[heath]

I have a few paint chips on my front bumper and a bit larger chip on the rear bumper. I've read a few threads on cleaning with alcohol, using a toothpick with the dealer paint to fill in the chips, sanding down with 1500/2000 grit paper and then polishing over.

Can this be done on the plastic used on the bumpers? The chips went all the way to the plastic.

[Chesmu]

sanding the bumper might not work so well. You might just cover with touch-up paint. rock chips on the bumper are a factof life, unfortunately. If they really bother you, consider something like clear-bra.

[heath]

Yeah I think I can live with the small chips on the front bumper, but the rear I need to work on. Anyone tried using a bit of wet sanding on the rear bumper?

[picus]

You can do the clean/fill/sand/polish method on a bumper; just remember that plastic heats up much more quickly than metal so when you polish (if using a rotary), keep it moving quickly. I always recommend higher grits (2000/3000), but if you are confident taking out 1500/2000 grit marks go for it.

How large is the rear bumper chip? If it's larger than a quarter you're into the realm of needing actual bumper paint (with flex agents).

[heath]

It's much smaller than a quarter, there are two indivual nicks but each are much much smaller than a quarter.

Here is the plan:

1) Possibly sand the edges of the nicks a bit as they stick out using 2000 grit
2) Fill nicks using a toothpick and retail paint, let dry
3) Sand to smooth
4) Polish (would ScratchX work), and should I do it by hand because of the heat or use a PC?

Also, I've seen something at PepBoys called a WAXXpro random orbital that is only about 30$... would it be a bad dea to go with this over the porter cable (which is much more expensive)?

[montreal_bimmer]

drive slower.....

as far as repair, i used to use a permanent black paint marker and fill them up. didnt get rid of them, but you hardly noticed them

[picus]

Originally Posted by heath

It's much smaller than a quarter, there are two indivual nicks but each are much much smaller than a quarter.

Here is the plan:

1) Possibly sand the edges of the nicks a bit as they stick out using 2000 grit
2) Fill nicks using a toothpick and retail paint, let dry
3) Sand to smooth
4) Polish (would ScratchX work), and should I do it by hand because of the heat or use a PC?

Also, I've seen something at PepBoys called a WAXXpro random orbital that is only about 30$... would it be a bad dea to go with this over the porter cable (which is much more expensive)?

You're going to have a heck of a time removing 2000 grit marks with ScratchX. A PC is fine on the bumper, just remember to let the touchup dry for at least 48 hours before polishing, or it'll pop right out.