Playing around with Dr Colorchip on the X5

[civdiv99]

I wanted to do some work on some chips on a couple of my newer cars, but I wanted a guinea pig to practice on and see what's what in case it didn't go so well. Thus, since it's the daily driver, car my kids borrow, etc. the X5 got elected.

I am NOT even remotely coordinated in this sort of thing and had I tried conventional touch-up paint, you'd accuse my X5 of having chicken pox from all the blobs when I was done. The process here involves "smearing" paint across the chip, and even the blind among you will notice the hood looks like a 1st grade finger-painting class at the end of the second stage of the process. No worries! My analogy might be comparing this to filling a nail hole with spackle - as if the smear is supposed to fill it level. I dunno, but I am pleased with the end results. The sharp-eyed among you will note that yeah, I did miss a few chips and coulda done a little better on the buff off, but I think the pictures make the general point. Plus the cheeseburgers were ready, and you know, priorities and all.............

My take is: plan to do this when is somewhat cool out, say in the a.m., because the formulation dries quickly and you can't be muddling about while your touch up brush (kit comes with some) is getting tacky from air drying. So, plan ahead to do small sections a bit at a time before moving to another section. At least until you get the hang of it. What does NOT work is starting with a half-assed idea of what area you are going to do, and then fiddle farting around hunting for more chips (ME!).

Also the bigger chunks will need a 2nd or 3rd run-over. But the process itself is absolutely painless, so I don't consider that to be a problem. And they gave me a bunch of product. I ordered the "road rash" kit, but there's no way I'm going to really make much of a dent in the paint quantity I got with this kit.

If you look at the "before" pic, I'll tell you that the smaller chips were filled and blended so well that I really can't tell standing there looking for them in person. Get maybe 24" or more away, and the larger ones that I'd like to re-fill almost blend away, too. I'm confident with a few more applications for practice those will virtually disappear.

I'm happy with what I got for what I paid and the straightforward application of the process. Onward with the OJT onthe X5...........

(By the way, the instructions say to clean area with alcohol which is typicl to remove waxes and stuff. I just used regular paint-prep wax & grease remover.)

[Clockwork]

looks AMAZING.

[Bulk]

Looks great.

[motordavid]

Wow! Hard to believe...it almost looks PS'd or repainted.
Our '01 has more than its share of leading edge chips. I will
have to get some and give it a try. Thanks for the post/info/pics!
GL, mD

[civdiv99]

No, no photo doctoring. Not the best camera (iPad), but the "before" with all the white specs (chips), and the after shots all same ipad cam and all pics taken in about a 15~20 minute time-span.

Go for it; it struck me as a little spendy, but with what i was able to do first time out in 20 minutes (and half of that gettin' organized and takin' the pics), no buyer's remorse here.

I can't stress enough - ya gotta have a plan. Define the section you are going to do, take that section to completion, then define and do the next section. I missed chips, tried to move faster because the little dabber was drying, etc. not necessary and trying to speed up my process just made it so I gotta go back over a couple parts.

They tell you NOT to blob the paint into the chip, and it sure doesn't feel natural to put a dab next to the chip and smear it across, so ya gotta get yourself used to that idea going in. Also they give you a glove to wear to smear with, and that too is a little weird. Next time I plan to use bare finger; I've read other reviews where folks liked the control and feel better than using the nitrile glove they give in the kit. Plus the paint dries so quickly that you can't use just one gloved finger unless you are really fast (and ya won't be first time out) because the paint on that finger of the glove tacks up real fast.

[sockethead]

Looks great! You've discovered a great product. A lot of guys over on ZHPMafia.com have done their whole front ends with the road rash kit and have had amazing results...

[SlickGT1]

That's cool. How do you remove the smudges after? I got to look into this. My car is black, and I see a new chip after every long drive.

[PersonaNonGrata]

Thanks for the review. The results are great and miles ahead of regular touch up paint.

[civdiv99]

It comes with a bottle of fluid used to blend it all in and remove the excess. I think the reason it works how it does is both the paint characteristics (tacks up very fast) and the blending fluid which appears to act on their paint but didn't cause any defects in the existing paint.

But that's just my impression. This isn't my field. As a consumer, yeah, I am all done with the traditional methods.

There's also info out there about how to do an "area" like a peppered front fascia for example. No way that'd work in the typical touch-up paint arena.

Yer black can't be as bad as my Tundra. I get a paint defect if my neighbor farts too loud........

Originally Posted by SlickGT1

That's cool. How do you remove the smudges after? I got to look into this. My car is black, and I see a new chip after every long drive.

[SlickGT1]

Yea deff going to look into it more. Thanks.