Rear bumper mega scratched/gouged..repair or replace?

[edco]

Greetings:

While shopping at a local NJ Mall with my lovely wife this weekend, some idiot in a Honda got a little too close and damaged my rear bumper, and then bolted before I could get a plate number. It's not out of alignment, but it's scrathed/gouged pretty severely.

So today I talked to my brother in law who used to be in the auto body business. He recommended buying a new bumper cover, as the scratches are fairly deep (left side on the corner), and his experience was that since bumpers are often "tapped", that filler often comes loose over time.
Keep in mind he's been out of the repair biz for about 10 years so bonding products may have improved significantly since then.

Anyone have any suggestions or recommendations (yes, I shall add pictures tomorrow when it's light out to make this request clearer)...?

I found one on ebay but its about $160 shipped and still would need to be painted, also it's not a PDC cover, but I assume that could be drilled..maybe..

So I dont want to go throught the insurance company and ruin my otherwise pristine history (especially with my son about to start driving soon..), so my choices seems to be:

1) Bring it to a shop and have them either find a replacement cover (I have PDC) from a boneyard or repair the one I have.
2) Buy a new one from BMW ($636) and have it primed and painted.
3) Live with it.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Ed in Metuchen, NJ