Orange Peel

[markthom]

Having become addicted to Autopia, I catch myself paying more attention to the cars I see in the line next to me at red lights, in parking lots, etc. One thing I have noticed is that virtually all cars seem to have OP to some extent. Is this a result of the factory painting processes or is it an inevitable part of any paint procedure?



Are there any auto makers who consistently put out vehicles with dead flat surfaces? I`d like to watch out for such autos to see what a flat surface looks like (aside from the beautifully leveled paint I have seen on Autopia).

[imported_Picus]

Generally the more expensive the car the less orange peel it has, although there are exceptions of course. The cars I most consistently see without orange peel are BMW`s and some Audi`s. There is a BMW 330xi in the underground lot I park in and I swear it`s got some of the best paint I`ve ever seen. Most "luxury" cars are pretty good too, Ferarri, Bentley, that sort of thing.



Like I said there are exceptions to the rule. My sisters 2001 Civic Si has almost no orange peel, so who knows.

[rollman]

Some may disagree but I find Cadillac paint pretty much OP free . I do a lot of them and that`s what I find . I have noticed that price of the car has nothing to with how the paint comes out from the factory . Just this tuesday I did a brand new X5 Bimmer that made the moon look flat. A regular customer with a S500 coup has by far the worse case of OP , its at least an 8 on my OP scale . :chuckle:

[WaXwOrKs]

Well many MB`s I see has OP and a friend of mine who just bought a 745IL last week has it. So who`s to say whether the actual price of the car has anything to do with it.

[imported_Picus]

Ya, like I said there are exceptions. Maybe when I said price tends to mitigate OP I was thinking more of Bentley`s and stuff. Now someone will tell me they know a guy with a Bentley and it has terrible OP. :P

[Hemi57]

I have noticed that price of the car has nothing to with how the paint comes out from the factory . Just this tuesday I did a brand new X5 Bimmer that made the moon look flat. A regular customer with a S500 coup has by far the worse case of OP , its at least an 8 on my OP scale . :chuckle:



I suppose you have to consider that the badge, in the case of MB & BMW (and heaps of others) , does not always mean the vehicle is manufactured in the same factory or even the same country. For instance I believe the 3 Series BMW we get here in OZ is built in South Africa. The Chrysler 300C for the Aussie market is being built in Austria.



I can report that my wife`s Audi TT has one of the best paint jobs I have ever seen.

[brwill2005]

Orange peel can be limited depending on the skill of the painter. In order to get a smooth as glass, orange peel free finish, the paint has to be wetsanded and buffed. I do not think this is cost effective to most car manufacturers. Wetsanding is labor intensive to say the least.