A damaged BMW or Audi needs a repair plan based on the model, the panel material and the damage. Aluminium may need different repair and joining methods from steel. Some colours need a multi-stage refinish. Removing parts around sensors or cameras can also require checks or recalibration, depending on the carmaker’s instructions.
Are BMW and Audi panels made of aluminium?
Some are. Aluminium is a light metal used for outer panels and, on some models, for parts of the structure beneath them.
Audi has built the A8 around an aluminium body for decades. Its own technology material calls that body extruded aluminium sections, castings, and panels. BMW’s sixth-generation 7 Series, launched in 2015, has an aluminium bonnet and aluminium doors. The panel material still needs to be checked for the particular model. Those named examples do not establish what every BMW or Audi panel is made of.
So is the panel reshaped or replaced? That is not decided by eye. The carmaker’s repair information for the model sets what is allowed. The rest comes down to the damage, where it sits, and whether anyone can get behind the panel. Some aluminium panels are reshaped. Others come off the car because the procedure says so. That is the metal and a written instruction, not a judgement about the car.
Aluminium also affects where the work happens. Steel dust on an aluminium panel can start galvanic corrosion. That sets in when two different metals sit together with moisture between them. So the trade’s guidance is to keep aluminium work apart, in its own area and with its own tools. Any steel dust has to come off a panel before paint goes on.
Replacing a panel can involve rivet bonding: using structural adhesive and rivets together at the joint. The adhesive is a glue designed to carry load; the rivets provide mechanical fastenings. I-CAR describes it as a standard repair method on aluminium-intensive cars such as the Audi A8. It also records BMW requiring the method for many replacement panels, including steel ones. The replacement method need not be the same as the factory joint, so the repairer must check the model’s procedure.
Why can paintwork take longer on a BMW or Audi?
Some colours need a three-stage finish, adding work to the refinish process.
A basecoat/clearcoat finish has a colour coat with a clear protective layer over it. A three-stage or tri-coat finish adds a middle layer: a base coat, a mid coat that makes the effect, then the clear.
Carmakers do not all build a colour the same way. PPG, a paint maker, says they use different processes to reach the same effect. An extra application stage adds work to the refinish. That is where the time in car spray painting goes.
Whether the finished colour matches the rest of the car is a separate question. The guide to whether your car’s paint will match after a repair answers that one in full.
Do sensors need recalibrating after a repair?
Sometimes, and it depends on the model.
A bumper, grille, windscreen, or mirror housing is also a mounting point. Parking sensors, radar, and cameras sit in or behind them. Radar measures distance using radio waves, and a camera reads the road by sight.
Some of those systems need setting up again once a part has been removed or replaced. Recalibration means resetting a sensor so the car reads what it is looking at correctly. Which repairs call for it, and how it is done, sit in the carmaker’s information for that model. I-CAR, a training body for smash repairers, sends them to the model’s own manual.
That is why a sensor line can appear on a quote for damage that looks cosmetic.
Why do repair methods differ between quotes?
A manufacturer repair method is the carmaker’s written instruction for repairing one part of one model. It says whether a panel is repaired or replaced, and how it goes back on.
Carmakers write that information for their own cars. Part IVE of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 requires access to covered repair information on fair and reasonable commercial terms. The scheme has limits, including excluded information and conditions on access. It is not unrestricted access to every manufacturer document.
Two estimates may cover different panel-repair or joining methods. Ask which model-specific procedure the proposed repair uses. A price difference alone does not establish that either method is appropriate for the damaged part.
How do parts and your insurer affect the repair?
Two things, both worth asking about.
Parts come first. If the specified part needs ordering, its availability can affect when that stage of the repair starts. The visible size of the damage does not tell you whether the part is available.
Method comes second. Check the comprehensive policy for who may repair the car and how the repair method is decided. If the assessment and the proposed repair differ, ask which method the quote includes. What a quote should set out is covered in the piece on why smash repair quotes vary so much.
What to ask before you hand over the keys
Before authorising work, ask:
- Does the workshop keep a separate area for aluminium work, with its own tools and abrasives?
- Will the manufacturer’s repair method for this model and this panel be followed?
- If anything has to be recalibrated, will that be documented and handed over with the car?
- Is the paint for this colour on hand, or does it have to be ordered first?
How to get the damage looked at properly
Arrange an assessment of the damage. Photographs can help start an enquiry, but they cannot show everything behind a panel. The repair plan may need information that only an inspection can provide.
A BMW with a scraped bumper from a Chatswood car park can look like a small repair. Its visible size does not establish the panel material, the condition of parts behind it or the checks the model requires. Those are questions for the assessment, rather than assumptions drawn from the badge.
North Shore Smash Repairs works out of Whiting Street, Artarmon. The auto body smash repairs page lists the panel and paint work it covers. An inspection lets the repairer assess more than the visible mark. When you are ready, you can book an assessment online.
Frequently asked questions
Can any smash repairer fix a BMW or an Audi?
The workshop needs equipment, materials handling and access to repair procedures suited to the damage. Aluminium work needs its own area and tools. Ask how the carmaker’s instruction for that model and panel will be followed.
Is it more expensive to repair a European car?
Extra paint stages, replacement panels and any required recalibration can add work. The badge alone does not tell you the cost: the model, damage and specified repair method matter.
Why does the repair method matter?
The method sets how the panel is repaired or replaced and how it is joined. It also helps explain why two quotes may cover different work. Ask which procedure applies to the damaged part.
