Advice on Painting Rocker Panels ASAP Please (esp '95 owners)

[swenpro]

Before I leave on my trip soon, I need to get some painting done on my car that has been waiting for me… the PO painted the side rocker panels and lower rear bumper. The rear paint is fine, but the sides only look good from a distance. Up close, it looks/feels like orange peel, and it’s finally starting to chip off. It appears like the plastic surface was not prepared properly :/. A local auto painter said he could sand both side rocker panels, repaint them, fix a crack in the front lower bumper and paint that whole bumper too for $300. Does that sound reasonable? Now, on to my main dilemma:

I’m wondering if the 1995 E34s with painted rocker panels have those two “cracks” on each side. As you can see in the pictures, they line up with either the door edge or some lines on the step when you open the rear door. They are obviously by design, and I’m assuming they are there to facilitate water drainage (?). The guy can either bondo up those “cracks,” and paint smoothly over the top, or he can leave them there and finish around the edges (Looks like the PO tried to paint over the rear crack as you can see in the pic). Your advice please!

Thanks so much,
Greg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3/swenpro/1.jpg

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3/swenpro/2.jpg

[632 Regal]

the cracks are pretty much normal, the orange peel I believe the rocker paint has flex in it so it dont chip like regular paint.

[Qube]

Yeah I tried to paint my side as well and it orange peels. Live with it or take some time to sand and repaint ;)

Better yet, get mtech skirts!

[swenpro]

Can anyone who is familiar with a 1995 model tell me if they still have those drainage cracks? My real question is: do I fill in the cracks and then paint, or leave the cracks there?

[Yiorgos]

I'll go outside and have a look on my 95...

EDIT: Yes there are "cracks" on mine as well. They kinda look more like guides or grooves than cracks though. I suspect they are for water drainage too.

Yeah yeah I know, I need to wash my car. I promise I'll do it this weekend. I want to do the same as you, paint the bottom, so does it need to be prepped and stuff? Do they sand the "rough grain" of the plastic down so that the paint sticks on better or something?

Anyway, here's pics of mine.
http://users.on.net/~acherion/bmw/IMG_0258.jpg
http://users.on.net/~acherion/bmw/IMG_0259.jpg
http://users.on.net/~acherion/bmw/IMG_0260.jpg
http://users.on.net/~acherion/bmw/IMG_0261.jpg

[tgrandahl]

mine are crack free

[Russell]

mine have no "cracks". They are actually a plastic material side skirts that I believe are added over the same rocker panels you have. There are different door bottom trims used as well. If you want the existing paanels smooth you will need to remove the gravel protection materials, prime and repaint.

[swenpro]

Do the 1995 models come stock with "m-technic" skirts? Russell, your description sounds like that, as I believe m-technic skirts have no cracks and use plastic stripping along the bottom edges of the doors. So it wouldn't cause any problem to completely fill in those cracks, sand, prime, and paint over?

[E34 530]

Do the 1995 models come stock with "m-technic" skirts? Russell, your description sounds like that, as I believe m-technic skirts have no cracks and use plastic stripping along the bottom edges of the doors. So it wouldn't cause any problem to completely fill in those cracks, sand, prime, and paint over?

yes the 95 models came with the m-tech sides. If you look as lowell's write-up, he put the M-techs right over the existing skirts.

http://www.bmw4life.com/mTechSkirts.htm

[Russell]

The 95s have the M-Technic skirts. Also, It seems that several people on the board have painted the are below the doors body color. Now How you fill in the crack/seam may be critical. I suspect that area will flex a bit in normal driving. it may crack if you just use body filler. Others may know better than I do.

I would recommend you investigate buying a used set of M-tech skirts and trims and go from there. I think you will be happier, especially if you wnat to hide or get rid of the crack/seam.

[Qube]

Ah so if I find a junker 95 I can get m-tech skirts... nice :) I hope they aren't glued on.

[Anthony (M5 in Calgary)]

Surprised nobody's said this yet: the "crack" just behind the front wheel is where the front fender overlaps the rocker panel. You cannot fill this. Think cracked bondo and water traps for rust.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/interalian/M5%20repair%202005/driverfront.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/interalian/M5%20repair%202005/driverwing.jpg

[swenpro]

Surprised nobody's said this yet: the "crack" just behind the front wheel is where the front fender overlaps the rocker panel. You cannot fill this. Think cracked bondo and water traps for rust.


Excellent... this is the kind of advice I was looking for! So don't fill the crack behind the front wheel... but I'm assuming it's fine to go ahead and fill the "crack" below the rear doors. Maybe it has always been more of an indentation there than a crack. Would smoothing it over trap water there too?

[Russell]

I would not fill either seam/crack. The rear seam may be where body panels are bonded together. There may be enough flex to crack and trap water. I believe those seams are on my 95 but hidden by the m-tech skirts.

[VentoGT]

Don't fill them in and paint your bottom trim all the way around dark grey metallic like the M5. That paint tone difference is one of my favorite details of my M. That way, it will 'hide' the differences/cracks more and give an interesting detail to your car. Just my $.02

[Russell]

Not glued on. Check real oem for mounting clip info.

[horseheadnebula]

Amazed at some of the conclusions being made here...

Your rocker paint isn't "orange peeling". It's just that the surface of the rocker panels is textured. If that annoys you, grab 60-grit sandpaper and start smoothing it, and work your way to a 400-grit, then repaint. It will be smooth. What most people don't realize is that below the black/gray coating of the rocker panels, is a perfectly painted, body colored panel. Why BMW chose to add the black/grey textured coating on top of it is beyond me. They did this an all mid 90s models, E36s, E34s, E32s, E38s, even some late E30s.

As far as filling in the indendation at the rearward part of the rocker panel, that will disappear as well when you sand it down.

Personally, I think you should acquire a set of M-tech skirts from any 1995 model, as they all came with them, and install them.

You will need to drill holes in your rocker panels and acquire clips from the dealer to install.

Best of luck!

[MTV]

Don't have my baby today but I'm pretty sure there are no cracks on the skirts you are talking about. Here are a few old pics which you can take a look at but they are not that close up. You can kind of see that the skirts are pretty smooth. I can have close ups posted later in the evening. Hope this helps.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v514/77Toy/525i_7.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v514/77Toy/525i_3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v514/77Toy/525i_6.jpg

[swenpro]

Hahaha.... thanks for the input, guys... and the laugh. Apparently more than one didn't realize the date on this thread ;) I had it painted a few months ago, right after that post. It looks much better now. Only thing I didn't realize wasn't normally painted until after the fact were the little plastic pieces between the grill and foglights. Does this look good or should I sand them back to black?

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c3/swenpro/new_paint_e34.jpg