Best Bodyshop in London

Post Tue Jan 21, 2014 4:15 pm

As stated in subject simply in your opinion which is the best body shop in London?

Do you have any pictures of their work ?

Thanks
Jon

Post Tue Jan 21, 2014 4:24 pm

Dips' (dips346) Custom Cars of Heathrow is pretty good, I've heard...

http://www.thecustomcars.com/

Post Tue Jan 21, 2014 4:40 pm

The custom cars site looks rather dated however if his quality of work is next to none than he cold be a possibility.

Anybody know of anybody better then dips?

Post Tue Jan 21, 2014 4:43 pm

Why have a website with no details of where they are?

Ben

Post Tue Jan 21, 2014 4:46 pm

Good Point, strange that... Maybe its under development or maybe its been neglected... who knows eh

Post Tue Jan 21, 2014 5:09 pm

Maybe a top-notch outfit wouldn't want every Tom, Dick & Harry showing up unannounced...

Post Tue Jan 21, 2014 5:16 pm

Right guys simply is there anybody else?

Sure custom cars can not be the only one right?

Post Tue Jan 21, 2014 5:22 pm

I have a mate who works for, i think if i remember correctly, A.R.C Coachworks in Morden. But my mates boss lets him do his private jobs there on a saturday, so my mate does it cheaper than going throught the company. He just done some work on my roof last week. Had a split in the paint and filler on the roof, because who ever had done the repair on the roof when the last owner had it had just slapped a ton of filler in it and it had flexed and split. My mate got all the old filler out, pulled the dent as best he could, put a fraction of the ammount of filler back in it and sprayed it. Done a blinding job, id reccommend him, i was over the moon with it. He can do any bodywork. I have seen his other work, and i cant fault him. Where you based? I can pass you on his number if you like?

Post Tue Jan 21, 2014 5:47 pm

The problem with dips website is that he got a mate to do it lol

I'm sure he has a FB page with all the work on it but a lot of his on line updates have stopped as he's been involved in setting up new premises

His work is good very good. But tot question is quite open. What makes a body shop the best ?

The paint ?
The panel beater ?
The welder and jig specialist ?
The assembly guys ?

The refit of the car is so important. Poorly aligned panels and badly fitted trims will make a nice paint job look like shit.
A shit paint job will look shit. Poor prep, poor paint coverage, poor final finish

When I did my e24 I used 3 people as well as myself

One was a shit got welder and panel beater (he also did the work on my e30 M3)
Dips did the prep and paint
Refit was done by some one else but all was done under on roof
I did the final finish on it.

What makes a good paint job ? Every ones opinion will differ

Post Tue Jan 21, 2014 6:15 pm

This one sounds quite good:

http://www.ajc-bodyshop.com/

Post Tue Jan 21, 2014 9:34 pm

..IMO it's worth travelling out of town to get a proper job. I'm based in London, but took my car here:

http://www.bodymotorworks.com/

Andyboy on here can vouch for Matt too

pics http://www.flickr.com/photos/9087475@N0 ... 912629694/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9087475@N0 ... 062983803/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9087475@N0 ... 742214337/

Post Tue Jan 21, 2014 9:42 pm

Just south of London in caterham valley, Nottingham Coachcraft proper old school bodyshop, they have Mercedes Croydon and redhill contracts

Post Tue Jan 21, 2014 9:56 pm

Mercedes Redhill is no more.

Post Tue Jan 21, 2014 10:03 pm

Jon, if your looking for a good print job i have a mate who runs a paint and body shop just outside Manchester, he is amazing and the difference in price of London is dramatic.

Pm me i i will send you some photos of my E30 and that of a couple of other SE based zoner who have used him (mine was bare metal).

cheers

Gary

Post Tue Jan 21, 2014 10:06 pm

aimlessrock wrote:Jon, if your looking for a good print job i have a mate who runs a paint and body shop just outside Manchester, he is amazing and the difference in price of London is dramatic.

Pm me i i will send you some photos of my E30 and that of a couple of other SE based zoner who have used him (mine was bare metal).

cheers

Gary

How much for bare metal?

Post Wed Jan 22, 2014 11:04 am

Hi Kos,

I’m not totally sure how long that site has been up there for and or when it was made, but to me it dose look like something of the past which seems like it never relay reached its completion. It surely to me looks rather dull and something of a great child’s effort.

You have mentioned some good points there about the:

The paint ?
The panel beater ?
The welder and jig specialist ?
The assembly guys ?

And I presume all these factors need to be taken into consideration when looking out for the best body shop in or around town. Understanding our much loved cars are now over due some real TLC, the main aim here is to find one who can effectively offer all the above list and or who has a team strong and well enough to carry out a respectable second to none finish and most importantly finding that honesty in a person.

I don’t know exactly what Dips does, I presume he has had no contact to his site for a while and after a quick brows through it all I am still struggling to find out what exactly is it that he dose.

Kos you mentioned Dips did the prep and paint for you but did not refit the car back together. How much did he charge you for this?

1:Why did he not refit for you? Was he to expensive?
2: did you find somebody better to refit at a better rate ?
3: dose he offer a refit service?
4: or was he just to busy to complete the work he started on?

rh306 - I will consider travelling outside of London if I fail to find an individual and or a good team here in London who can offer a respectable supreme quality of work.

Aimlessrock - I will pm you soon

Thanks for the info zoners

Post Wed Jan 22, 2014 11:29 am

My best advice is not to look at websites.

Go down there and chat to the guys. Get them to show you pictures and examples of their work.

Also make sure that they have the right facilities and spray in an oven with high quality paint.....

Forget about bodyshops that have separate guys for welding, panel beating etc. reality is that its usually one guy that does it all working on your car.

However if cost is not an option just go to main dealer...

Post Wed Jan 22, 2014 2:26 pm

bss325i wrote:Mercedes Redhill is no more.

Shows I haven't been about for a while!

Post Wed Jan 22, 2014 7:55 pm

main dealers arent all that either nowadays, some have total cowboys working for them...

Post Thu Jan 23, 2014 11:43 am

jon-m42 wrote:Hi Kos,

You have mentioned some good points there about the:

The paint ?
The panel beater ?
The welder and jig specialist ?
The assembly guys ?

And I presume all these factors need to be taken into consideration when looking out for the best body shop in or around town. Understanding our much loved cars are now over due some real TLC, the main aim here is to find one who can effectively offer all the above list and or who has a team strong and well enough to carry out a respectable second to none finish and most importantly finding that honesty in a person.

I don’t know exactly what Dips does, I presume he has had no contact to his site for a while and after a quick brows through it all I am still struggling to find out what exactly is it that he dose.

Kos you mentioned Dips did the prep and paint for you but did not refit the car back together. How much did he charge you for this?

1:Why did he not refit for you? Was he to expensive?
2: did you find somebody better to refit at a better rate ?
3: dose he offer a refit service?
4: or was he just to busy to complete the work he started on?

Cost didn't really come into it, I did get a bit of a discount off him as he is a good friend of mine

Dips is very good at what he does but with certain jobs he'll bring in a piece worker. That is quite common with a lot of smaller bodyshops. The piece worker that did my e24 welding also welded up my e30 m3 at a different place. The M3 had to go onto a jig which dips doesn't have as he doesn't get too involved in cars that require it, namely heavy crash repairs.

As for the refit, it something I wanted to do and it takes time to refit an e24 correctly. The door handles for example are a pain in the arse to fit and and adjust.

Dips will and can do it all. To strip and refit an e30 is a walk in the park compared to some other cars. He's done enough of them to now to do it blind folded

NoTurbo wrote:My best advice is not to look at websites.

Go down there and chat to the guys. Get them to show you pictures and examples of their work.

Also make sure that they have the right facilities and spray in an oven with high quality paint.....

Forget about bodyshops that have separate guys for welding, panel beating etc. reality is that its usually one guy that does it all working on your car.

I agree web sites mean nothing

Going down there is usually the best thing. But there's nothing wrong with having separate guys for different jobs. It's better if they are a good alrounder but even better if they specialise in certain areas

Back to dips, he's got a new larger place now, new booth and all set up and ready to go. I'm sure his website will be next to be sorted

I've got pictures of some of the work he's done recently

Post Thu Jan 23, 2014 11:53 am

Romance of Rust

http://www.romanceofrust.co.uk/

https://en-gb.facebook.com/romanceofrust

Post Thu Jan 23, 2014 12:35 pm

Kos

I understand from reading your post that Dips specialises in e30's only. On a general presumption id have thought any well known body specialist/painter would have worked on any car with much accuracy and quality, be it a bmw e30 and or ford escort - quality on both cars should be just as the same.

So did Dips just prep and spray the car for you and left you all with the bits to put all together as per your choice?

Do you have any pictures and or a build thread for his work?

Where is he located? What facilities dose he have?

everybody thank you for the info so far
Jon

Post Thu Jan 23, 2014 1:22 pm

He's a body man who knows e30's well. A good painter (which he is ) can paint anything and he has done. He's done several high profile e92's and an e46 M3 recently

To be honest I can't remember the last time he painted an e30 but he has just done a 5 stud conversion (amongst other things) on Bhups e30

On my 6 it was my choice for me to do the re fit. One other reason was that a lot of trim bits were being replaced and some were on back order so it was time consuming and I was replacing other parts as I went along.

What ever goes to dips place gets the same level of care.

The problem with lot of body shops is that they rush their work and rush the re fit leave dust and crud in the shuts and that let's the car down.

Dips new work shop is in Hayes. As for what facilities does he have, new booth and proper compressor for one. Some more kit is on its way.

Give him a call 07958 432167

Post Thu Jan 23, 2014 2:56 pm

Kos any build thread or pictures ?

Post Thu Jan 23, 2014 3:34 pm

http://www.thepaintandbodyshop.co.uk/Beckenham.html

Post Thu Jan 23, 2014 3:38 pm

jon-m42 wrote:Kos any build thread or pictures ?

Have a look at this:

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... wn+touring

Post Fri Jan 24, 2014 10:32 am

Here's my e24

Some pictures have gone missing as I've been moving shit around in my photo bucket account

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... hlight=e24

Post Fri Jan 24, 2014 2:41 pm

Thank you all for the input I will be go and check all the body shops talked about.

Kos I must admit just by looking at the pictures of your 6 series its really looks nice and clean.

The work done to this is of quality im sure id be happy with. I will make my final choice after seeing work of all the bodyshops in person.

I must admit i am impressed with both your 6 series and the chocolate estate. I do not like a chocolate colored car but the quality through the pictures shines.

thanks for the helps guys.

Post Fri Jan 24, 2014 3:16 pm

Cheers

The advise that I'll give you is take your time, get a feel for the place, see a much work that's been done by the body shops and go with who you feel comfortable with

Don't rush into it and agree a time scale and agree to visit to see progress or get progress reports

Body work isn't cheap so you must be 100% happy to leave the car with them and happy with the end result