Body Shop Advice (Los Angeles)

[enjoy_m3]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but the light reflecting off the corner bumper looks like horizontal streaks similar to the post of atb88. Am i seeing it correctly? Doesn't looks like orange peel. Orange peel should look like orange peel. Hopefully I'm wrong Jim, lol

[Tbonem3]

Luckily, LSB is flat, so no worry about the flop of the metallic. You can see orange peel in the reflection of the light, so hopefully it's close enough to stock.

If you really want to be picky, even if a shop matched the amount of orange peel to 2000's bmw paint, they wouldn't be able to match the "knit" as I call it or pattern of the peaks/valleys. That takes an extremely close examination in the right light/angle, however.

[M Coupe]

Looks OK but then again you simply can't gauge anything based on that image. We'll need some closeups and how the bumper and hood match up to the rest of the existing paint. Also texture of clear. Getting that right amount of 'peel' into the clear isn't as easy as it seems.

[Gearhead55]

how is this looking?

[EthanolTurbo]

I'll tell you what happened. The prep guy, painter, shop foreman, and shop owner all suck at their job and have never ever heard the words QC, nor do they give a flying f$ck. I can promise there wasn't one single time at the shop I worked at where this level of failure exited the shop.

Agreed. I did a $1600 paint job on my old 335i that looks better than this and still looks good today despite no paint correction or protection by my friend that owns it now. I have seen TJ paint jobs with less flaws than this. Really disrespectful that anyone thought this wouldn't be noticed, especially on a car that's as eye-catching as an E46 M3.

[oceansize]

Did he tell you what he thinks happened?

I'll tell you what happened. The prep guy, painter, shop foreman, and shop owner all suck at their job and have never ever heard the words QC, nor do they give a flying f$ck. I can promise there wasn't one single time at the shop I worked at where this level of failure exited the shop.

[Nate047]

Did he tell you what he thinks happened?

[ATB88]

Dropped the car off to the shop owner. He was understanding and gracious about it, said they'll fix it all. Will update.

[EthanolTurbo]

Okay, results time, and I need help.

I got my car back a few weeks ago (Nov 6ish), but have had a nearly constant travel schedule since then and the car has been sitting in my driveway. I'm finally back for a week, got the car handwashed today to inspect the work.

I have mixed-to-negative feelings about it, and I wanted to get community input before going back to the shop with it. First so that I'm informed on what the issue I'm seeing is, whether or not it's "normal", and second so that I'm not unreasonable in any request I make to them for any possible fix. I also want to emphasize that I'm not making this post to antagonize or badmouth the shop that did the work, but rather just figure out whether or not I have reasonable cause to bring the car back to them.

Basically, I'm finding that there are some areas where there what looks like long "grooves" or "wrinkle lines" in the paint that go along each other and criss cross. In some places it almost looks like brush strokes. The grooves/lines range from ~1 to several inches in length. They aren't visible in all lighting conditions, but when visible I think they look pretty bad. There are some spots on top of the trunk lid, but there are way more along the rear quarter panel, especially on the rear fender flare, extending all the way up to the passenger door. This problem exists on the passenger door too, but to a much lesser extent than the fender and trunk. I don't seem to see this on the bumpers, front fender, or hood that were also painted. Also, I didn't see any of this during my original inspection the first time they tried to have me pick up the car. But I guess maybe I missed it due to lighting conditions?

PICS AND VIDEOS:

Here are photos of the quarter panel and trunk areas that show examples of the issue: https://imgur.com/a/McNp7fj

Here are a few videos that might give a better sense of what this looks like IRL, but it's hard to completely capture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xNH...FWQAou&index=1

QUESTIONS:

1. Is this kind of artifact/defect in the paint normal/expected in a paint job from a reputable shop? I've read a lot about "orange peel" and that it can be expected as long as it isn't too egregious.. but this seems like a different thing?

2. Is this fixable without repainting these areas? The detailers who washed my car this morning suggested that wet sanding could do it, but it would be a pretty big expensive job considering the extent of it. Any other thoughts?

3. In your opinion / if it was your car, would you expect the shop that did the work to correct this?

I really appreciate everyone's thoughts on this!!

This is totally fucked. Looks like the paint was runny somehow and didn't apply properly. They need to redo all of that, it's 100% unacceptable.

[Chas3n]

Reading through all the paint threads makes me incredibly nervous getting any sort of paint work done on my car in the future. Even the “good” shops have mixed reviews.

The only shop in the area I have heard nothing but good things about (on multiple BMW forums) is C&C collision.

C&C has done great work many years ago, but get ready to pay.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[ATB88]

Thanks for the continued unfiltered impressions and advice. They e-mailed me back asking me to bring it in, which I'll be doing tomorrow morning.

[oceansize]

Okay, results time, and I need help.

I got my car back a few weeks ago (Nov 6ish), but have had a nearly constant travel schedule since then and the car has been sitting in my driveway. I'm finally back for a week, got the car handwashed today to inspect the work.

I have mixed-to-negative feelings about it, and I wanted to get community input before going back to the shop with it. First so that I'm informed on what the issue I'm seeing is, whether or not it's "normal", and second so that I'm not unreasonable in any request I make to them for any possible fix. I also want to emphasize that I'm not making this post to antagonize or badmouth the shop that did the work, but rather just figure out whether or not I have reasonable cause to bring the car back to them.

Basically, I'm finding that there are some areas where there what looks like long "grooves" or "wrinkle lines" in the paint that go along each other and criss cross. In some places it almost looks like brush strokes. The grooves/lines range from ~1 to several inches in length. They aren't visible in all lighting conditions, but when visible I think they look pretty bad. There are some spots on top of the trunk lid, but there are way more along the rear quarter panel, especially on the rear fender flare, extending all the way up to the passenger door. This problem exists on the passenger door too, but to a much lesser extent than the fender and trunk. I don't seem to see this on the bumpers, front fender, or hood that were also painted. Also, I didn't see any of this during my original inspection the first time they tried to have me pick up the car. But I guess maybe I missed it due to lighting conditions?

PICS AND VIDEOS:

Here are photos of the quarter panel and trunk areas that show examples of the issue: https://imgur.com/a/McNp7fj

Here are a few videos that might give a better sense of what this looks like IRL, but it's hard to completely capture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xNH...FWQAou&index=1

QUESTIONS:

1. Is this kind of artifact/defect in the paint normal/expected in a paint job from a reputable shop? I've read a lot about "orange peel" and that it can be expected as long as it isn't too egregious.. but this seems like a different thing?

2. Is this fixable without repainting these areas? The detailers who washed my car this morning suggested that wet sanding could do it, but it would be a pretty big expensive job considering the extent of it. Any other thoughts?

3. In your opinion / if it was your car, would you expect the shop that did the work to correct this?

I really appreciate everyone's thoughts on this!!

I worked in a body shop for years. That is, bar none, some of the worst bullshit I've ever seen. I can't express harshly enough how bad that truly is. That shop, its crew, its owner, and everyone even tangentially involved is a horse's ass.

[ATB88]

Those are definitely significant defects that they need to fix. My guess is that there was poor prep before paint or the top coat is too thick. It almost looks like crazing. I imagine that will get worse over time.

OP, can you feel those marks when running your hand across the panel? There is a small chance that they will be able to wet sand those marks out; otherwise, they will need to repaint those areas.

Yes, I can feel the texture, although it is faint. I e-mailed the shop owner this morning with photos and video, hope to hear back soon.

[Avedis]

Reading through all the paint threads makes me incredibly nervous getting any sort of paint work done on my car in the future. Even the “good” shops have mixed reviews.

The only shop in the area I have heard nothing but good things about (on multiple BMW forums) is C&C collision.

[Slideways]

Those are definitely significant defects that they need to fix. My guess is that there was poor prep before paint or the top coat is too thick. It almost looks like crazing. I imagine that will get worse over time.

OP, can you feel those marks when running your hand across the panel? There is a small chance that they will be able to wet sand those marks out; otherwise, they will need to repaint those areas.