Toronto, Ontario — BMW Collision Program Manager Jonathan Inzano is reminding collision repairers that pre- and post-scans are no longer an option with today’s modern vehicles.
“Before and after any collision repair there must be a pre- and post-scan,” said Inzano, during a Thursday Guild 21 webinar. “This is likely common knowledge already, but imagine going to the doctor without taking any vitals first.”
Inzano noted that pre- and post-scans also bring the ability to accelerate repairs, in some cases.
“A lot of the time it can actually save time in the repair. If you’re pre-scanning a vehicle you are already identifying sometimes the issues in the vehicle versus not identifying them and now having to come back to create a supplement, order more parts, wait for parts to come in—it creates a huge backlog.
“At the end of the day, scanning is not only necessary but is also an efficiency measure.”
The post-scan, said Inzano, is crucial to ensure all issues have been rectified.
“Some faults will create a dash light as soon as you hop in, but others won’t. There’s really no way to tell unless you scan the car once more, clear the faults and make sure nothing returns.
“It’s not optional—it’s necessary,” said Inzano. “It’s your due diligence to the proper thing.”
As it stands, BMW does not have requirements on the use of aftermarket scanning tools, said Inzano. He said any scanner that connects to OBD-II would be able to scan these vehicles, though some modules cannot access these features fully describe the issue.
“If that’s the case, it’s usually recommended to send that vehicle to the dealership for scanning with the BMW scan tool.”
Inzano also noted requirements when it comes to refinishing BMW bumpers during the session.
“If you are repairing or replacing a bumper, it’s good to ask for information on refinishing procedures,” said Inzano. “You really can’t determine a uniform procedure in a one-form document; each bumper has a different sampling area depending on the part. For example, sensors in BMW’s newer vehicles house a newer type of sensor that allows us to refinish in some colours but not in others.
“In the older style bumpers, you can’t do refinishing at all. You always have to determine whether or not that bumper can be refinished.”
Inzano said there are documents out there on this topic, though he would look into distributing them further to bodyshops without BMW repair procedure access.
