Some of the most iconic cars in history, from Fords to Ferraris, are particularly striking when viewed head-on. The nose of a car makes a powerful first impression: Whether good or bad, it becomes etched in your memory.
We have a 1987 BMW 325is in our fleet, and lately it hasn’t been making the best impression. These cars have a low-hanging front spoiler, so it only takes is one good speed bump or curb to splinter the unit into tiny pieces. Unfortunately, our car has suffered this fate.
The easy fix would be to just replace the cracked piece with a new one, but those can cost hundreds of dollars—if one can be found at all. We decided to repair our spoiler for a fraction of the cost. Dex Manders, a body tech at The Body Werks in Holly Hill, Fla., showed us the proper method.
Whether working with paint or plastic, preparation is everything. The more work put into the prep, the better the finished product will look.
Step 1: Scuff and Tape
First, we scuffed the front of the bumper and covered it with high-temperature duct tape. The tape simply holds the cracked pieces together during the repair. After scuffing the cracked areas from behind, we blew off the resulting dust.
Step 2: Strip and Clean
We used a special wax and grease remover—in this case PPG Acryli-Clean—to clean the area. We then sprayed 3M Automix Polyolefin Adhesion Promoter all around the crack to make sure the epoxy would stick. After that, we covered the backside of the repair area with mesh tape; much like the rebar that’s placed in concrete, this mesh tape adds reinforcement to our spoiler.
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