I'm new here and have been looking at everyone's body kits and wondered what(for those of you that don't have brand new cars) you did as far as paint for the kit. My car is an 04 and being black, has its fair share of fade and nicks on the hood, sides etc. I can't imagine a pre painted kit would match too well and shop might match the factory paint but once again, its not "factory spec" anymore. I know a lot of you guys have done it here so what are some of your results?
Thanks, love this site!

 

The route I went was both, online and at a shop.


I first got my front bumper through online. The paint matches well, but it took at least 2-3 months to receive the part. Also, two parts were missing so I had to install that later.


For my rear bumper, I got that part through a great deal, and went to a shop to paint it and paint some other pieces.


I was overall happy with that method, cause it took about a week, almost 2 weeks to finish. Painted matched great too.



Only draw back with the shop is, you won't have your car for a bit.

If you get the part through online, you'll wait for the part, but you can install it the day you get it. So its up to you.


If your car is needed everyday, order through online. But sometimes paint might not match, cause sh*t happens.

If you can use another car for the time being, order the part through dealer or locally have it painted and installed locally too.

Its a little safer in color matching, and they do everything for you.



Good luck and can't wait to see pictures once you have everything done.



MK

 

i know that member quad_m, tony, will have you send him the tow hitch cover to match the paint with the kit, but i know that was for an alpinewhite car.

 

If the nose of your car is chipped I recomend having the nose painted at the same time you install the body kit. Lots of dealers paint the nose of CPO cars to give them that fresh look. With buffing the old paint and the paint matching tools shops have you should be fine. The metalics are much harder to match. Just use a quality shop that works on high end cars. My shop in MA does the Red Sox player cars. LOTS of high end cars there...

 

MHS525, That is exactly what I was thinking about. I just wondered what people thought about repainting a hood or other body part. When my 840 was hit in the parking lot, I took it to my body guy and he immediatley recognized the car. He told me the previous owner had bought it in for a "refresh" paint job on the hood. I thought it was a great idea, looked like a brand new car. However, a few friends have told me that it devalues the car?? To me, paint chips devalues the car more than a touch up. Am I wrong?
Thanks again for the great advice.

 

With the technology that body shops have I believe they can match and blend paint perfectly, if you are adding body parts / kits and you have concerns I would reco ordering them unpainted and have the contact points painted as well.IMHO

Cheers

 

Maybe a Ferrari but as you say a BMW 5 with a nice new looking nose is worth more than one with lots of road rash.

A freind deals in E39 540i's. First thing he does is buy new headlights and have the nose painted. Completely changes the look of the car.