west

My favorite auto rebuild shop has switched from using BASF Glausurit to Waterborne. All I know is that the Waterborne is a water based solution, and I think the Glausurit is oil(?) based. Are there advantages to either? Any drawbacks? Looks like Waterborne is better for the environment at least.

StasGS4

Glasurit paint is available in both solvent based (urethane) and water based (waterborne). Most if not all newer cars are painted with waterborne paints and cleared with solvent based clears. What base the paint is really does not matter as it will be the clear that will have to withstand weather and other abuse. However, if your car was painted with waterborne paint, you may get a better color match if any refinishing work is also done with waterborne paint. Glasurit in general is pretty expensive and is very good.

Are you planning to get some body work done on your car? BMW's, by the way, are all painted with Glasurit.

west

Thanks for clearing that up for me (and hopefully others as well). I didn't know that Waterborne was a Glasurit paint.

Based on your comments above, I'll assume that paint applied to my car before this recent visit was done with the urethane based paint. Hopefully the new waterborne paint will match well with the urethane.

I am getting some work done on my car, yes. My car has been in the shop for quite some time already (10 days or so). It should be ready on Tuesday or so they say. They are spraying a fresh new front bumper, fresh new front fenders, CF trunklid, re-spraying my hood (removing chips), and re-spraying my rear bumper (damn city parking! ). They claim that the paint shop has been backed up with switching over to waterborne so I got curious and began researching the topic. I imagine the delays have to do with different processes/tools? Are you a painter yourself?

StasGS4

No, I am not a painter (at least not professionally). I have painted cars before and did a lot of research when needed to get my hood repaired on my BMW.

The delay is most likely due to training. Waterborne paints spray a little differently than solvent based paints. Color wise, if the shop is good, color match should not be an issue since they will most likely blend all adjacent panels.

I am actually considering having a shop that uses Glasurit paints/clears refinish my front end. For price comparison, what is your shop charging you to do the front bumper, hood, and both fenders? Thus far my quotes range between 2000-2500 (includes blending front doors).

west

That is roughly the same as what my shop is charging me. My total is around $3500. That includes refinishing/repainting the rear bumper, prepping/painting the trunklid, and retrofitting some new parts (different bumper shocks, carrier, etc) which you will not be doing...so yeah, probably about the same as what you're getting quoted if you subtract the things I just mentioned. Oh, and when I stopped by the shop to grab my old OEM parts I noticed that they had removed the side mirrors and front door handles, so I think they were going to blend the front doors too.

sevenup_guy

Glasurit is one of the best paint option for our cars. The waterborne paints have been used herein CA for a while due to new environmental guide lines. It appears that the waterborne finishes have been used in Europe for a while now. The color match of the Glasurit on my e60 with titatanium silver was flawless. The metallic matched up perfectly. Glasurit has been oem for Porsche, Mercedes and BMW. So the colormatch with the metallics are exceptional. Alot of shops were initially hesitant to using waterborne but with the proper adjustments; waterborne proved to be the best coverage. I will not use anything less for my car.