, look invisible.