Paint blues

[Chad]

I had front end painted 3 ish years back wasn't too happy with the out come as they didn't blend into doors so I had wings re painted by an approved BMW shop in pershore wings into doors plus had small trim painted and cost me £500.. the finish was spot on.

. Hi Paul. I’m partway through rubbing down wings myself wings look prity good now back to clean metal as far as possible, treated, then coat of zinc, coat of primer. And some paint code silver, Doesn’t look to bad, will give it some clear coat , when I’m happy with Finnish, now I’ve figured out how to blend paint. I can always take it to a good paint shop , when cash flow permits, definitely don’t think it warrants £2200 at the moment.:whistle: I’m guessing there are a good few wings out their far worse, just waiting to pop. :smokin: repainted and blended into wing under black line,, and about 3 coats on the inside of wings ,, no longer a lightweight csl.

[Chad]

Couple of easy places to check for the diy home check, under the cill covers. Behind the front plastic inner wing , rear battery box with bumper off, all known places the e46 m”s suffer from tinworm , happily all ok 👍 places that all rarely get looked at. If your car is a keeper..:thumbs:

[Chad]

Wings painted and clear coated,hopefully blended into top sections of wings to door, will buffer down see how they turn out , but look really good for cans £50,:thumbs: i recon way better than bmw could have possibly done for £2200::whistle: don’t think tinworm could ever chew through again :smokin: had one of these wings previously sprayed in the past after it was scratched, was a bit disappointed with bmw repair when I noticed one of side lights was actually stuck on with silicone,, goes to show you can’t even trust them to do a proper job ...not for the first time either

[select]

Very impressive work Chad. Wish i had even a quarter of your skills and time to work on the girl. :bigcry:

Taking the bumper off is really easy, getting it back on is a bit of a :birdman: job

[Chad]

Very impressive work Chad. Wish i had even a quarter of your skills and time to work on the girl. :bigcry:

Taking the bumper off is really easy, getting it back on is a bit of a :birdman: job

Cheers Julian, will find out soon,I think it’s the mounting blocks near the arches that would probably be the problematic part , but l haven’t taken the rear ones off , so hopefully won’t be to bad guess il soon find out. :smokin:

[select]

The rear isnt bad at all. I was talking about the front bumper. Getting the snorkel attached is annoying also lining up the bumper with the impact absorbers :bigcry:

[Chad]

The rear isnt bad at all. I was talking about the front bumper. Getting the snorkel attached is annoying also lining up the bumper with the impact absorbers :bigcry:

hi Julian yes I can imagine it will be tricky, hopefully will be easier as I?€™ve got wings and plastic under arches etc all off, undertray off, so I should have good access, also am able to drive over a pit / steps for easy access,... plus I like a challenge :smokin:

[Chad]

Really happy with £50 results so for, after only 5 mins of buffing, But really happy with paint match :smokin: Possibly a bit more clear coat to matching doors, but definitely not to bonnet, will see better when buffed and a proper polish,... ended up spraying about 85 percent just blended into top of wings.

[Mike RT4]

Very nice work - wish I had those kind of skills (and patience) .

[Chad]

Another place to check , rear wheel arches, where rear clip holds rear bumper to arch . I’m presuming this is a common rust point, luckily this is only on underside of arch and isn’t visible with bumper fitted, so carefully sanding back and will treat light rust , and repaint seal etc,, there are a fair few cars that have been done under bmw warranty in this area, mine being one of them wax treated on the inside to prevent any problems, but I guess they don’t do this part of paint ,, :whistle: Glad I found this before it affects visible areas :thumbs:

[Chad]

Luckily not affected paintwork under and around rear arch near filler cap flap area, so not overly disappointed as they all nearly 15 years old now:smt055. Coat of kurust for now

[select]

Very nice work chad. I wonder if you will be finished in time for 15th anniversary :hahaha:
Btw if your filler cap gasket is a bit worn now is a good time to replace it with the rear bumper and inner arch liners (?) removed.

[Chad]

Very nice work chad. I wonder if you will be finished in time for 15th anniversary :hahaha:
Btw if your filler cap gasket is a bit worn now is a good time to replace it with the rear bumper and inner arch liners (?) removed.

hi Julian,checked out parts not sure, but it says seal part no ended , so will call at parts check out if it’s available , as for being ready it wouldn’t take long to put back together,so all good, while it’s got bumpers etc off..want to check over a few more known problem areas, rear top damper mount gasket area while I’ve got easy access, surprising how you find rusty bits when you take a close look then pick the paint back.. but better to catch it now.., .:thumbs:

[select]

Yes you are correct you cant buy the gasket individually. You have to buy the whole assembly including the filler cap itself but its not expensive from what i remember. I can look up the bill when im back at home.

[GregorFuk]

Another place to check , rear wheel arches, where rear clip holds rear bumper to arch.

I have placed a small patch of helicopter tape between the clip and the body work. Stops the clip from rubbing away the paint.