One-sided problem

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   Firstly, just want to say hello to everyone,  I am new to the forum.
A couple of years ago, a friend of mine abscunded from a mental hospital here in London, and he was still under a section of the mental health act. He came to me, as a friend I let him stay the night - to clean himself up and "fix up" as it were, which I will certainly regret the next morning. 
The police came round to collect him, but before I had even answered the door, he had already gotten hold of my car keys and was driving around gracefully - what he claimed was his way of proving he is mentally able to do normal stuff. The police obviously sent 5-6 vehicles immediately to stop him, although he was driving fine, he drove off when he heard the sirens, and I don't know what happened after that - but what I do know, is my car was brought back with all 4 of tyres flat, the left hand side of the front was smashed in, and several paint marks and scratches covered the body of my 318i - thankfully he was not hurt and was taken by the police. 
After some phone calls, insurance company decided to fix it, I lost my no-claims bonus, but I did not have to press charges against my friend, because he was a mental case.
Upto today, the right side looks old and "dark" compared to the repaired side which looks shiny and "bright" - I was wondering if anyone can suggest a wax/cleaner or some sort of buffing tool that will correct this uneven appearance 
Also - some small dents on the body just above the rear bumper were not removed - any suggestions?
Thanks very much for any help in advance 
bye bye 

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Henchman Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 19-June-2004 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 7	Topic: One-sided problem Posted: 19-June-2004 at 14:02
	Firstly, just want to say hello to everyone, I am new to the forum. A couple of years ago, a friend of mine abscunded from a mental hospital here in London, and he was still under a section of the mental health act. He came to me, as a friend I let him stay the night - to clean himself up and "fix up" as it were, which I will certainly regret the next morning. The police came round to collect him, but before I had even answered the door, he had already gotten hold of my car keys and was driving around gracefully - what he claimed was his way of proving he is mentally able to do normal stuff. The police obviously sent 5-6 vehicles immediately to stop him, although he was driving fine, he drove off when he heard the sirens, and I don't know what happened after that - but what I do know, is my car was brought back with all 4 of tyres flat, the left hand side of the front was smashed in, and several paint marks and scratches covered the body of my 318i - thankfully he was not hurt and was taken by the police. After some phone calls, insurance company decided to fix it, I lost my no-claims bonus, but I did not have to press charges against my friend, because he was a mental case. Upto today, the right side looks old and "dark" compared to the repaired side which looks shiny and "bright" - I was wondering if anyone can suggest a wax/cleaner or some sort of buffing tool that will correct this uneven appearance Also - some small dents on the body just above the rear bumper were not removed - any suggestions? Thanks very much for any help in advance bye bye

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kevin Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List Bavarian-Board Contributor Joined: 29-November-2002 Location: Camberley, Surrey Status: Offline Points: 3189	Posted: 19-June-2004 at 14:48
	Welcome. Wow, that is the most unusual introduction I have ever read. Sorry to hear about your friend, who I hope is ok now. Others have better knowledge of things to do with paint than I but it sounds to me as if the colour match was not right and it will be very difficult to correct without a full respray. I hope I'm wrong. Edited by kevin
	Kevin '04 E46 330Ci Convertible '08 E61 535d Touring (TorqueMeister Towbarge) �95 E34 M5 �89 E30 M3 (Cecotto)

Brucey Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Really Senior Member II Joined: 07-March-2004 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 744	Posted: 19-June-2004 at 20:36
	-well that is unusual to say the least! I guess it could have been worse, your friend might have been hurt. -if you have a 'solid' colour you may be able to cut it back carefully with an abrasive polish like t-cut. Try a small inconspicuous area first before going the whole hog. -if you have a metallic colour, it may be that the clearcoat is different in some way, old to new. If so I don't think an abrasive polish will necessarily fix it, unless it is just surface dulling. -the worst possibility is that the match was just never very good in the first place. Most colours come in several different shades, and your bodyshop may just have picked the wrong one. hope this helps
	~~~~~~~ Brucey ~~~~~~

dave 328 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Really Senior Member II Joined: 21-October-2003 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 835	Posted: 23-June-2004 at 17:41
	The old side shouldn't need much to bring it up to colour and match the new side. Try any good polish or as suggested T-cut for Mettallics. Try it on a small area which can be suitably compared to the other side and give it a few trys to make sure the paint is back to original shine. Mettallics don't tend to go dark/dull as with standard paints, as they are more resillient. There shouldn't be much of a difference between the new paint and old even if the old is due a polish. I suggest going back to the bodyshop to sound them out. As Brucey says, normally there are a few shades of the same colour. I had a bumper re-painted, which an auto paint shop matched to the correct shade from a part of the bumper, but this turned out to be the wrong darker shade. The lighter shade was then picked and it matched the rest of the car perfectly without having to polish the rest of the car.
	328 Coupe Sport, Digital climate, full leather, OBD computer, De-restricted with M50 manifold, big bore throttle, chippeduk remap, custom cold cone intake and X-brace

dave 328 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Really Senior Member II Joined: 21-October-2003 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 835	Posted: 23-June-2004 at 17:44
	Just read that this accident was a few years back, so complaining now wouldn't do much good. I think the wrong shade was selected originally if you can tell easily just by looking. try any polish, but unfortunately the only solution maybe to have the areas re-painted with the right shade.
	328 Coupe Sport, Digital climate, full leather, OBD computer, De-restricted with M50 manifold, big bore throttle, chippeduk remap, custom cold cone intake and X-brace

Henchman Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 19-June-2004 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 7	Posted: 27-June-2004 at 13:25
	Hey, thanks very much for all the responses guys, I only just read them things have been pretty hectic lately, and yes, the accident was a few years back - I didn't really give the car much attention until recently I will definitely try some of the some stuff you guys suggested, in the mean time, I took some pictures to give you guys a clearer "picture" of the problem, I don't think I was specific enough in my initial description Two diff angles of the front, the 2nd shows the shading difference quite clearly This the rear of the vehicle - not quite sure if these happened when the car was driven by my mate - but later that same day (while the car was left out front after police arrived) some kids were messing around with some gas-powered replica guns - and were hitting everything - I THINK that might be the reason for the dents, I can't see anyone denting that part of a car while driving it - (the insurance ppl said it was not done during accident, hence did not repair it) Close up of the dent in red circle :- Close up of the dents in green circles:- Thanks again for all the help guys