Hi.
I have a fairly new Mini and today when I was parking next to a garage door, I backed in a bit too close and scraped the rear side bumper over the wheel on the edge of the garage door frame (doh!). There are two scrape marks (surface scrapes, they just look like slightly white scrapes when you are close-up) on the black plastic bumper. There are no dents or anything.



My fiance is very handy with the detailing tools, but he doesn't have a car with a bumper like the Mini. I was wondering if anyone has any tips for getting my bumper back to all black?
Appreciate any guidance. So mad at myself!
Thanks.
Kathleen

 

Try rubbing the abrasion with vinyl care chemical, such as the one MINI sells. It may smooth out and look perfect.

 

I tried Mothers Back to Black, but that didn't do much. How does the vinyl car care stuff differ? Thanks!

 

Guessing your garage door frame is painted white. That just looks like a little paint transfer onto your trim piece.

Just try a damp cloth and if that doesn't work, just a tiny drop of nail polish remover would do the trick. Rub gently so you don't affect the textured plastic.

 

Indeed it is white! When it happened I immediately pulled the armor-all clean wipes out of my hatchback and went at it...it removed some of the white, but as you can see, not all. I'll try a little nail polish remover on a Q-tip and report back. Thanks!

 

negative on the nail polish remover. other ideas? this will sound dumb, but it's almost like a scuff on a shoe, if only there were black shoe polish for bumpers...

 

I'd pm Octane guy and see if he could help.

 

Has to be paint on it.

Don't believe it's just a scrape because the trim is solid black, no white layer beneath the black.

Might be hard to remove because of the texture of the plastic.

Too bad you can't clay bar the trim, it would make a flat spot, removing the texture if you go at it to aggressively.

Outside of paint remover.... not sure what else would work. But I'll think on it some more.

 

You know... the more I think about this, the less I think you have paint on it and the more I believe the impact took off the textured finish. Like a scrapping off oaf the raised texture.

Appears whitish because it reflects light differently.

If that is the case, the only resolution is to replace that portion of the trim.

 

Appreciate the insights. I'll probably just end up having Mini fix it (whatever that means) when I go in for my first oil change. Bummer, but I guess stuff happens! Thanks.

 

Based on the pic, it appears the trim piece is just abraded. I would feel the abraded areas and see if they feel any different from the unaffected areas. If they seem rougher, then no cleaner or dressing will make it "new" again. Your best bet which has already been suggested is replacement. However if you can live with less than perfect, a good trim restorer like Black Wow can make the trim look better. If there is any paint embedded in the trim, my Pre-Wow will take care of that easily. These are both products I invented and manufacture. You can see more on our FaceBook page at

https://www.facebook.com/OnlyWow or at www.blackwow.com

Richard