Whose front end looks like they inspect mud flaps on gravel trucks ?

[Derek A.]

I did some work on my front door bottoms and did some touch up on the hood. It looks like a track gravel trucks for a living. How many of you have considered a repaint on portions of/entire car?

[Robin-535im]

I did some work on my front door bottoms and did some touch up on the hood. It looks like a track gravel trucks for a living. How many of you have considered a repaint on portions of/entire car?

Unless you have a good body shop to go to (i.e., pricey) I would do a lot of thinking before painting. My clear coat was gone over most of the hood, and I had a big door ding on the fender so I went ahead and had them shoot the hood too.

They did a great job, but it's not as good as a new paint job. Funny, I would rather *drive* a car that I had re-painted, but I wouldn't want to *buy* a car that someone else had repainted, just because you never know how well someone prepped and finished the car. A new paint job might look pretty crummy in a few months, whereas a dinged-up factory job will still look okay.

My two cents...

- Robin
91 535im

[Mr Project]

I'm slowly learning body and paint work as I slog through my other projects...I did all the prep work and farmed out the paint on my wife's Jetta last year (5 months and still looks AMAZING), I'm working on a partial repaint on an old benz right now (first time myself), and then I have a couple Corvairs to restore over the next couple years.

After I get comfortable, I'd like to re-paint the BMW. It's just really tired and faded, with a billion rock chips and a lot of tiny scratches. But I am concerned about resale value. I'd have to be quite confident in my abilities to undertake it.

A really good repaint runs around $4k here at a good shop, and I'll never get that back out of the car, so that's just not worth it. But a bad self-paint job would hurt the value even more, so it's a crummy situation.

[G Feller]

Rock chips on the hood of a Bimmer are a badge of honor; they mean you've been out driving the damn thing.

That said, I am also very fortunate in that the previous two owners of my car garaged it constantly, so the paint is in excellent shape (I already see it fading after 8 months, very slightly, because my parking spot at work is in the sun).

I can see it already: Since I have fallen in love with my E34 to the point where I would never give it up willingly, what will I do when it is absolutely time to spend $5000 - $8000 (I believe 8 is ballpark through a dealer?) to give baby a facelift? Hmm, how about the fact that I can get whole other nice car for that money? Maybe a different flavor E34-perhaps a touring-as a sibling for the one with the bad paint but a heart of gold. Hell, maybe by then I'll say "**** the paint" and buy my wife some cosmetic surgery instead.


How many of you have considered a repaint on portions of/entire car?

[Patrick]

Since I had the grill apart when I put in the euro-ellipsoids, I couldn't put it back together with it looking that bad so I sanded and primed the "wing" grill piece and had it painted by a body shop for $25. I also replaced alll the plastic trim/gill pieces with new (from BMA of course) since those parts are cheap. Just doing that made a big difference appearance-wise.
http://www.bimmer.info/bmw/patrick/535iGrill03.jpg
http://www.bimmer.info/bmw/patrick/535i0008.jpg

[G Feller]

Thanks Patrick - it will come to that one day for me.

Your light setup looks great in black!


...I sanded and primed the "wing" grill piece and had it painted by a body shop for $25. I also replaced alll the plastic trim/gill pieces with new (from BMA of course) since those parts are cheap. Just doing that made a big difference appearance-wise.

[Unregistered]

Last week, I removed the front fascia and wet sanded/repainted it after using bondo putty to fill the chips, with razor blade as a squeege. Also used Bumper Black spray to freshen up the black plastic grill. Then sprayed these parts with transparent Chip Guard, a SEM product that is the same sort of stuff they spray on the rocker panels at the factory. Gave the rocker panels a freshening, too. Total cost of all this was less than ~$25, and I still have lots of usable materials to do other areas of the car. Makes my '90 535i fascia look nearly new, and more importantly, chip-proof. Later, I'm gonna fix the chips on all the leading edges, such as hood, fender flairs, etc. and then Chip Guard spray these areas too.

Yesterday, I saw a newer 5 series BMW, and it had what appears to be a factory application of Chip Guard to its entire nose. No signs of rock chips anywhere this stuff was used.

Now, I'm wondering if anybody has used Chip Guard or similar on glass headlight or fog light lenses, in lieu of the much more expensive vinyl appliques. Any ideas?

[Dave M]

I use a stick-on clear product called "Ricochet" available here in Canada. I assume there are many others available elsewhere. It comes in two sheets larger than letter size, one sheet will cover all four headlights and side markers. A friend had his VW golf done at a glass shop and they charged him $90 Can. to cut and paste a similar material. The Ricochet is $30 Can. and you'll have some leftover.
http://volcano.photobucket.com/albums/v11/dave_macisaac/5erbriggs7.jpg
http://volcano.photobucket.com/albums/v11/dave_macisaac/5erbriggs5.jpg
I've had the front end of my 525im re painted after an accident and have considered the 'coating' I've seen at the dealer on the newer vehicles. If anyone has any info/opinions on this it would be appreciated. I assume its not just a coating used for shipping and something intended for extended use.

Dave M

[Gooch]

I've repainted my front end but after a year have chips again. I'd also like to coat it with the chip resistant paint.

[andyman32]

Bavarian Autosport (http://www.bavauto.com) has a set of pre-cut, self-adhesive urethane headlight shields that are already matched to fit the E34's parking lamps, 4 round lenses, and fog lamps, $49.95.

Just type "urethane" in the search box at top-left. The lens covers are the 3rd or 4th thing that pops up on my search.

-Andy

[Unregistered]

Chip Guard 15 oz. spray cans are available at an auto parts stores that cater to body shops. $15 per can, sufficient for a car or two, depending on how extensively you use it. It's a SEM product. I used clear, but it may also come in various colors.

I painted and waxed the surfaces before spraying this stuff on. That way, if I did not like it, there would be a Zymol wax chemical barrier between the Chip Guard layer and the paint. I think a moderate solvent like Goof Off will remove this stuff, and/or correct overspray.

My Porsche has the 3M type clear vinyl decals on the fenders, etc. to protect the paint against rock chips. Over time, these decals get yellow and have to be peeled off with a heat gun. Also, they don't cover very well, as the adhestive-backed vinyl sheet does not conform all that well with the body contours of the car. So, there are exposed areas around the lip of the fender well, etc. that still get chipped. So, given the high cost of the 3M- type appliques, coupled with the fact that they don't cover all that well, I'm gonna be using Chip Guard on the Bimmer and Porsche.

For the headlights and fog lenses, I'm gonna try the Canadian Ricochet stuff noted above. I've priced some of the "kits" on the internet, and $50 seems pretty steep for what is, in effect, about $0.50 worth of vinyl sheet.