I wouldn't have been able to do this................







Yes, I forgot I had a trailer, and I put the car in reverse.........well it's a small trailer and it can't be seen at all from the driving seat..........well, that's my excuse..........





So does anybody know if it can be repaired............or replaced.........the bodywork that is (I have a spare bumper).

The metal is quite flexible at this point so I'm wondering if it can be pushed/pulled out.........

...........

Thanks,

Paul.

Ouch

Its on a bit of a hard place to repair, on the swage lines, shar dink too, i should think some body shops may repair it, but it would most likely take a lot of filler. You need to source a new wing if not.

Best to have a run around some body shops and get some quotes, im sure you know there are some dodgy places out there, doing pretty bad bodywork. Its always a good idea to ask around to see if anyone you know recommends anywhere. If you dont have anywhere already.

Ow ouch! Commiserations...

The worst kind of damage; accidental and worse still self inflicted. And you can't moan about it as
you did it and will struggle to get much sympathy from family etc - mine would see the funny side
first...

The area of panelwork damaged is accessible from behind so a good candidate for a bodywork pro
to sort it for you without major panel replacement or resprays. I used to regularly chat with a
Quality Control Check guy who worked at Jaguar in Coventry who used to tell tales of high jinx and
silliness on the production line where dinks needed rescuing; he marvelled at the invisible repairs
carried out by the maestro who never even broke the paint. It got to the point where the guys on
the line would even set him 'challenges' to put right and put bets on the time he'd take!!

I'm not saying they're as good but get one of these mobile dentmaster blokes to have a look at it
for you. Possibly still going to cost you a few bob but that'd be worth paying to see the back of the
constant reminder staring back at you!

Andrew

Hi Minijet

Unlike the bolted front wings the XM rear wings are spot welded along all sides except for the curve of the wheel arch. The window glass is then glued along the top edge. So a replacement wing will mean a fair amount of work also spraying and a new window glass. Pushing it out will not be that easy as the body work is double skinned in the area of the dent. The inner skin can be drilled to get at the outer skin but you will find a fairly large (crushed?) air vent fibre box and forward of this thick foam insulation glued in place between the skins. This will make pushing out tedious to say the least. The best approach might be to get at it by removing the mudshield in the wheel arch but the angle of attack is not ideal for good results. My guess is that if you get it fixed that bit will be worth more than the rest of the car.

Sorry not to offer better news.

John

I think that's probaby fixable. Can you get to the back of it ?? You need to get a dolly behind it and lift the metal up.... Shrinking the highs as you work that big dent backout. Given enough days ( ) I reckon I could get it close

This should be some help to you:

http://www.jag-lovers.org/xk-lovers/library/dent_tools.html

http://www.jag-lovers.org/xk-lovers/librar...ving_dents.html

You would get it almost straight before going near it with plastic filler.

seeya,
Shane L.

It's perfectly repairable, but a paintless repair is a touch ambitious! Once the damage has been removed, you'll find the whole area is proud because of the amount of stretch the metal underwent when the damage was done, plus the bit that less-than-perfect beating technique will produce. It will need to be shrunk back bit by bit as you go, which will mean heat.

The only problem with replacing the wing is the cost of the wing, anyone know?

£220 according to Citroen Service, which ties up with the price my insurance company paid after a hit and run dustbin lorry backed into my XM about two years ago. I was lucky, it was touch and go whether they wrote it off or not - nowadays they would write off without hesitation.

Ken

Thanks for all the replies chaps.

I'll probably be scrapping the 2.1td soon so I'll have a spare wing that could be used (same colour).
But I don't like the bit about removing the window.
I suspect the petrol tank may have to come off too as there will be some welding nearby.
To be honest I think that John was right, the wing would be worth more than the car, so I doubt if I'll be going down that route.

I'll get it down to the local body shop and see what they can do (it'll have to be after Christmas). I was thinking (hoping) that maybe the dent could be pulled/pushed out to somewhere near and then filled and resprayed........but I know very little about it.
There's no way I can do it myself. Thanks for posting the links Shane, but that's way beyond my capabilities, it all sounds very complicated.

To be honest, going by the prices I've seen recently...........petrol turbo automatics are not that popular, so I could probably replace the car for less than the cost of the repair.
And I'd have lots of exclusive goodies to sell on to help with the cost of another one.........

Thanks again for the help,

Paul.

Why does your 2.1 need scrapping?

I would not scrap a car for a minor dent like that! Especially if the rest of the car is good. Im sure it can be fixed by filling the dent out and fillling and painting the panel. Even if you took it to some dodgy backstreet place for a quick and cheap fix.

Far too many Xms are being scrapped and yours looks good apart from the dink.

The 2.1td MOT has run out and it needs a few things putting right. Also, I need some of the parts for the other car.

The one with the dent is the 2.0 turbo, it was the better of the two cars.......not sure now. It also has a blowing exhaust, so I want to get that checked out first in case it's anything to do with the turbo.
Also, I damaged the front bumper recently, so that's another repair job to do........The jobs are mounting up .
I'll just have to live with it for now, it's MOT'd until next July so I'm not about to do anything drastic, I'm thinking more in the long term.

What about this Paul?

http://cgi.ebay.de/Kotfluegel-hinten-Tanks...%3A1|240%3A1318

Thanks Robert, well spotted. It's certainly cheap.......but there's still '8 Tage 23 Stunden' to go so plenty of time for a few bids to push the price up.

Not sure but I think it says he only posts to Deutschland.

Anyway, I think it would be cheaper to take the wing off my other car, it's the right colour so no need for a respray.

Thanks again,

Paul.

Take the wing off ?? That's a major, major, major job... Much bigger than fixing the existing panel. It doesn't unbolt. You would never to either cut a patch panel and install, if remove (smash ?) the window out, drill all the spot welds out (on that car and the spares car), remove the panel on the spares car without damaging it. Line it up perfectly on the car to be repaired and weld it back on. Not something to be undertaken lightly. The price of the replacement panel is nothing compared to the labour of replacing it !

I rekcon I could fix that given enough time .... But you to far away to even attempt it

seeya,
Shane L.

I took my car in to the local body shop for an estimate today.

They quoted 8 hours @ £40 per hour, plus £100 for materials (paint etc).

Just a reminder, this is the damage........



It's a lot to lay out on a car that only cost me £100 and I could probably get a reasonable XM for the cost of the repair.
However, when it was MOT'd in the summer, the tester said that it was in pretty good condition, so perhaps it is worth repairing.

Anyone got an oppinion on this? Is it too much, about right, or a great deal?

Alternatively

Considering that in the last month I have damaged both the front and rear end of this car (through my own stupidity), I've been thinking about trading in one of my XM's for something a little more robust (well I don't really need two XM's do I).

I need a vehicle that's better suited to my rather careless driving style.

I think I've found just the thing.

A little slower than the 2.0 turbo unfortunately.

And certainly not as smooth.

Possibly a little heavier on juice too.

But at least I won't be able to damage it quite so easily.

And it's green, just like most XM's.

So, what do you think?....................