Painting 5K bumper covers

[AUDIDUDI@delphi.com]

When I was hosing off my '87 5000s last night, some of the clear-coat on the
hood chipped off.  The Arizona sun is not kind to the paint on most cars and
metallic/clear-coat finishes tend to suffer the most ... of course, we don't
have to deal with rust (at least not in the southern parts of the state!) so
I guess everything evens out in the end.

Anyway, it's clear that I need to repaint the car fairly soon and I realized
that I've never had to deal with painting plastic parts before ... every car
I've ever owned prior to this one (mostly BMWs) didn't have any!  The bumper
covers on this car are textured plastic, unlike the ones on my '91 100s, and
I have no idea how to restore this finish after repairing the many nicks and
scrapes that have accumulated over the years ... is there some magic trick I
don't know about?

I called a friend who owns a bodyshop and he said he can sometimes make them
look a LITTLE bit better but usually just replaces them.  I suggested making
them smooth ala the ones on my '91 100 but suspect it would involve a LOT of
time spent sanding and I'm not sure this car is worth THAT much effort.

Is there a "magic" trick to refurbishing these covers?  Is there any company
around that does this commercially?  I can't imagine the insurance companies
would stand for using new parts every time one of these cars is repaired but
that seems to be the only alternative as most of the cars I've seen in yards
are in much worse shape than mine and there doesn't seem to be a shortage of
used bumper-covers available (as logic tells me there would be if there is a
way to repair and/or refurbish them).

As always, any input will be greatly appreciated. 

               __________________________________________________
                                                                 
                /| |_| |> | - |> |_| |> |  (AudiDudi@delphi.com) 
               __________________________________________________
               aka Jeff Goggin                     Scottsdale, AZ