HELPPP!! Is there anything that can be done w/ this paint?? and anyone willing to

**antknee** · 08-03-2010, 09:41 AM

tackle it??

Please email me at aesmilla at gmail dot com if you`re willing to give it a shot. I`m located in Central NJ, but can travel to the 5 boroughs.

I picked this car up the other day, but the paint is horrid.

They aren`t paint cracks, but fine looking scratches ALL OVER the car. It looks like someone took a brillo pad to the paint, but the odd thing is the paint is uber smooth & shiny, as if it was clearcoated after the scratches were done. In the evening w/ the street lights on it, you`d never know there were paint issues.

The car is a 1990, and the older E30s i`ve had were single stage paint....so I tried wetsanding an area to see if it would help, and nothing. The car doesn`t appear to have any prior paintwork, but I could be wrong.

Anything else i can try before I have the car resprayed???

**E300Diesel** · 08-03-2010, 02:12 PM

Bryan recently had a Benz of a similar vintage with the same "fine" lines, scratches. That will most likely need a repaint.

**Accumulator** · 08-03-2010, 03:28 PM

antknee- Welcome to Autopia!

It`s hard to diagnose problems like that long-distance.

What do you mean when you say that "wetsanding didn`t help?"

**antknee** · 08-03-2010, 03:54 PM

thanks for the replies guys. I`ve been lurking the forums for yrssss, but finally joined.

But yeah, I tried wetsanding a small area w/ 2000grit...then a more aggressive 1500 grit....followed by compound w/ a PC....but no luck. It looks like its almost under the clear (assuming this is a base coat/clear coat) which i was certain was a single stg paint. The color of the car is light silver, so I couldn`t tell from the wetsanding whether or not I was taking clear or paint off.

I`m really hoping this paint is salvagable b/c the car is in great condition otherwise....the finish is glossy and doesn`t have any signs of oxidation....just these `scratches` all over the car.