How much for new paint?

[m3f_Wintermute]

I was just wondering if anyone here has gotten a complete paint job on their M3. How much was it? I am talking about a complete job i.e. new paint everywhere. Thanks.

[m3f_mazur_fc5757570e]

A guy on bimmerforums payed $6000 for his whole car to be painted. Why the need for a new paint, anyhow?

[m3f_Sirius_880bd69485]

An entire outer shell at our shop for an e36 will run about $6,500 - $7k.



Thats the outside only. No underside of panals. Prob include door jamb areas, but most likely not.

[m3f_Wintermute]

Well...so much for that idea. I knew it was going to be pricey but I wasn't expecting that. In any event, thanks for the replies. I was just interested to know how much of an ordeal it would be to get the color car I wanted if I came across a good deal for a car of the wrong color. I was also wondering how a gun metal or dark grey paint job would look. I'll just keep wondering.

[m3f_astan100_7ef66fbe89]

yeah, buy it right the first time. Don't ever buy something and go...wellll....I"ll change that down the line. Most of the time, you won't bother and it might annoy you just a little every day.



If you see something perfect come along except color, make sure you can at least LIVE with the color. I didn't want black really, but I just dealt with it because it was a good deal.

[m3f_Sirius_880bd69485]

yeah, buy it right the first time. Don't ever buy something and go...wellll....I"ll change that down the line. Most of the time, you won't bother and it might annoy you just a little every day.



If you see something perfect come along except color, make sure you can at least LIVE with the color. I didn't want black really, but I just dealt with it because it was a good deal.



Same here. Caught this car on our backlot at work as a trade in.... I would much prefer a blue car, especially estorial. But I have dealt with that. Even the rt door and fender doesn't match 100%, but I have learned to live with that, Ill get the door and fender repainted at work at some point or another...

[m3f_M-avant_0baeb1c2f5]

even with the 6-7K paint job - it might not be as good as the factory. a friend had his painted Dakar yellow... not quite what he expected.

[m3f_Sirius_880bd69485]

even with the 6-7K paint job - it might not be as good as the factory. a friend had his painted Dakar yellow... not quite what he expected.



Well duh hehe, the factory uses robots to paint. I don't know of any shop that uses robots to paint cars.

[m3f_romh_9db5ad5d95]

Well duh hehe, the factory uses robots to paint. I don't know of any shop that uses robots to paint cars.



Actually, I was under the impression that the factories dip the panels, instead of spraying. That's why they come out so perfect.

I could be wrong since I;ve never been to Bavaria before or any other car factory.

[m3f_Sirius_880bd69485]

They spray the color/clear, dip for primer and sealer I believe.

[m3f_romh_9db5ad5d95]

They spray the color/clear, dip for primer and sealer I believe.



I see. So do you believe that a real good body shop can repaint a body panel and have it come out near perfection? Or can an expert always tell that say, a hood has been repainted? I ask this because my hood is starting to oxidize a little because of the florida sun. I had to park my car outside every day for like 3 years and I wasn;t waxing it very often at all. Plus, I've read that red is the worst BMW color in the sense that the sun reacts with the pigments in it, causing white spots and fading.



Thanks

[m3f_M-avant_0baeb1c2f5]

Well duh hehe, the factory uses robots to paint. I don't know of any shop that uses robots to paint cars.



plus they don't get affected by the fumes

[m3f_Sirius_880bd69485]

plus they don't get affected by the fumes



I like the smell of auto-paint. Its kinda sweet smelling... :eek2:





Well, most 'proper' body shops have a spray booth. Where the air is filtered so no dust is inside, and then it double as a giant oven and bakes the car at 180F for about 20 minutest to let the paint dry. Its a nice place to warm up in the winter.



The factory bakes at like 350 or 400F, but they can do that because theres no interior stuff installed yet, mouldings, computer stuff... etc, stuff that melts ya know :P

[m3f_m3-dude]

I have about decided that I want to go to a automotive painting school just for the heck of it, so if I fail to get a job out of college, i could always resort to painting.

[m3f_MPOWR95]

$6-7,000 seems like a grip to get a car re-painted...but if thats getting EVERYTHING re-painted including pulling the engine and whatnot then it seems about right. I have a local body shop that I send friends to who don't want to pay a ton to get stuff on their car painted. My friend got his eclipse re-painted in the gun-metal color, originally red and also had a full body kit installed, dents bondo'd, everything prepped and aligned, and the guy charged him $1,400. There were a few drip marks, but he painted under the hood, door jams, trunk, gas lid, EVERYTHING. The car looked awesome, but the engine bay was still red. The crazy thing is I went to a body shop to see how much it would cost to re-paint the front/rear bumper on my car and I got quoted $1,500-2,000 JUST for the front/rear bumper. I don't know where these body shop guys get the big heads from thinking they can charge that much, but they're used to insurrance companies paying whatever they ask. I could pay $2,000 and get a custom chameleon flame paint job on the front half of my car for $2,000. If I was to pay $6-7,000 for a paint job, it would have to be totally custom or else you could just get a newer bimmer with the color you wanted for the same price.