hail

Hi all- 2 months ago I purchased a 2006 530i CPO car from a dealer out of state (I live in OR, the car is from CA). Since it was from the BMW dealer and a CPO, I purchased it sight unseen.

Fast forward to 2 weeks ago, when I took to my local dealer for an issue with Idrive that required an overnight stay for reprogramming. A day after I picked up the car, I noticed a large dent in the passenger front door. After a few back and froths from with the dealer, they agreed to repair the dent at Paintless repair joint they use-- This time I closly inspected the car and found a couple of dirt particles in the paint of the door and a few paint drops on the trunk cover. I called the local dealer to complain about the poor paint job and demanded the service manager correct things, have an appointment with him and the manager of the dent repair shop tomorrow.

Today I got a call from my SA saying that the dent was repaired without paint and the bad paint job was on the car before I purchased it. I'm thinking 1 of 3 things ust have happened here: 1) the prev. owner had the right side of the door bondo'd up and repainted and the CPO dealer didn't notice. 2) The CPO dealer did the paint work and certified the car anyway. or 3) the local dealer/shop are trying to dump this on someone else.

I need some advice on how to proceed. Thanks in advance.

craigm1841

If you have any bondo on your car i suspect the dealer could be on deep. Bondo is never acceptable by any standards. I wouldn't drive a Kia with bondo on it.

craigm1841

Use a magnet to determine where there might be bondo. If there is, demad your dealership fixes it with a reputable shop that will put sheet metal where it belongs.

BALASUBAS

sorry to hear about it, since its a CPO why not try to contact the dealer that sold it to you, and if they did not do anything about it try to call BMWNA and may be file a complaint or something GL!

mnmike

Yes I have a tool at home - it's a paint thickness guage. These vary from expensive electronic units to my mechanical guage.

Imagine a tire pressure gauge with a magnet on the end. You put it against the panel and pull away. As you pull away you watch for how long the meter gets before the magnet comes off of the car. You'll notice an area of bondo if the magnet comes off much sooner than other areas.

I believe my guage is called the Pro-Guage II - you might be able to find something like it at a auto parts store or home depot?

http://www.autobodytoolmart.com/progauge-m...-10805-581.aspx

I'd recommend this to anyone. I always use it when going to buy a car. Carfax's don't know everything about a car and sometimes it can be difficult to spot if a car had body work done.

hail

So the bondo is more or less confirmed. As BALASUBAS mentioned, I will try to get a hold of the dealer I purchased the car from, but I don't think they will offer to correct it. Does this tyep of work measure up to CPO standards? if not, what sort f recourse do I have with the dealer or BMWNA?

ukamath

Don't they have to use even a little bondo for minor dents? I recently hit a deer and had a small dent in the roof. I had stopped by the body shop and they "banged out the dent and then used some sort of material to smooth it out. I am assuming this is Bondo. Insurance was ok with it and it looks like new. So I am wondering what the problem with bondo is.

skeeter

Bondo is neccesary on almost all accidents if body work is needed....Unless you replace a full door or hood, you can only bang out a dent so far....You will need a minimal amount of bondo to level everything out....If you weld on sheet metal, you will always have to have a skim coat of bondo...There is no way around this......Every old car that you see that has been restored has bondo on it...Even chip foose will use bondo....Bondo is only a bad thing if you don't know how to use it...It is a body filler....Now if your putting a gallon of it on a part, then thats another story....

wolf

CPO says the car doesn't have "frame damage". That doesn't mean it can't have had any body work. I purchased my car CPO and I could detect that it had bondo work on the rear fender and I think the front fender had been replaced. When buying the car, I pointed out to the dealer where I thought the car had had work done. We went over it with a paint meter.

The fact that it had work done didn't really upset me because I felt it was "cosmetic". The real issue I was concerned about was frame damage or something more significant than some exterior damage that had been repaired.

If you purchased the car CPO and it had cosmetic work (non frame) then I don't think the dealer is obligated to do anything for you.