Lots of swear words!
 

Hit a bl**dy bollard in Asda this morning :mad:

The front o/s wing and door are damaged, probably in need of new panels, I suspect, as they're aluminium.

Does anyone know (well I'm sure at least one person here knows!) if the front wings are just bolted on? And what the cost of new panels are before I call A8 Parts?

Ouch! I feel your pain Jim :(

Have you considered contacted a dent removal expert? You'd be amazed how some of the more skilled guys can make dents disappear. You'll need to find one who is experienced in aluminium of course.

Failing that, I would imagine a good body shop could straighten and repaint the existing panels.

Ouch :( The wings are bolt-on yes. New panels aren't available any more so thats moot.

Given the damage to the paint, and that the dent has pulled in the edge of the wing I would say that's beyond dent removal but its worth asking. Can you get more pics from slightly further away? I can ask my dent guy who is pretty exceptional with aluminium, but I suspect I know what he'll say.

It looks like the door at least is only damaged below the trim, however that section is mostly behind the bonded-in side impact bar so would also be practically impossible for flawless dent removal. The best you're likely to see from that is to push most of the damage out and then fill & paint.

Aluminium work-hardens so its relatively straightforward for an expert to get shopping dings out, but creases of that magnitude are pretty much impossible.

Personally I would be inclined to replace both panels as Prestige have both in stock in Ebony black, assuming yours is actually Ebony of course. Hard to tell with FEs as yours and Stephen's are definitely different blacks, despite FEs only allegedly coming in one black. You'd need to take the car up to Stockton and compare the panels side-by-side I think to be sure. That would also be preferable to shipping them to reduce the chance of damage.

I knew that you’d know, MJ. I’m sure that mine is Ebony Black Pearl - I’ll check the build sticker, but I share your thoughts on new panels, Michaela. Will the glass need swapping out, or do the panels come complete from Prestige?

More pics:

Paint colour/code is 4Z/LZ9W. Is that the same as yours Mark?

The door would come as a bare panel so you would swap your window frame assembly, glass, wiring harness, lock etc over to the replacement.

The bumper and arch liners need to come off to get the wing off. I'd say its comfortably a day's work to get it all changed over sympathetically and line all the panels up.

LZ9W is what Prestige have in stock +++

Wing

Door

Those two are now mine!

And my insurance company is happy for me to choose a repair shop and to fit the used panels. But I suppose that I’ll have to wait until the lockdown eases. So, back to the TTS then.