to_riffic_day

Tidybuoy

My plan is to live with it for now while I shop eBay for a new front bumper cover. I've seen them go from $300 to $650. I made an offer (low ball) yesterday but it was rejected. I told the guy he could keep the fog lights and grills but the lowest he would go was $600.

I'm not if that big of a hurry as you really can't see the holes unless you are up close and the holes and license plate bracket have equal ugliness.

PRNDL

I *just* got a bid from a local paint shop that specializes in Porsche repair. They will remove the bumper, slightly grind out around the 6 (!!) holes, sand away factory paint aprox 10-12 inches around the holes, apply reinforcing mesh in the rear, and then fill the front with an elastomeric fill that is compatible with the urethane bumper material. After sanding smooth, the front will be primed and the paint "blended" into the surrounding factory paint. I've heard from several auto paint professionals that blending the paint will be much easier to match than repainting the whole bumper. I got a quote of $1200 for the work plus an additional $100 to install the Renline grills while the bumper is off. Seems like a bargain to me. My car is Platinum Silver and will be a bugger to match.

Nick123lv

I just ran into this recently with my Cayman. I pulled the license plate frame and found 4 holes instead of the 2 I was expecting. Decided to go with the bumper plugs as I didn't think the cost of repaint and PPF was worth it. The bumper plugs are noticeable, but honestly don't look too bad, and I think most people wouldn't even notice that they were there.

PRNDL

Update: Got the Boxster back from the repair and I'm very impressed. No evidence that 6 holes ever existed in my front bumper. The shop matched the paint and did an outstanding job on the repair. The car now looks as if it never had a front plate mounted. The shop warned me that a bumper tap from another car backing into me might possibly cause the repair to show, but I imagine a "bumper tap" would show anyway. So far, so good....

yachtfund

I think I'm going to go with bumper plugs as a temporary solution. They don't look great but theres a few other cosmetic things I'm not doing anytime soon (paint correction, redo PPF). When I do that I'll try to have it taken care of more permanently.

PRNDL

Yachtfund: Yeah, I put Bumper Plugs in the front and had them for over a year after I bought the car. They supplied a *perfect* color match. Very well made.

daylorb

That sounds like a pretty good plan if you can get it on the lower side - you could resell the fog lights and grills btw....

I've worked pretty extensively with fiberglass so I'm comfortable doing repairs like this, understand others are not. If it were mine... and I was planning to replace the bumper but wanted it to look better in the meantime...

Remove piece, Cut off the plastic shards sticking out, tape behind the holes leaving a gap on the top of the tape higher than the highest point on the holes. Get some epoxy - I prefer JB Marine Weld for small stuff like this. Get some clear packing tape ready to go and fill holes with epoxy, use clear tape on surface to cover/smooth out epoxy (this will help tremendously on the finishing).

If you walk away with very little sanding, simply use touch-up primer and paint. I prefer a few hard-to-see brush marks that are easy to explain rather than spray, but that may not work here. If you have to, lightly sand smooth, start with primer then color match/blend out a very small area - lightly wet sand and blend, apply clear and buff. That low on the bumper you will hardly notice anything, certainly will look better than bumper plugs.

I'm surprised to hear $1200 to do a job of this nature - although a high-end body shop it is worth it and going to look better than if I did the work...

If this were my Spyder and I was going to keep that bumper forever/have to look at it - I would definitely take it in and have it done perfectly. If it were my old 04 Cayenne - it would be done in a couple hours in my garage!

NuttyProfessor

One of the smartest things I did was the last time I had my bumper skin resprayed, I requested the shop plug those holes. The previous owner even drilled two more holes to accommodate a European designed license mount.