BSLNoel

My baby is going under the knife on Monday and I need some advice on what level of 'detailing', in regards to texture and finish matching, I need. Right now I have them fixing this:

and respraying the rear bumper. They offer a $200 'mirror' polish that will remove swirls and slight scratches that I was keen on, but do I need more? The texture of the BMW paint is really what is getting at me, seems impossible to match. He mentioned wet sanding the car, but he never quoted me a price. He was worried that since I have swirls maybe someone's already removed some paint (the car was not in front of him when he said this), and he'd be worried about it getting too thin. I actually don't think my car's been polished often, it was a leased company car and it has plenty of surface scratches that I'd love to have disappear. Is the texture set? Is it just not going match the repair?

I'm bringing this to the absolute best body shop anywhere around me, and it's 100+ miles away. I know a detailer is typically who should be doing this, but where I'm located that's simply not who I trust with my car. I have years of payments left and I want this thing to be as close to perfect as possible without paying for what would only be done to a show car. IYO what should I have done regarding finish and texture? I'm the hand washer and waxer, and from this 'polish' on I'll be the detailer.

Parting pre-op shot.



Sorry for the long post, I just have no idea what to expect with this sort of repair and it's knotting me up.

pukka

I assume you vetted the body shop? When I'm looking for a shop to get work done I always speak with the owner and get a tour of the shop - the cars they are working on at the time are a good advertising point. If I don't get offered a tour then I go somewhere else.


If so then you shouldn't have any problems. All the shop needs to do is order the right paint and do their job.

hollow

ive wet sanded my car on one side , intended to do both the same day , bmw paint is as hard as rock . worst idea i had . polished up well though but never again on a bmw .

il get to the other side next week sometime .


as for the paint job you shouldnt tell whats been painted ,as any shade differences will be hidden into the next panel

tonyb635

I imagine you don't need to wet sand the car unless there s serious clear coat issues. A good shop will know exactly what your car needs. Paint matching is not a big deal. Your car looks black or a dark met color it kind hard to tell. I would recommend having the rest of the car machine polished as this will bring it back up to match with your new paint. The only thing you might see when you collect the car is a new paint look on the areas. It should not be noticeable at all, except to you because you know it's there... They will most likely spot in your wheel well and clear the entire panel then blending the clear on the B pillar or they could blend mid way but since their doing bumper I bet they clear the entire panel. If the paint does not match (color) make them fix it. Don't accept the car! And don't let them convince you that it will match later after a few washing or sunning. If the orange peel on the paint doesn't blend with the rest, they can buff a little more for even color sand. This should also match up to the rest of the car.

ColdList

Actually non you should not think a dealer will do better work. Fortunately a high end body shop will be able to match without any hint of a repaint. I had a rear bumper and quarter resprayed on Carbon Black Metallic-no issue. Also have had mods sprayed. As for "vetting" (sp?) the shop-totally agree. I take mine to a place that does Lambos, Ferraris, Maseratis, etc...lots of exotics. The thing about exotics and luxury cars such as BMW and Mercedes is that you will notice the paint is "smooth" rather than "orange peel" when you examine closely. This is because of the much finer finish to the coats form factory vs. "typical" cars. It is actually EASIER to match for a high-end shop. No worries. She'll come out beautiful!I was VERY scared about mine too but had no choice since the wife backed the HUMMER into mine in our own driveway......talk about reasons for divorce...hahahahaha!

tonyb635

Actually, orange peel is designed in the paint process and is supposed to be there, it is however controlled. The reason for it serves the same purpose as flat wall paint in your house, it can hide very small imperfections. If you were to wet sand all of the orange peel out of the paint and then buff and polish you might be surprised how your body looks. This condition will show just about every panel wave that you did not know that you had. BMW has standards for what is considered an acceptable amount of orange peel and color dispersion. The bodies are painted in the factory and the bumpers and most all hang on parts are painted a the suppliers and most often with solvent based paints instead of waterborne paints as on the body.

ColdList

Well I stand corrected Giving my 2 cents based on what an AMERICAN dealer told me when they painted my HUMMER. See the diff between the Germans and us?-lol! Thanks for the clarification. My idiocy usually sparks controversy-hahahaha

tonyb635

No not at all I just happen to have a very deep personal experience with this process. You would be suprised at the number of people who think that the car is painted completely in the factory. Here in the US, Plastic Omnium produces the bumpers and paints them, but in Germany there are a few other suppliers. You were exactly correct when you said that any high end shop should be able to do a perfect job. It's not that difficult if they know what they are doing and have the right materials equipment etc. It's the small shops that you need to look a little deeper at. Most are stuggling and could cut corners. And the biggest joke, it will look better with age or in a few months, or bring it back in a couple of weeks and we will make it right. Hopefully, they don't get paid until it's right...

BSLNoel

She's in the shop now. I'll update this thread with photos of the work when it's done.

It was like dropping my son off for the first day of school. I know it's in good hands but damn it makes me nervous.

I don't think he's going to paint the rear bumper, said he may just do a bit of work on it and clear it instead.

He's got a detailer he calls a 'paint guy' that will get my car when he's done (I gave him some play in the budget on this to let the guy do what he thinks best). Pretty comfortable with the owner and he absolutely loved my car. Said great car about 10 times. Both times he's seen it it was spotless inside and out and he commented on my attention to detail. I showed him every imperfection in the paint and he looked at every gap and panel alignment. He knew a lot about engine packages and the LCI improvements, knew I had a 528 vs 530 based on year even though it's debadged. He was happy to see it again. He was a good 20% higher than any other quote I got, but both internet research and word of mouth indicated he was worth more than that difference. Who knows?

I hate that she's torn apart today...better days for her in the future.

ColdList

Yeah, I have some experiences like that with the HUMMER. Took them 4 times to get the paint on the rear underside of bumper "almosT" correct. I just gave up and live with it. The mgr actually says to me that when his painter heard I was being picky he says "what is this guy? U BMW or Mercedes owner?" Unbelievable. With the bimmer it is nothing but the BESt shops, regardless of cost. Mine goes to a guy who does nothing but exotics and luxury. Really a big difference in standards.