advans

I recently purchased a painted grill set from a vendor, and after installation, I noticed that the painted grills are way-off. I sent the vendor an email but he has not responded. I just wanted to make sure that there are no "different batches" of paint colors. The reason is, for Mercedes, their BLACK OPAL METALLIC has actually two different color hues with the same color code. One is slightly green and one is slightly blue. So I was wondering if BMW did the same thing. I told the vendor "TITANIUM GREY METALLIC, A68" that's the color code that I have gotten, and below is what under the hood says.

PLATINGRAU METALLIC
A68/7 TITANGRAU

I just wanted to be sure, since I have ordered a painted OEM M5 spoiler from him and its still in "paint" I just want to be sure its the same color code. since i don't know what that "/7" means.

Thanks in advanced!

AchtungE60

yes depending on the factory it was made out of the color will be different. There are on average 5 different shades for each color. Even AlpineWeiss or Swartz.
A good shop blends. They get the color to match closely and then blend.

corey

A68 is platinum gray metallic. A36 is titanium gray metallic. A36 is a shade lighter than A68. Looks like you gave him a different color code compared to the color name and he didn't catch it. Who is the seller?

AchtungE60

It doesn't matter. All BMW paint comes in different shades. The OP posted above which I Assume is from his car. ALL BMW paint is different shade depending on factory. Call any paint shop or auto body shop and they'll tell you the same. If you want to find your paint code look under your engine hood on the strut mount. I don't know what the slash means.

Gene

agree, which is why it's always a crap shoot when you order pre painted parts...I'd rather just purchased primered parts and allow a good local shop to paint match and install...

IIRC for the e60 there are 3-5 different AW variants alone

balbs

Under the hood of my car says A36 Titanium Gray Metallic II.

balbs

Actually



I remember looking into the paint of my car there's a Titanium Gray Metallic (don't recall the code) and Titanium Gray Metallic II.

Gene

A36/7 is the code...

tonyb635

Bottom line, the supplier of your part must have used the incorrect color by mistake, or they are using unapproved crap paint. I agree, I would never purchase a part and have it come painted. Most likely it won?t match, maybe close, or close enough for you but not close enough to meet factory specs.

Ok, let me clear this paint issue up for everyone. I'll use the color that?s in the OP. A36/7 titangrau in BMW standards, it?s actually referred to WA36. There is ONLY one color, no variants, not two and surely not five! Any variation comes from the mixing process of the paint. BMW generates a master color and a master formula. This formula is only provided to the BMW approved paint manufactures E.G. glasurit, Dupont etc, but not Martin Senior, Limco, RM and many others. All non approved paint mfg's have created their own formula to match this color, just as replica M5 bumpers look like OEM? E.G. If you purchase an X5 produced in the SC plant and move with the car to Dingolfing Germany and just happen to be driving by BMW while they are painting a new five series or 1 series and the color they are spraying is A36, the paint is supposed to match, if not, then something is out of specification, your car or the paint that is being sprayed. Each color has approved master panels with limit samples that allow for variation within the color. Obviously, it would be just about impossible to have a set theoretical single sample, nothing would never match or it would be very cost prohibited to recreate. Where you see the five plus variation is between the mixing process by the paint mixing person and the unapproved paints. Most quality body shops have their own system and it does a great job, it?s just not factory approved but they can match. Again, if they are not using a BMW approved paint, then they are using something that this specific paint supplier has developed to match A36. Even if they ARE using an approved paint and have the official formula, it still doesn't mean you will have a perfect match, it has to fall into the approved sample range. The person mixing the paint could sneeze, burp and then be slightly off on the weight during the mixing process. The car itself could be on the lower side of the scale and the mixed paint could be on the higher side, however, this is something that you should not notice but could measure with the right equipment. The samples are setup so that there is an acceptable deviation from min to max so that it?s not noticeable.

If the paint is approved and mixed correctly the color should match without blending. Keep in mind, BMW paints the body-in-white at the factory and the bumpers and all of the hang on parts are painted separately at the supplier of that part. The body has waterborne paint with solvent base clear and the bumper/hang-in parts use a full solvent base/clear system, there is NO blending here. Blending is used when the paint is slightly off and just not quite matching up correctly or process application. This procedure masks/hides the deficient paint and application process and makes it ?less? noticeable.

AchtungE60

I paint. I disagree with you. So will any body shop and surely any BMW Authorized repair facility will too. Believe what you want.
I've used them all and they're all the same.
You're forgetting the most important thing...these are metallics and HOW you spray including how much PSI you use really does matter.
But don't take my word for it. Call your local BMW body shop and ask them.