New materials and ADAS: painting of aluminium, plastic and sensor cars

The car's body is not what it was. Where steel sheet was once dominant, more and more models today use aluminum, composite and carbon fiber to save weight — and at the same time the bumper itself has become a gathering place for electronics that the painter must know about before touching it with a grinder or spray gun.

§Aluminum and carbon fiber in the body

Aluminum and composite materials behave fundamentally differently than steel, both mechanically and chemically. This means new routines in the workshop that a painter should learn from the training.

• 01Sanding dust from steel and aluminium must be kept separate — if mixed, it can promote galvanic corrosion
• 02Aluminum often requires different primers and products than classic steel plate
• 03Tools and abrasives for aluminium should not be reused directly from steel work
• 04Composite and carbon fibre parts require a different approach to repair than metal, more in line with plastic repair

§ADAS sensors are hidden in the bodywork

Many modern cars have cameras radar and ultrasonic sensors built into or behind bumpers windscreens and emblems. They are the eyes behind driver assistance systems such as emergency braking lane assist and distance control.

§When should calibration be done?

• 01Replacement of windshield if there is a camera behind it.
• 02Front damage, even at low speed
• 03Assembly and disassembly of bumper or grille
• 04Work on wheel suspension or wheel straightening if angles have changed
• 05If assistant systems behave abnormally after a repair

Calibration is rarely a legal requirement in itself but a requirement from car manufacturers and is crucial for safety systems to function as intended. A car can drive without properly calibrated sensors – but emergency braking, lane-keeping assistant and similar systems can react incorrectly or not at all.

§What does it mean for the painter's work?

Before you sand, putty, or varnish a modern bumper, you should know where the sensors are located and how thick a layer of varnish the manufacturer allows over them. It's not something you can see with the naked eye, but it's part of the professional updating a car painter today needs, as cars become more electronic — whether they run on petrol, diesel, or electricity.

“A dent is still a dent regardless of what the car is driving on — but today you also need to know what sits behind the bumper before you straighten it.”