Tempted to go for this M body kit

[Elekta]

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...tem=7919127519

translator page here




is this paintable? Can you really blast out rockchips, or even fill them?

wonder if this is worth it?

[e34]

Look in ok condiition, i would get it. Hey can i buy stuff from ebay.de and have them send it to USA. They always have the new stuff first and some stuff that they dont have in the US.

[Elekta]

any way you could translate it better than babelfish?

[Elekta]

When I bought my touring I had to buy a new front clip, and fix a 1/4 panel dink, and my paint guy suggested I get new kidneys too. I asked him if he could just blast off the rock chips and reprime and repaint, and he said it would never come close to new, so I bought a new wide grill, and took it to heart. ( I still have the old one if anyone wants it ) He also said he couldn't get the chips out of the hood either, that if I was serious about my paint I should get a new hood too.

Is this really so? Do you think this is why this kit is for sale? Cause it's beat to **** with rock chips? Can you really blast all the paint off a plastic bumper and then get a smooth finish with primer and paint? I know that a M-body kit is near $2000 when you buy it, wait for it to be shipped, and the prime paint and remove your old and install the new.

I'm just wondering if I choose the cheaper route will I be sorry for buying used, chipped up pieces?

[Mr Project]

Your metal hood could certainly be fixed with filler and/or primer as needed, and made to look very good with nice long-term results.

Plastic grills and bumpers are another issue. Body filler does not stay in very well due to poor adhesion to the plastic/urethane, and due to the filler not being flexible...and impact of a large rock or bumping a solid object will make the filler crack and just fall out.

A thick 'buildable' primer can work ok, I used it with decent results on a urethane rear bumper, holding up well so far (1 year). You can only get so much material on, though, before you have the same issues as with body filler. This really only works for small chips and imperfections.

There are also 'plastic weld'-type products for plastic and urethane, and people have varying degrees of success with those. Often it's very difficult to get a final-prep-quality finish out of these products, so they then must be used with primer or filler as a final coat. Then you have the same issues as above.

No matter what, it's a decent amount of work, either for you or the bodyshop, and adds significantly to the cost unless your time is free. It's a lot more work, and the results won't hold up very long, generally, as compared to a new or very good used bumper, which can just be scuffed and painted. So unless it's a lot cheaper and you don't mind really spending some time to make them look right.....

[Mr Project]

Forgot to add if it's fiberglass... then it's (relatively) easy to make it look good, but fiberglass does not hold up well in day-to-day situations. Cracking, chunking, etc.

[Patrick]

I've bought a number of items on German eBay and you can sometimes convince the seller to ship to the US even if they say they won't. The way I read the seller's listing here is that he won't ship any of it anywhere, local pickup only.
If he does ship it to the US and it goes through US Customs, be sure to bring a printed copy of the auction to prove what you paid for it or they'll give you grief about it, or not release it to you.

[Elekta]

I've bought a number of items on German eBay and you can sometimes convince the seller to ship to the US even if they say they won't. The way I read the seller's listing here is that he won't ship any of it anywhere, local pickup only.
If he does ship it to the US and it goes through US Customs, be sure to bring a printed copy of the auction to prove what you paid for it or they'll give you grief about it, or not release it to you.

Thanks for that tip.

At $250 or even $300 plus shipping it might be worth it. I just want to make sure that it could be painted to look as close to brand new as possible. All of these pieces are either molded plastic or fiberglass is my guess.

But, if it can't be painted to a smooth finish, and one is just refinishing over permanent rock chips, I will pass.

So, can it be made to look new? I would love to have a plan of action to get an M5 body kit installed for half price all in.