[Accumulator]

[Note that Accumulator has a '97 M3 sedan with some real paint issues on certain panels]

Originally Posted by W.S.

So after 12 years of New York winters and Balmy summers, my BMW's paint is on the way out. The roof, hood, and passenger's front door are all victims of clear coat failure. The trunk lid( a 2 quarter size spots), roof (about 1/2 dime size spot at the spot where the windshield seal and roof meet), front right fender (1/2 dollar bill size "pocket"), a tiny spot inside the gas filler area, and a spot on an inside seam of the driver's door)...

That's quite a few areas but it's not the whole car.

..should I get only the areas that need repainting done? I am severly worried that the orange peel will be nocticibly different (to me, the absolute perfectionist) and the colour may be slightly off from the still okay original paint (again, perfectionist to the concours level). Irealize that this route would be easier budget wise, however if I am going to have any paint work done, I want it to be perfect the first time...

If you're even remotely serious about the "absolute perfectionist", "concours level" and "perfect" references, then having the whole car painted is the only way. But for a driver it's a judgment call and it'd depend on the car itself (and the owner).

Mine is sorta similar but, I suspect, not nearly as bad...but it does have some chips/RIDS/etc. on a all the panels. My painter's initial thought was that I was nuts to paint the whole car but then he shrugs and says "well, it is *YOU* we're talking about..." Note that I expect a paintjob that will be *much* better than factory.

Most colors, and virtually any OE level of OP can be matched by a good painter but they can't work miracles. As the new paint is exposed to UV, and old paint *continues* to be exposed, differences can crop up.

If I were to have the entire car done, should I have it enitrely stripped to bare metal, including the door jams? Which would look the best and maintain an excellent finish for atleast another 10 years?

Not necessarily. I always thought that bare-metal/glass-out was the only way to go but I've recently changed my mind, at least with regard to certain cars.

Properly cared for, your repaint should last indefinitely, but of course there will be stone chips/etc. You don't always have to go to bare metal for the repaint to last but a lot of it depends on what's on there now and you'll find out more as the work progresses.

If you don't change the color, and there are no issues with the paint in the jambs/etc., they you probably won't need to have them fully repainted, but the painter will fade into them. How well this is done is an example of what separates the great painters from the OK ones. Lots of other stuff does have to be done, the disassembly/reassembly for a good repaint is *extensive*. I often sorta-joke that the factory didn't use any masking tape when *they* painted the car..food for thought.

I know that this job will cost $$$$$ to have done right, whether I have the minimum done, or the entire thing done, especially if I take it to a quality shop (which I would be willing to go quite a distance too)..

My best paint guy (who'll be doing it) quoted me at "maybe less than ten, unless you *really* do want to win shows at the national level" (which I don't). It's all time and materials and they can only get so close with their estimates. IMO you need to set a budget that'll cover it, and then just pull the trigger let it happen. In my case, I sorta suspect that it'll come to at least the $10K. BTW/FWIW, my guy has a very low hourly rate but I figure he'll have around 250-300 hours in it plus the materials. Note that amounts to nearly two months' worth of full work-weeks, and my car has zero rust/damage AFAIK (famous last words ), it just needs new paint.

Yeah, that's a lot of money and the painter has said a few times that having him repaint my M3 is kinda silly. He doesn't work on many drivers and he doesn't see this car as anything all that special, so he figures "why not just sell it and buy something with better paint"- but, they only made 100 in this color so it's not that simple.

Others will say you can get it done for a tiny fraction of that amount, and I've had sorta decent repaints done for ~$4K. But "sorta decent" isn't even close to what I want these days and you sound pretty particular too. Remember the "time and materials" bit, and a truly great paintjob takes *time*.