Auto body repair is one of those things that everyone who enjoys wrenching on cars has done at some point, and most probably think they're pretty good at it. Maybe you popped a dent out of a trunk, or did a little bit of rust repair that wasn't too shabby. The real "pros" may have even used the chain-around-the-tree method to straighten out a radiator core support after a head-on disagreement with a deer. If it sounds like we're speaking from experience, we are.
That's why we can also say with confidence that, no matter how good you think you are, your amateur skills are the equivalent of serving microwave popcorn in a gourmet restaurant. Proper auto body repair is so much more involved, requiring equal parts of science, art, skill, experience, and an intangible factor that borders on magic. We see all of the above from YouTuber and repair magician Arthur Tussik in this video as resurrects a positively mangled BMW 750i.
We don't have any idea what happened to this car, aside from some kind of biblical impact on the driver side as well as damage to the front. We do know that the video is 20 minutes long, and it's a veritable case study in frame straightening, measuring, welding, hammering, cutting, more straightening, more measuring, and a lot more patience than we suspect most average shade-tree mechanics could ever hope to possess. To get a taste of what that means, jump to 13:13 and watch him meticulously straighten out the mounting lip for the rear quarter panel. Suddenly, that aforementioned core support repair with help from an oak tree isn't so impressive, especially since the main bolt holes for the grille didn't even line up.
At the end of the video, we find out the process to 27 days all total, with 15 days devoted just to the metal work and 12 days for painting. The after photos look pretty much like a new car, though we suspect the structure isn't quite as strong as it was prior to the crash. We aren't experts on such things, but we do know one thing – seeing such an in-depth start-to-finish rebuild like this gives us a whole new level of respect for the skilled men and women who do this work for a living.