Alpine White Single Stage vs BCC

[m3f_asifallasleep]

95 Alpine White M3, Black Vaders. Car mechanically perfect, purchased Jan 2012 in San Fran for $6300, All records from day 1. Not sure how long I will keep car.


I have one rust spot on rear 1/4 panel near tail lamp and peeling clear coat on trunk, front right and left fenders. Both fenders and trunk were painted at some point by previous owner.


Options:

$4-5K: factory repaint entire car with clear coat

$2K:Address specific problems noted above with factory clear coat

$2K: repaint entire car addressing all problems with single stage paint


Don't want to spend $5K to paint when i'm not sure how long I will have the car. I change cars all the time.


Thru research, I've found that most solid color non metallic 911's pre: 1999 were single stage paint. Never thought much about it but I love the look of 1970 early 80's 911's as their paint jobs don't have that over shiny plastic clear coat look. I never thought why.


After a lot of back and forth I think i'm going to do the entire car with single stage paint. White or black cars work really well with single stage i am told. I think it should look pretty good if i'm using the early 70-80's 911's as a reference.


Anyone paint their Alpine White e36 M3 with single stage paint? Also since the Dakar Yellow M3's were single stage paint, how have they held up in comparison to the clear coat models?

[m3f_white-hot]

Personally I would never "pay" to have a single stage paint job. I have had enough older BMW's in my life to have a serious loathing for the single stage "look". I have to "look" at it on my towel every time I do a wax and polish. Clearly a new, modern paint will last longer in a single stage than will the 80's vintage E21's and E30's I have had, but still. Were it me, and I was not figuring to keep the car for an overly long period, I would properly fix the areas of concern and call it a day. :-)

[m3f_Cosmos Kramer]

if the car is otherwise clean, I would invest the money and do a full respray. you'll enjoy it more while you own it, and you'll probably see a good majority of the investment back when you sell it since your cost up front was pretty low. food for thought, hope it was cooked to order.

[m3f_fiveightandten]

Is the car a daily driver, or more of a weekend and fun car?


I could understand single stage on a weekend car that's garaged and doesn't really see daily use. But if the car is a daily driver that sees sun and rain, and you plan on keeping it around for a few years, and full 2 stage respray makes a lot more sense. Single stage sprays subjected to the elements can get downright awful a lot faster than dual stage if you don't maintain it.


I personally like the look of single stage whites. They can have a deep luster without being overly reflective like clear can look. Though if the car came with clear originally, you may get some flack when selling with it resprayed single stage. The implication being that it was a cost saving measure...which is pretty much the truth here.


We're obviously all going to say 2 stage. But it's not coming out of our wallets, ya know.

[m3f_hencini]

Maybe I'm overstating things here, but a single stage repaint would be about as big of a red flag for me as a salvage title. Like the salvage title, it *might* be fine, but you are going to have a tough time convincing any potential buyer that you're not a raging cheap arse that's trying to hide something or cut major corners elsewhere.



If you know you're going to keep it forever, meh, maybe the single stage is exactly what you want. But it doesn't sound like you know that for sure........



On the other hand, as Nick said, it's a lot easier for us to make that call when it's not our money... :-)

[m3f_asifallasleep]

Originally Posted by fiveightandten:

Is the car a daily driver, or more of a weekend and fun car?



I could understand single stage on a weekend car that's garaged and doesn't really see daily use. But if the car is a daily driver that sees sun and rain, and you plan on keeping it around for a few years, and full 2 stage respray makes a lot more sense. Single stage sprays subjected to the elements can get downright awful a lot faster than dual stage if you don't maintain it.



I personally like the look of single stage whites. They can have a deep luster without being overly reflective like clear can look. Though if the car came with clear originally, you may get some flack when selling with it resprayed single stage. The implication being that it was a cost saving measure...which is pretty much the truth here.



We're obviously all going to say 2 stage. But it's not coming out of our wallets, ya know.

I work from home and we have two vehicles, and so i probably put 3-4K miles on the car per year. I don't drive any of the cars very much. I really love the look of an old white late 70's early 80's porsche 911 SC. Pearl white no clear coat. Also i'm in Los Angeles where it never rains and obviously doesn't snow either. Car is always covered when I'm not using it and truth be told if i ever sold it i wouldn't expect to recoup anything near what i've put into the car. These cars in great shape can be had for next to nothing. E46 M3's are now going for $13K.I just can't see spending $5K on this car when i might sell it next year. Thanks for your comment.

[m3f_asifallasleep]

Originally Posted by hencini:

Maybe I'm overstating things here, but a single stage repaint would be about as big of a red flag for me as a salvage title. Like the salvage title, it *might* be fine, but you are going to have a tough time convincing any potential buyer that you're not a raging cheap arse that's trying to hide something or cut major corners elsewhere.



If you know you're going to keep it forever, meh, maybe the single stage is exactly what you want. But it doesn't sound like you know that for sure........



On the other hand, as Nick said, it's a lot easier for us to make that call when it's not our money... :-)

i have all the receipts from day one of every singe repair and upgrade that's been done to the car. And seriously, a year from now, a mint version of this car will probably go for $5K. That's nothing. I'd probably sell if for soooo cheap or just give it to a relative. So recouping any money or trying to convince anyone of anything would not be happening. Get a $5K paint job now so i can sell it to someone for $5K next year, no thanks!

[m3f_hencini]

Originally Posted by asifallasleep:

i have all the receipts from day one of every singe repair and upgrade that's been done to the car. And seriously, a year from now, a mint version of this car will probably go for $5K. That's nothing. I'd probably sell if for soooo cheap or just give it to a relative. So recouping any money or trying to convince anyone of anything would not be happening. Get a $5K paint job now so i can sell it to someone for $5K next year, no thanks!



Good point. :-)

[m3f_white-hot]

Originally Posted by asifallasleep:

And seriously, a year from now, a mint version of this car will probably go for $5K.

I would hazard a guess that you have not noticed the prices of our cars have been inching back up after the lows of a couple years ago. I have been actively looking for my next E36 M3 and I can assure you there are no "mint" M3's to be had for $5k. If that were the case I would buy 2. :-)

[m3f_asifallasleep]

Originally Posted by white-hot:

I would hazard a guess that you have not noticed the prices of our cars have been inching back up after the lows of a couple years ago. I have been actively looking for my next E36 M3 and I can assure you there are no "mint" M3's to be had for $5k. If that were the case I would buy 2. :-)

"Mint" may have been overstated but you can currently buy extremely nice, well maintained, tastefully upgraded M3's in SoCal in the $6-7K range. Unless E36 M3's become more collectable as they become more rare, i don't know if the prices will climb as the E46 M3's are dropping in price. Would be nice if they did.