car reversed into me, nice dent

[asmith88]

Got a nice dent on my drivers side door today, i would rather repair the door i have then replace it,

anyone know if its a big job, cost? anybody had anything similiar? its about an inch pushed in at the worst point..

heres a pic







cheers andy

[Tommek]

A solution is to use PDR (Paintless Dent Removal, you can google it if you don`t know about it) if you find a PDR specialist around you, but if you find a cheap and decent door, change it.

[BrianBimmerHead]

new door same colour bolt it straight on

[silversideofthemoon]

wouldnt think it would cost much to be honest like above new door bolt on drive off

[asmith88]

yes, but the problems with a door as i see it, are that firstly the colour is almost always a very different shade expecially in 20 year old cars.. and secondly lining the bugger up properly

[toby]

That is fixable and will usually be a nicer finish than a replacement door (sod that).

[toby]

It's a shame there's a crease because the dent may have just popped out but it looks like it will need a touch of filler to finish it and a bit of painting.

[dapperdan8001]

Sorry to hear thats happened fella

As toby has mentioned, the crease on the door line will never come out good enough. Happened to my mates old TT and even audi couldnt do anything with the crease.

[daimlerman]

Door swapping on an E30 is very easy,once you know how!
1.Unplug the electrics.
2.Remove the clevis pin from the stay.
3.Remove the 8mm bolts from the centre of each hinge.
4.Lift door up off the bottom hinge.

Note,do not disturb the hinge bolts on either the body or the door.
You will find that the replacement door will line up perfectly,as long as it was removed in the same way.
Door 'sits' on the lower hinge,it will not fall off when the hinge bolts are withdrawn,it will sit there until it is lifted off.

[asmith88]

yea, thats not too bad, but then theres swapping the locks, etc..

dosent sound great to fix it now either though..

ill get it round to someone tomorrow for a quote, failing that.. new door

[daimlerman]

yea, thats not too bad, but then theres swapping the locks, etc..

To swap the lock cylinder;
1.Remove door card.
2.Peel back plastic membrane far enough to get your hand inside...
3.Using a long flat blade screwdriver,flick the 'C' clip off the back of the lock.
4,Wriggle the lock out of the door from the outside.

Re-fitting is the reverse,but make sure the alloy plate with the mico-switch on locates correctly as you feed the lock barrel into the door.

Good oppotunity to strip the latching gear out and clean/oil,then fit a new lock barrel as well.(lock barrel's come as a bag of bits and you assemble to suit your key,£20 or so from the dealer!)

[asmith88]

cheers mate, will look into it tomorrow

[cecotto479]

To swap the lock cylinder;
1.Remove door card.
2.Peel back plastic membrane far enough to get your hand inside...
3.Using a long flat blade screwdriver,flick the 'C' clip off the back of the lock.
4,Wriggle the lock out of the door from the door

5. Grovel about in the bottom of the door for the C-clip.

[Andyboy]

The chances of getting a colour match are the square root of f*ck all. Your car will have been painted at some point, and so will the door you buy - it's pretty much guaranteed.
A very good dent man will make a decent job of that. Once the main big dent is popped out (let them do it!) they can sort the crease above the waistline.
If you do replace the door, expect to have to paint the whole side of the car or at least blend it into the front and rear wings and laquer it (not recommended as the red will fade under the laquer).

[asmith88]

sort of what i thought, depends on the price of the dent removal, i dont think it has been painted before thought