How much for a decent paint job on my M5?

[Marcus in San Diego]

I'm thinking about getting my car painted some time and was wondering how much it will cost me. I'll probably get all new trim, front/rear window seals, and all that jazz. Might even do euro bumpers painted black.

-Marcus
88 M5 w/s38b36 - still running lean!

[al525i]

to be done correctly, expect to pay somewhere north of four grand. For that kind of money you should get: Removal of all trim, bumpers, spoilers, and lights. also they should remove the windshield lockstrips and peel back the gasket if not remove the glass to get a paint job with no lines. and should also include a complementary compounding and buffing in six months to a year to finalize the paint job after it has fully hardened.
hope this helps

[Blue Shadow]

Eric Q had his E23 apinted for $3500 or so and he says he is very happy. Check into what he did in prep and follow-up work as it may be substantial.

[Mike in Louisville]

If you want it done right, get it stripped to the bare metal. I've found a couple prices from $3500-$4000, and one place for ~$7000.

[Marcus in San Diego]

$4k sounds reasonable I guess.

Does that include a clear coat? Or would I want to do that?

No way I can afford to strip the car to nothing and build it back. I'll probably do some of the stripping myself to get the cost down (bumpers and trim). But I would rather pay someone to put it back together properly.

I might even do it with Endura paint since I have a connection for that at cost

Thanks for the info guys.

-Marcus

[Mike in Louisville]

The $3500 was for ME removing the trim and the painter reinstalling, $4k was for him to do all of it. This was a restrip. $7k was from a shop that did mostly collision damage, not full repaints, so that would have been an unusual job for them apparently.

[booker]

Marcus,

I am just about to send my car to the body shop for a full paint job. Here is what I have found:

You need to hit the streets and get some estimates. I have talked with a dozen painters and had estimates anywhere from $2k to $5+K.

I would tend to stay away from high-end collision centers that do mostly repair work on Lexus' and MB's because some ditz on a cell phone turned into someone. They will bend you over on pricing. Nickel and dime you to death. Plus, they will probably only want to use NEW panels if something is really dented. Big $$. This is, of course, if they take it on. I went to several collision shops that flat out turned down a full paint job...They are in the business of making lots of money from insurance.

Strip the car and re-assemble it yourself.

At a minimum:

bumpers + bumper trim
rearview mirrors
belt molding on doors and fender
tail lights
headlights
fog lights
cowl vents covers
kidney grill
Chrome outer door molding, at the bottom of the window. The rest is easily taped.

Whole-hog:

Windshield and rear glass. You need to then buy new gaskets. Worthwhile if you have busted or pitted glass already. Mine are in fine shape. I am opting to "rope" the f/r glass. This is a process where they lift the gasket, and run a piece of rope or wire under it to lift the gasket from the body. They can then tape the gasket easily and paper the glass.

It helps to have a spare set of wheels to put on it. Just in case. Not that you can drive it to the paint shop at this point, (getting mine towed on a flat-bed), but so they can roll it around and your nice wheels stay home.

Make sure the price includes color sanding and buffing. You do not want to do this yourself, and you will need to. Esp. on black cars like ours.

The job is only as good as the material used, as with anything else. I am partial to DuPont. They just have a really nice product. Not to sneeze at PPG or other high end stuff.

Re-assemble it yourself. Get a nice, 2" thick roll of 3M blue or light green masking tape and mask off the areas you will be working around. That way, if you bump a freshly painted area with the bumper or something, it won't be damaged.

There is no reason to strip the car. Since black is a single stage paint, it will not have the oxidized and peeling clear coat problem. The paint is likely in relatively great shape. I am of the camp that stripping entire sections (with chemical stripper) is worse than not stripping at all. The chance of that vile stuff getting into a spot you can't clean is frightening. It will rust a hole in no time. I guess if you stripped it and put it on a rotisserie and blasted it, it would be a different story. But, that would be prohibitively expensive, considering the ugliness you may find, and then have to fix.

Wow. That's long. I could probably go on...

P.S. I really like the new forum.

[Blue Shadow]

As you say there are a few different good paints out there. Our cars were painted with Glasurit, but the correct paint to use is the one the painter is comfortable with. You do not want the guy learning a new paint system while painting your car. So if there is a deal to be had on paint, make sure your guy is good with that stuff. They are all different in their own ways.

[booker]

[QUOTE="Blue Shadow"]As you say there are a few different good paints out there. Our cars were painted with Glasurit, but the correct paint to use is the one the painter is comfortable with. You do not want the guy learning a new paint system while painting your car. So if there is a deal to be had on paint, make sure your guy is good with that stuff. They are all different in their own ways. [/QUOTE]

Tru, very true. I have heard of guys that will only shoot one type of paint. No substitutes.

I'd just rather hire a guy that uses good materials.

[al525i]

yes, paint familiarity is a big one!

i shoot du-pont paints only and a while back a guy wanted a "budget " job done on his truck with paint he supplied. i did my best but i could'nt get the stuff to spray correctly so he ended up with a really really shitty job complete with runs, fish eyes, and orange peel. i have no problem spraying normally so i attribute it to the paint.

in short, pay the extra to use the painters paint, not your own. you'll be glad you did in the end.

hth.

[pdx 528e]

[QUOTE="booker535"]There is no reason to strip the car. Since black is a single stage paint, it will not have the oxidized and peeling clear coat problem. The paint is likely in relatively great shape. I am of the camp that stripping entire sections (with chemical stripper) is worse than not stripping at all. The chance of that vile stuff getting into a spot you can't clean is frightening. It will rust a hole in no time. I guess if you stripped it and put it on a rotisserie and blasted it, it would be a different story. But, that would be prohibitively expensive, considering the ugliness you may find, and then have to fix. [/QUOTE]
Patrick, this writeup is exactly what I have been looking for. However, I DO have a horrible peeling clearcoat problem (heck, half my paint is peeling too). The color is arctic blue metallic... and I have seen quite a number with this color in my area with the same problem. Seemed to be typical for this color. What is the best option for removing the old in this case?

[Damon in STL]

I've spent the last 3.5 years "Painting" my car. The actual painting part only took a weekend. I can easily see $4k-$5k for the amount of work I've done.

I had the same clear coat peeling issue and ended up mechanically taking it down to the primer and in some case to bare metal. I used DuPont's ChromaSystem including their primer, base coat, color coat, and clear coat. Material cost was about $500-$600.

I did everything Booker535 had listed and also removed the M-tech kit. I removed the front windshield, but, I did not remove the rear. Instead I used the wire method on it.

I'm currently sanding/buffing and cleaning and painting any trim before re-installing.

It's been fun, but, I won't be doing it again any time soon!

Damon in STL

[Damon in STL]

Sorry....I forgot that last pic was so big!

Damon in STL

Just reduced it to 640x480 it!

[Edit by peak on [TIME]1106959259[/TIME]]

[pdx 528e]

Peak,

Your before and after gives me hope. I know that its a lot of effort/money to put into a 528e, but I think Im going to do the same just because we have had the car since 83, and I am planning a stroker motor for it. Seeing your leafblower in the last picture, I could help but reference http://www.bimmers.com/m3/hoax/index.html. E30 M3 leafblower mod. I was quoted about the same... 500 dollars, using PPG, but I'll probably go with whatever the painter prefers, since I am not doing the actual spray myself.

Chris


[Edit by pdx 528e on [TIME]1106958964[/TIME]]

[Damon in STL]

LOL...actually, if you have a good eye, my forced induction is in the second pic from the bottom.

Damon in STL