Advice needed: Doing a color change the right way - Topaz Blue to... ??

[Maxima SE]

Here's the current state of what we're talking about. Not the best pic, but this is after a wash.

what is wrong with that? Look how beautiful it is. If you spend 3 days correcting the paint, it would pop even more. That shade of blue has a lot of potential for gloss. Topaz is a happy medium between LSB and IB. I think it would be a huge mistake to paint that car. If we were talking about carbon black then that would be a totally different argument

also you aren't letting the color speak to you. You're taking away from its beauty with the gunmetal wheels and yellow calipers. Go back to OEM CSL wheels and black calipers and you will see how much more the color pop

[Maxima SE]

I think you should drop it off for paint correction first. You would be surprised how much more vibrant the color will look once you get rid of that haze.

Here is my IB E92 before and after light correction with Sonax EX 04-06. One pass made a dramatic difference with light pad and compound getting rid of 80% of the swirls/light scratches.

[Casa de Mesa]

Last year, I had 2 complete E46 M3 drivetrains. I was looking for an E46 Touring in good condition to do a conversion but wasn’t able to find one in good condition or at decent price… Santorini blue was the comor I had in mind. I am still toying with the idea of the project with an E46 Sedan or Touring but would need to buy a cheap E46 M3 donor as I sold everything.

My E46 M3 is Estoril blue. It’s a really nice color on the E46 M3 chassis. I sold my Interlagos blue M3 couple months ago. I always wanted an Interlagos. It’s a nice color depending of light. But in the end, I got bored of it, too dark. I prefer my Estoril. But if I had to get another one, I would like a non-metallic m/solid color, like Santorini!

Quickjacks are heavy to move and store (especially the BL7000 model). A lot of job, I only lift one side with a jack for job like oil change,… If you want to work on headers, section 1-2, remove driveshaft or diff, I didn’t liked working with the Quickjacks. Also hoses are lying on the floor… Anyway moving from
my house soon and will get a proper 2-post lift, can’t wait!

Check pics, this is how I removed drivetrain from the car, easiest way IMO

This seems relatively straightforward to me now. Not sure why I thought it was bigger deal. Probably because I'm used to yanking them out of the front of cars that don't have a removable nose. Thanks for posting these pics, hugely helpful. I'm torn on the Quickjacks now. It seems like for this project, it might be nice to have.

An E46 Touring in SB would be killer. I'm a huge fan of Estoril Blue and love that it's a bit brighter. Estoril is one of my favs, clearly given my first post.

Nice bike. I'm a big time mountain biker too. Have a Santa Cruz Megatower that's a monster through chunky stuff that I picked up right before the supply chains shit the bed. Love that thing. That's probably my 2nd biggest hobby. It's a very ocular sport, just like racing/high performance driving. It's a great tool/reminder to keep your eyes up and look through corners.

[Casa de Mesa]

what is wrong with that? Look how beautiful it is. If you spend 3 days correcting the paint, it would pop even more. That shade of blue has a lot of potential for gloss. Topaz is a happy medium between LSB and IB. I think it would be a huge mistake to paint that car. If we were talking about carbon black then that would be a totally different argument

also you aren't letting the color speak to you. You're taking away from its beauty with the gunmetal wheels and yellow calipers. Go back to OEM CSL wheels and black calipers and you will see how much more the color pop

Let me preface this by saying I'm actually really appreciative of your comments. Legit. When I started this thread, I never thought I'd get this kind of feedback.

I'll concede and agree on the wheels, the car came with silver LM reps and it looked mint, but I wanted to move away from 19s to 18s for performance reasons. I should have gone Hyper Silver or whatever they call their equivalent color, but the color looked different on Apex's site when I ordered them and there were no images with Topaz at the time so I rolled the dice...

About that pic. You gotta realize that if the color of the car actually looked like that all the time, as in that level of saturation with respect to the blue, I probably would not be considering this. I was actually surprised by that pic and out of the many I took trying to get the gloss level, that's by far the best regarding the depth of blue. Do a Google image search for "Topaz Blue M3" and most of the pics that come back are much more reflective of reality with this color and what the pic looks like. It's typically a bit darker and almost grey-washed. It can look drab, which isn't a knock, but not what I lean towards. There is NOTHING wrong with Topaz, but for all the reasons I've stated before, a color change is what I'm exploring.

Regarding the paint correction. The paint needs work, that pic is its most flattering side. There are spots on the car that are beyond paint correction - hairline paint cracks in the bumper cover, small gouges, etc. The car isn't terrible and 85% of the car would look fantastic after correction, but the remaining 15% would drive me completely nuts. So at some point, this car needs paint. And most likely, a new bumper cover on the front.

I didn't think my original post would strike a nerve like it seems to have or I would have worded it differently. It's not like I'm killing the last white rhino. I'm not selling this car so if I'm being completely transparent, I could give two shits about resale value and I want what I want. Is that really an atrocity? This is just another car project that would be a hell of a lot of fun for me.

There's an ass for every seat. This project is my seat.

[oceansize]

I'm torn on the Quickjacks now. It seems like for this project, it might be nice to have.

My quick jacks never leave the floor. When I'm done I push them together centered under my car and I don't run over the hoses as they are long enough to loop around and be out the way. I'm simply more comfortable doing big jobs with the quick jacks as opposed to floor jacks but that is probably more psychological than anything, but hey whatever makes me feel better.

[Casa de Mesa]

I'm simply more comfortable doing big jobs with the quick jacks as opposed to floor jacks but that is probably more psychological than anything, but hey whatever makes me feel better.

A buddy of mine and I were wrenching on my racecar once. We had the front of the car on jackstands on the frame rails and rear wheels on ramps with the car in gear (no emergency brake - racecar). We were both under the car, working on dropping the exhaust. I was working on the passenger side header, my buddy on the driver side. I was spinning a ratchet/wrench that for just a moment, connected the positive and negative terminals of the starter solenoid. Because the car was in gear and on ramps, it rocked back and forth for probably 3-5 seconds while we were between the two jackstands. In our rush to get the job done (pulling the transmission) because of an upcoming race, we (I) had forgotten to hit the battery disconnect...

It's not psychological on your part. To this day, I always keep the wheels that I take off the car under the car while I'm under it too. It's a pain to move around, but it's some measure of safety.

I think I just talked myself back into Quickjacks, lol

[IMOLA3]

Tossing in my vote for Interlagos, as you probably wouldn't even need to paint the engine bay to pull it off. Close enough in the color spectrum, but actually "pops" in most lighting.

[Casa de Mesa]

Tossing in my vote for Interlagos, as you probably wouldn't even need to paint the engine bay to pull it off. Close enough in the color spectrum, but actually "pops" in most lighting.

Interlagos is pretty bad ass. Great choice. Have another buddy with an E90 M3 in Interlagos. It is b-e-a-utiful.

I'm pretty hard leaning Santorini Blue and doing the color the right way - engine and windows out. My current wheels would look better with this color, as pictured below.

[Gt4]

This seems relatively straightforward to me now. Not sure why I thought it was bigger deal. Probably because I'm used to yanking them out of the front of cars that don't have a removable nose. Thanks for posting these pics, hugely helpful. I'm torn on the Quickjacks now. It seems like for this project, it might be nice to have.

An E46 Touring in SB would be killer. I'm a huge fan of Estoril Blue and love that it's a bit brighter. Estoril is one of my favs, clearly given my first post.

Nice bike. I'm a big time mountain biker too. Have a Santa Cruz Megatower that's a monster through chunky stuff that I picked up right before the supply chains shit the bed. Love that thing. That's probably my 2nd biggest hobby. It's a very ocular sport, just like racing/high performance driving. It's a great tool/reminder to keep your eyes up and look through corners.

It’s a 2020 Tallboy. It has a Fox Factory 140 with a Cascades Components 128 link now. Got it for 2 seasons. I am buying a 2022 SC Bronson with a Fox Factory 38 this week. Already have Shimano XT drivetrain and Reserve wheels for it! It’s my #1 hobby now that I quit race cars for a couple of years!

If you do a color change, remove every parts from the car. Take tons of pictures during removal and put hardware in Ziploc bags with tags/ identification note. Take the time to polish/clean all the undercarriage, drivetrain, …, while being there and give some touch up paint on engine block or subframe/suspension arms. Car will look like brand new. I did it on my Estoril M3 last winter even if it’s pretty low mileage.

[DoubleSidedTape]

I didn't think my original post would strike a nerve like it seems to have or I would have worded it differently. It's not like I'm killing the last white rhino. I'm not selling this car so if I'm being completely transparent, I could give two shits about resale value and I want what I want. Is that really an atrocity? This is just another car project that would be a hell of a lot of fun for me.

There's an ass for every seat. This project is my seat.

I've been loving reading this thread over the last few weeks. I'm in a similar headspace as you, where I'm never going to sell this car, even though things have stopped making logical sense long ago. Mine is Steel Grey, and has had some damage on the passenger side from before I bought it. I don't find anything wrong with the color, but I also need new bumpers and pretty much all the body panels could use more than paint correction.

I'm going to have to figure out how much either option would cost, and I don't hate Steel Grey, but I have a Deep Sea Blue over Cinnamon X5 and it does make my Steel Grey over Black M3 look boring by comparison. So if I did repaint it and change the color it would 95% be to Oxford Green Metallic II.

[usdmej]

I'll concede and agree on the wheels, the car came with silver LM reps and it looked mint, but I wanted to move away from 19s to 18s for performance reasons. I should have gone Hyper Silver or whatever they call their equivalent color, but the color looked different on Apex's site when I ordered them and there were no images with Topaz at the time so I rolled the dice...

imo the darker wheels complement the car better especially since you're running high color contrast brake calipers as well

[Casa de Mesa]

It’s a 2020 Tallboy. It has a Fox Factory 140 with a Cascades Components 128 link now. Got it for 2 seasons. I am buying a 2022 SC Bronson with a Fox Factory 38 this week. Already have Shimano XT drivetrain and Reserve wheels for it! It’s my #1 hobby now that I quit race cars for a couple of years!

Hell yeah, congrats on the Bronson! I'm thinking about a mullet as my next bike. I'm serious when I say, let me know how you like it.

Some of the riding in Western NC (about 1 hour from me) is next level good. A lot of the US bike component manufacturers (Fox, Cane Creek, Industry 9, etc.) have taken up residence there because of how big the MTB scene is and the access to incredible trails. The trails are a great proving ground. I grew up spinning wrenches at a bike shop and paid for a bit of my college doing so.

I too have taken a break from the track stuff. Went so far into debt trying to make pro racing a reality. It didn't happen for me, got really close, but I did have a lot of fun trying!

Back on topic...

If you do a color change, remove every parts from the car. Take tons of pictures during removal and put hardware in Ziploc bags with tags/ identification note. Take the time to polish/clean all the undercarriage, drivetrain, …, while being there and give some touch up paint on engine block or subframe/suspension arms. Car will look like brand new. I did it on my Estoril M3 last winter even if it’s pretty low mileage.

That's exactly my plan. I have some photos I'll share in the next post of the the undercarriage work I did in 2020. Did exactly this and want to now finish the engine bay, motor, etc.

Did you post pics on the forum of your work? If so can you point me to a thread? I searched a bit but came up dry. Would love to see some photos if you have them.

I've been loving reading this thread over the last few weeks. I'm in a similar headspace as you, where I'm never going to sell this car, even though things have stopped making logical sense long ago. Mine is Steel Grey, and has had some damage on the passenger side from before I bought it. I don't find anything wrong with the color, but I also need new bumpers and pretty much all the body panels could use more than paint correction.

Oh awesome, glad to hear that! Would love to see what you end up doing. Steel Grey is a beautiful color. Have you seen Tbonem3 's Steel Grey thread? THIS ONE. Absolutely amazing.

imo the darker wheels complement the car better especially since you're running high color contrast brake calipers as well

Good point. Maybe the grass is always greener and I just want what I don't have with respect to wheel color, lol! I'll work on the car paint first then think about wheels.

[Casa de Mesa]

A couple shots of the rear suspension work from last year.

Where the project started, pretty standard stuff:


And some in progress shots:





I recreated the factory markings wherever I could. The Yellow, Green and Light blue dots on the top of the diff, for example:

[Casa de Mesa]

And some [nearly] finished product shots.

[DoubleSidedTape]

Oh awesome, glad to hear that! Would love to see what you end up doing. Steel Grey is a beautiful color. Have you seen Tbonem3 's Steel Grey thread? THIS ONE. Absolutely amazing.

Thanks for linking that thread, I started looking through it. The first few posts sort of remind me of what my car was like when I bought it.

Like I said, I don't really have any issues with Steel Grey, but it sits next to a very blue X5 in my garage. I also made the mistake of showing this album to my girlfriend (https://www.flickr.com/photos/scotte...h/14841687737/). I actually had seen this car originally when I was buying mine, and in the same area, but I remember his being about twice the cost of mine. Kinda scary thinking about how much money I would have saved buying it instead. Here's a pic from Saturday at Crater Lake with about 900 miles of bugs on the front of the car: