After a year of researching body shops in my area, I found Dave at Premier Motorsport in Carson California by pure chance. Dave focuses on high end restoration of vintage and modern Ferraris. I dropped into his shop unannounced and he not only welcomed me, but gave me an hour of his time to discuss the project. He even gave me a tour of his shop, which was unreal. Behind the showroom stacked with supercars is a paint production area that’s even more impressive. It was ridiculously clean, sterile clean, with plastic curtains separating the different areas of the workspace. It seemed more like a science lab than a body shop. Multiple F40s, F50s, and a slew modern and vintage Ferraris, it was mind blowing. I wanted to take photos of the production area but it just didn’t seem appropriate. I did take some photos of his waiting area though.
Although Dave doesn’t normally work on BMWs, he agreed to take on the project. He cited my level of enthusiasm and how well kept the car was as the main reasons he wanted to work on it. After picking his brain for an hour, I could tell that he is probably one of the best painters in California and was absolutely the right man for the job. Dave is such a perfectionist that he wanted to do all of the fitting of the components to ensure it was to his standard. I advised him of this build project, build thread and my desire to work on the car myself. We came to an agreement where I would do all of the disassembly and test fitment so it could be documented, then I would bring it to him for sign off prior to paint. Dave would handle the paint, wet sand, and finish work, then hand the car back off to me for reassembly, final polish and ceramic coating.
We agreed on a price and start date a couple weeks out. This expedited my disassembly and preparation process.
You are probably wondering why I’m disassembling the entire passenger side of the car for a CSL front bumper, trunk lid and diffuser. When I first bought the car, the seller was transparent about the passenger side quarter possibly being painted by a previous owner. From what I could tell in photos and videos sent by the seller, the paint work was done incredibly well, and I was okay with it. Texture, color match, etc were all done with great attention to detail.
When I received the car, the paint was as advertised. Zero masking lines, orange peel was super accurate and the color match was about 90-95% accurate. Whoever did the paint did an outstanding job. That said, I found a tiny burn through in the clear coat where the rear arch meets the rear bumper and another one on the edge where the quarter panel meets the taillight.
Based on what I know about detailing and finish work, it appeared the body shop mowed down the entire panel with the massive rotary machine and wool pad. While rotaries make quick work of defects, especially in large areas, they can be incredibly risky on edges and adjoining panels. While 99% of people would never notice the burn through it bothered me and I wanted it fixed. It was also a good opportunity to go from 90-95% color match to near 100%.
After discussion with Dave, we decided to paint essentially the whole rear: trunk lid, rear bumper, rear diffuser, passenger’s side rear quarter including door jamb and a-pillar, and side skirt. This was the only way we could ensure perfect color match with the new components, while simultaneously repairing the rear quarter panel. In order to do this right, the front fender, front door, side glass and trim would need to be removed.
My little gremlins had some serious morning energy. I put them to work and made a 30 minute job of cleaning the wheel well liners into a 2-hour job. This of course included playing in the mud, and bath time.
I then moved on and pulled the windshield seals. The rear came off really easily and gave me false confidence for the front. The front was extremely difficult to get off. Parts of it came off without issue, but many parts of it required numerous tries and f-bombs to get it out. It came out in 10+ pieces, and I had to take multiple breaks in-between, but the job got done.
Afterward, I cleaned the channels really well and flushed them with hot water.
Up next was the rear quarter window and shadowline window trim. This required some interior panels to be removed, but overall the job was pretty easy.
Once the window was out, I could remove the rubber window seal, then the shadowline trim.
Next the lower rubber trim that sits on the quarter panel itself. The trim came off really easily but the adhesive was stubborn as hell. It required multiple rounds of adhesive remover soak then scrape with a plastic razor blade.
Here is the car almost fully stripped and ready for paint. I left a lot of little notes around the car for the painters. For example, how I wanted the CSL diffuser painted, how to remove the bumpers, and little areas that I felt needed extra attention.
In preparation for the return of the car, I purchased a ton of new clips, grommets, seals, screws, expanding rivets, etc. Sadly, this is what $400 of new genuine BMW hardware looks like, most of it you’ll never see.
Although Dave doesn’t normally work on BMWs, he agreed to take on the project. He cited my level of enthusiasm and how well kept the car was as the main reasons he wanted to work on it. After picking his brain for an hour, I could tell that he is probably one of the best painters in California and was absolutely the right man for the job. Dave is such a perfectionist that he wanted to do all of the fitting of the components to ensure it was to his standard. I advised him of this build project, build thread and my desire to work on the car myself. We came to an agreement where I would do all of the disassembly and test fitment so it could be documented, then I would bring it to him for sign off prior to paint. Dave would handle the paint, wet sand, and finish work, then hand the car back off to me for reassembly, final polish and ceramic coating.
We agreed on a price and start date a couple weeks out. This expedited my disassembly and preparation process.
You are probably wondering why I’m disassembling the entire passenger side of the car for a CSL front bumper, trunk lid and diffuser. When I first bought the car, the seller was transparent about the passenger side quarter possibly being painted by a previous owner. From what I could tell in photos and videos sent by the seller, the paint work was done incredibly well, and I was okay with it. Texture, color match, etc were all done with great attention to detail.
When I received the car, the paint was as advertised. Zero masking lines, orange peel was super accurate and the color match was about 90-95% accurate. Whoever did the paint did an outstanding job. That said, I found a tiny burn through in the clear coat where the rear arch meets the rear bumper and another one on the edge where the quarter panel meets the taillight.
Based on what I know about detailing and finish work, it appeared the body shop mowed down the entire panel with the massive rotary machine and wool pad. While rotaries make quick work of defects, especially in large areas, they can be incredibly risky on edges and adjoining panels. While 99% of people would never notice the burn through it bothered me and I wanted it fixed. It was also a good opportunity to go from 90-95% color match to near 100%.
After discussion with Dave, we decided to paint essentially the whole rear: trunk lid, rear bumper, rear diffuser, passenger’s side rear quarter including door jamb and a-pillar, and side skirt. This was the only way we could ensure perfect color match with the new components, while simultaneously repairing the rear quarter panel. In order to do this right, the front fender, front door, side glass and trim would need to be removed.
My little gremlins had some serious morning energy. I put them to work and made a 30 minute job of cleaning the wheel well liners into a 2-hour job. This of course included playing in the mud, and bath time.
I then moved on and pulled the windshield seals. The rear came off really easily and gave me false confidence for the front. The front was extremely difficult to get off. Parts of it came off without issue, but many parts of it required numerous tries and f-bombs to get it out. It came out in 10+ pieces, and I had to take multiple breaks in-between, but the job got done.
Afterward, I cleaned the channels really well and flushed them with hot water.
Up next was the rear quarter window and shadowline window trim. This required some interior panels to be removed, but overall the job was pretty easy.
Once the window was out, I could remove the rubber window seal, then the shadowline trim.
Next the lower rubber trim that sits on the quarter panel itself. The trim came off really easily but the adhesive was stubborn as hell. It required multiple rounds of adhesive remover soak then scrape with a plastic razor blade.
Here is the car almost fully stripped and ready for paint. I left a lot of little notes around the car for the painters. For example, how I wanted the CSL diffuser painted, how to remove the bumpers, and little areas that I felt needed extra attention.
In preparation for the return of the car, I purchased a ton of new clips, grommets, seals, screws, expanding rivets, etc. Sadly, this is what $400 of new genuine BMW hardware looks like, most of it you’ll never see.
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