[BEM-S4]

Here's the convertible lip. It was missing a big chunk so a professional repair would look better but this is pretty good considering that the pros quoted me $900 and this was $50 and bound to happen again.

[golf_234]

Originally Posted by BEM-S4

Admittedly this pic shows nothing but I guess that's good. Chip to edge of door repaired. The one thing that looks like a defect is a reflection from the convertible parked along side.

Dang, not bad at all. So that is the same concept basically? Build up the paint to above the surface, then level down?

[BEM-S4]

Originally Posted by golf_234

Dang, not bad at all. So that is the same concept basically? Build up the paint to above the surface, then level down?

Exactly. You put it on, let it dry, then rub w a solvent (smells like nail polish remover). Then just buff w supplied cloth. I did a coat or two of wax on top and that was it. Not counting dry time but just time me actually physically doing something was under 5 mins

[lazyrhino]

Thanks for all the replies and advice, really appreciated. Sorry it's taken me so long to come back to you all, but it's been one of those weeks!

To update you all though, I've pretty much resolved things to a standard I'm happy with. I ended up repairing the chip myself with touch up paint and touch up clear coat, before polishing the whole lot back in to match the rest of the paintwork. It took a couple of attempts, but I'm pretty pleased with the results.

Before:


After (At a glance):


After (Close up):


Frankly, I don't have a camera powerful enough to actually make out the chip well enough - auto focus certainly seems to struggle to find it! Ultimately though, I'm pretty happy. To the untrained eye, it's near enough invisible. Only someone with a keen detailing eye would be able to catch it I reckon.

Furthermore, about the dent I'd managed to pick up in my passenger door - I took it over to a place near me that I'd heard great things about before one evening after work, called Dent Rewind.
In less than an hour, they had the dent fully removed - good as new. I'd always been sceptical about PDR (Paintless dent removal), but to say I'm converted would be an understatement. The engineer was forced to use the Glue Pulling method as he couldn't get far enough inside the panel to push it out, but the finish is spectacular. He even gave the whole panel a proper machine polish for me, all for an incredibly reasonable price!
For anyone UK based, I would highly recommend their services - http://www.dentrewind.co.uk

Despite being fairly happy with my repair now, I'm still very tempted by something someone mentioned earlier in the thread - wrapping the roof. Personally, I think the roof would look fantastic in black, but I'm a little nervous about doing it as I've never had a panel wrapped before.
Suppose I'm concerned about potential later issues when trying to remove the wrap, or potential damage to the paintwork when the wrap is applied.

Any comments from anyone who's had a wrap done?

[overcoil]

Your touch-up on the roof looks really good - macro focus or not, well done.

[lazyrhino]

Originally Posted by ScottSinger

Your touch-up on the roof looks really good - macro focus or not, well done.

Thank you! Was pretty happy with it as it was my first time doing something like this.

I left it sitting proud with a bit more than the necessary amount of clear coat sitting on top for a week or so before rubbing it down and polishing it in today. Very pleased with the end result.