Came back from vacation to a dent on the hood of my leased BMW. I have contacted a few PDR services and they’ve all suggested that it was a “pretty deep” dent. One agreed to try and fix, but couldn’t get the leverage they needed due to the dent’s location on the hood (where the hood is bolted to vehicle).
From a lease / BMW perspective, what options do I have? Trying to understand if turning the vehicle in as-is would be better than paying out the nose to have the dent filled, car painted, etc. (if that’s even allowed under the lease agreement). I have seen folks post in the past that certain damage under specific dimensions won’t incur a fee from BMW - any guidance on that would be helpful.
Personally I’d get it fixed because a dent would make me insane to look at, especially on the hood. As long as it is repaired well, BMW won’t care about it and you won’t get dinged at lease turn-in.
If you can live with the dent, I’d suggest getting a couple quotes to repair it closer to turn-in and then get a pre-inspection by your local dealer and see what BMWFS would charge you for wear-and-tear. If they hit you hard for the hood on the pre-inspection, then you can take it to get fixed. If not, take the hit and let BMW repair it. My guess is it will be cheaper to get it repaired beforehand but I’ve been surprised lately.
Unfortunately a significant amount of time (two years) remaining and I agree - it drives me insane because I see it every single time I walk up to the vehicle. I have read posts suggesting that the maximum charge per panel from BMW is $400. Any truth to that?
You are absolutely allowed to repair it if you choose. If not, having it inspected 30-45 days before disposition is the best way to gauge what bmw will charge you for not repairing it.
I have just returned my car. They didn’t charge any dollar for the scratch in the front that Caliber quoted $1.2k to fix and they charged only $400 for pretty awful dent in the back. Asked the inspector that the charge seems to be small comparing to the damage and he said BMW caps at $400.
I had a pretty significant scratch along the side of my car across multiple panels which would have cost $1000 to re-paint from the cheapest body shop I could find (BMW certified shops would likely have charged $1500+). They only charged me $400.
It really boils down to whether you can live with it for the next 2 years or not.
If you can’t live with it, then get it fixed. You don’t have to use the shop the BMW dealer recommends, any decent, reputable shop is fine. Get a few quotes.
If you can live with it, then there’s a great chance the end of lease charge will be less (or nothing at all) compared to what it will cost to fix.
FWIW after my Audi turn in experience last month I am a definite proponent of waiting till the inspection before fixing anything…it was magnitudes cheaper to just turn it in and pay the inspection charges vs. getting things fixed on my own.
If the dent doesn’t have a scratch on it any good PDR guy should be able to pull it out…
Keep shopping around reputable shops.
My sister got hit on the front side fender (just above the wheel well) and caused a bad dent/scratch. BMW body shop wanted close to $3k to paint and remove the dent lol. Good PDR shop was able to pull out all the dents and touch up/buff for $350.
I also have had small dent(s) on my hood on my older F30 (My apt complex is outside and there are trees) but I haven’t repaired them. They’re tiny dings from stuff that has fallen from the trees, I don’t plan on fixing them, as they don’t bother me.
I’d prob be more anal on my new car as I couldn’t live with staring at it non stop.
For reference, here are some sample BMW final inspection forms that might prove useful.
I’m not sure where the limit lies, but the maximum charge per panel (which appears to include all small and large dings dents and scratches combined) looks to be $400.
Well, I believe the non-run flat is $150, a run flat is $300. BMW also changes the rate structure depending on the rim size. I tried to find one of my turn in forms for a car with 20 inch tires but I can’t seem to find a paper copy.
But in any case, yes sometimes it is smarter to simply turn the car in with non-compliant tires as it will be less expensive. One just has to walk the line between driving around on slicks and saving a couple of bucks.
Was just browsing thru TireRack about 2-3 weeks ago and they had the stock Pirelli Cinturatos RFT in 225/40/19 for $119 a pop. These are stock RFTs that come on the 3 series.
I thought that wasn’t a bad price for 19ers. RFTs are absolute trash tho
Yeah, so many folks are not fond of the RFTs and actually change them out very quickly upon initiating the lease. If you know you are going to need to replace the tires anyway, a solid case can be made for doing it upfront and getting to enjoy the tires you actually want, then simply putting the stockers back on before turn in.
I may actually do this with the Camaro, it comes with a pretty decent all seasons, but as I am here near Tampa, I might like to put a set of super gummy summer only tires on it.
