Is there something wrong with my paint?

[RPM Photography]

http://www.floridagerman.com/images/Jack/540Paint/LN3F0547.jpg

http://www.floridagerman.com/images/Jack/540Paint/LN3F0549.jpg

http://www.floridagerman.com/images/Jack/540Paint/LN3F0550.jpg

http://www.floridagerman.com/images/Jack/540Paint/LN3F0551.jpg

I really do think I have a paint problem. The more panels I look at the more things looked ****ed up.

Pictures are 100% off the camera. I was going to take more but it started to rain.

[silver-e34]

looks like its been repainted and they didnt match the paint correctly

[RPM Photography]

Thats what I think.

But the fender matches the hood and front bumper. It really makes me worry.

Then the other side looks as bad. Front end entirely repainted? Rear end?

[J_dEAl]

wow i hope not....did you pull a carfax report on it?

[RPM Photography]

Yeah, everything is clean. Top to bottom. Checked before we bought it.

[SlickShift]

The third picture make it look like the paint is a different color. Not that I think of it, my 323i's front end looked like another shade of red. It could be a different material that they use for the front end that absorbs the paint differently? :dunno:

[RPM Photography]

Well the bumpers are different material. But not the hood/fenders I believe.

[STEVENLEE]

LOOKS LIKE FENDER HAS BEEN REPLACED

[silver-e34]

ok there is 2 scenarios maybe it was hit bad in the front but wasnt reported and fixed or it could have been keyed or something similar = no major damage and repainted w/o it being reported to the insurance co. either way its definately 2 different shades of paint = repainted

[Roy]

Nice D.O.F. though.. What lens did you use?

I'd call who you got it from and start asking questions. State that there is very noticeable color differences in the fender etc.. It isn't your eyes, it isn't a slight difference, the fender has been replaced..

[RPM Photography]

Yeah, my Dad is the one who doesn't think there is anything wrong with it :roll:

So I have to convince him before he calls the dealer.

[silver-e34]

nothing may have been replaced it could just be a simple paint job to touch up deep scratches but then again it might have i can tell by looking at it and doing some simple tests what has been done to it

[the Tanned One]

The frt end has either been "touched up" or the whole frt has been repainted Most likley it was touched up ie: rock chips,rust?,keyed,etc They would only put paint on the areas that needed Then cleared the whole panel ie: hood,fender,etc. The color match itself can be perfect But when theres more or less clear-coat on a different panel next to it That throws off the "match" Randy/sold automotive paints for 25+ yrs. !! :cheers:

[LDadrenaline]

hmmm it was probably just chipped up and stuff. I mean the car looks PERFECT! Im sure they did touch up paint everywhere to get rid of small rock chips and scratches

[catchuk]

I woudl guess that the front was completely repainted do to rock chips. Silver is a difficult color to match. I doubt the car was in any accident.

[villajoe]

not to make u worry more, but i read about some people who found preowned cars with clean carfaxs but later found out the car was in a serious accident. that freaked me out since i relied on a clean car fax to buy my car.

it's a cpo car right? i wouldn't worry about it since all major issues will be covered.

[RPM Photography]

not to make u worry more, but i read about some people who found preowned cars with clean carfaxs but later found out the car was in a serious accident. that freaked me out since i relied on a clean car fax to buy my car.

it's a cpo car right? i wouldn't worry about it since all major issues will be covered.

Yeah its CPO. I went to Reeves today and talked with our old SA, he is now aware of the new BMW.

My plan of action.

1.) Convince the parents that something is wrong. :think:
2.) Take it to Gene Perez, see if he can make out anything about the paint. :eek:
3.) Take it to Reeves and go :rant: so they have to look for any signs of repair or anything.

[kelso]

pop the hood and look for overspray around the engine bay or maybe tape lines or something. looking at the pics, i think it could be the light also. look at the top of the fender where it transitions to the pillar by the mirror/windsheild. looks the same. i think your just catching the light and freaking yourself out maybe. gotta hope for the best right

[RPM Photography]

Well at this point I am convinced something is wrong. You can take a picture in any condition, any light and it will be there.

The reason it looks alright by the A Pillar is because that is an overexposed area.

I picked up some touch up paint from Reeves today, the guy at the parts desk said that there was a difference in TiSi before 2003. So I guess its possible it was repainted with an older TiSi.

[kelso]

quite possible. my guess is something probably happened such as rock chips like mentioned and they resprayed the front end. i would say love bugs but they arent in boston so it rules that out.

[AwesomeBMW]

i really dont see anything wrong with the paint Jack, i think it just is the way the light hits it.

[MP0WER]

It is just the way the light hits it. Actually reflecting off of it. The color has metal flake in it. When the car is painted the angle of the paint sprayer is the same for all body parts. Repaint a fender, hood, door... match the paint perfectly, blend properly with the clear coat, but if the direction of spray is different the metal flake will lay different and reflect the light differently, thus making it look a shade off, either lighter or darker.

Most likely situation is that the front end was cleaned up because of normal road wear and rock chips. But from what i saw in your pic makes me 99.5% sure that's the problem. I've seen it 100 times and about 7 years ago i had to have one of my cars resprayed 3 times before they got it right.

What's the big deal anyway, you're going to make it a track car right? :D

[ACS530I]

Ok sometimes even though the car might not of had any major damage it could of been keyed or had a lot of road chips, resprays of the hood are very common more common than you would think even on lets say a 1 year old car, maybee urs was just resprayed to do just that fix rock chips or a small incident., just sometimes whoever does it doesnt match it up right, i would get a really good detail clay bar it the whole 9 high speed wax and see how it looks after that. We can also check the screw and certain bolts to see if they have been replaced because you can tell if it had a front end damage and they replaced a lot of stuff, look for bondo on the inside i can take a look at it this weekend when we come to ur house for that shoot, hit me up on my aol if u want to know more, cuz i my friends dad is the manager of a carsmetics.

[ACS530I]

but i wouldnt worry i think after u do a clay bar and a high speed wax it would look even, tell u the truth i really couldnt tell unless u pointed it out

[the Tanned One]

Take it to a body shop or a paint jobber who has a Mill gauge You`ll see theres lets say 5 mills on the hood & frt. fenders & say theres 4 mills on the doors Thats the "extra" coat of clear thats giving it that "darker" look Seen it a thousand times Only way to make it "perfect" is to re-paint the rest to match or re-paint the whole car Randy/

[DeadSailor]

yea look for bondo...get a magnet and wrap it with a napkin or something and start putting it on diff places and seeing if it 'pulls' the same. youll probably only notice if they used a decent amount. its stupid, but its something fast you can do to reasure yourself

the other thing u can do to is to get a depth gauge and see the thickness of the paint on the front end compared to the other pannels....these are pretty expensive so ull probably have to find someone with one(bodyshop)

[TheDarkSide]

the other thing u can do to is to get a depth gauge and see the thickness of the paint on the front end compared to the other pannels....these are pretty expensive so ull probably have to find someone with one(bodyshop)

I was just going to recommend that.

[aeryk7]

You can easily tell its been painted look at the sideskirt it matches the rear of the body. Looks like a light fender bender may have not been reported and hood and fender or fenders were painted to try to blend and match unfortunately silver is a hard one to conceal especially with the light metallic.