CSL Register - View Single Post - Interior and exterior Paints and Coatings

JBird · 26-06-2014, 01:08 AM

That does look pretty close in terms of colour Tom. Sorry I haven't fully understood your post, is the formula and brand you have come up with 100% OEM, or a very good match?

I had some bits done recently too. Painter sprayed up 7 or 8 test cards till we found a colour match. We first went through 100's of colour cards, also from other manufactures (as I remember a post on here that a Renault colour was a good match). In the end we decided that it must be a fairly standard BMW colour.

Colour
BMW Sebring Gray #229 was a close match. I was not convinced, but the painter reckoned it would look different with a matt clear coat. We painted up test cards with all close BMW greys, with a 50% matt clear coat. Indeed Sebring grey was as close a match to OEM as my eyes could see, once clear coated.

Clear Coat
I also though that the OEM finish was just a base coat since it wears off so easily. Painter said that was not possible, and it would have had a very thin clear coat. Question was how much matting agent should be in the clear coat. (Sorry for the lack or correct terminology of what exactly the 'matting agent' was, the painter would not say, just that it was what every painter used). We painted up cards in 5% steps, 100% being a full gloss, 0% being completely flat. We started at 40%, and went down from there. The painter would not tell me the final value, but I have a feeling it was around 30% gloss.

Parts wet & dried back to bare plastic:

Even though the lower trim is white plastic and the upper black (really BMW?), a base coat was not really needed, however, I found that on the awkward clippy bits on the sides of the parts (where I hadn't fully removed the OEM paint) the over spray caused the original paint to bubble, so to prevent this its good to do a thin grey primer coat first.

All Painted:

I don't have any comparison shots, but in the areas where the OEM paint was left and masked over you can get a good idea of how close it is.

All in all I would say the colour is a very good match, but I won't go out and say it is exactly what BMW used (or better or worse than Tom's match). More of a challenge is the clear coat. I'd say the parts I had done are slightly more reflective than OEM, so there may have needed to be less matting agent, but we are talking 2.5 - 5% less gloss. The thickness of the clear coat has an effect to. Obviously you want a bit on there so it lasts, and I think this effects the texture and reflection. The BMW coat was very thin to the point of being unpractical, so difficult to get a 100% match.

Anyway, I got a whole set (dash, steering wheel, console) done at once, so no one can ever tell the difference. Anyway, at worse the difference between the end result and OEM, was less that the difference between OEM door handles and OEM steering wheel trims (they are a bit off, more clear coat on the door handles???).

Hope this helps. They were done the Oxford area, so PM if you live nearby and want the painters details. I'm not mentioning him directly on the forum as he wouldn't give me the full details of the clear coat even though I paid for his time. He has kept the paint card though, so you could use this as a starting point.

My recommendations for improvement would be:
- Either 100% remove all OEM paint, incl the back sides and clips (don't know how, light sand blast or chemical), or just use a primer, (even though BMW didn't)
- Test the degree of matting agent on a spare trim first (any E46 steering wheel trim will do). Paint cards are only a starting point.

Jeewiz, that was supposed to be a quick post, talk about OCD. CSL did that to me.

26-06-2014, 01:08 AM	#15
JBird S5 - Full Throttle Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Munich Posts: 280 Casino cash: $5259	That does look pretty close in terms of colour Tom. Sorry I haven't fully understood your post, is the formula and brand you have come up with 100% OEM, or a very good match? I had some bits done recently too. Painter sprayed up 7 or 8 test cards till we found a colour match. We first went through 100's of colour cards, also from other manufactures (as I remember a post on here that a Renault colour was a good match). In the end we decided that it must be a fairly standard BMW colour. Colour BMW Sebring Gray #229 was a close match. I was not convinced, but the painter reckoned it would look different with a matt clear coat. We painted up test cards with all close BMW greys, with a 50% matt clear coat. Indeed Sebring grey was as close a match to OEM as my eyes could see, once clear coated. Clear Coat I also though that the OEM finish was just a base coat since it wears off so easily. Painter said that was not possible, and it would have had a very thin clear coat. Question was how much matting agent should be in the clear coat. (Sorry for the lack or correct terminology of what exactly the 'matting agent' was, the painter would not say, just that it was what every painter used). We painted up cards in 5% steps, 100% being a full gloss, 0% being completely flat. We started at 40%, and went down from there. The painter would not tell me the final value, but I have a feeling it was around 30% gloss. Parts wet & dried back to bare plastic: Even though the lower trim is white plastic and the upper black (really BMW?), a base coat was not really needed, however, I found that on the awkward clippy bits on the sides of the parts (where I hadn't fully removed the OEM paint) the over spray caused the original paint to bubble, so to prevent this its good to do a thin grey primer coat first. All Painted: I don't have any comparison shots, but in the areas where the OEM paint was left and masked over you can get a good idea of how close it is. All in all I would say the colour is a very good match, but I won't go out and say it is exactly what BMW used (or better or worse than Tom's match). More of a challenge is the clear coat. I'd say the parts I had done are slightly more reflective than OEM, so there may have needed to be less matting agent, but we are talking 2.5 - 5% less gloss. The thickness of the clear coat has an effect to. Obviously you want a bit on there so it lasts, and I think this effects the texture and reflection. The BMW coat was very thin to the point of being unpractical, so difficult to get a 100% match. Anyway, I got a whole set (dash, steering wheel, console) done at once, so no one can ever tell the difference. Anyway, at worse the difference between the end result and OEM, was less that the difference between OEM door handles and OEM steering wheel trims (they are a bit off, more clear coat on the door handles???). Hope this helps. They were done the Oxford area, so PM if you live nearby and want the painters details. I'm not mentioning him directly on the forum as he wouldn't give me the full details of the clear coat even though I paid for his time. He has kept the paint card though, so you could use this as a starting point. My recommendations for improvement would be: - Either 100% remove all OEM paint, incl the back sides and clips (don't know how, light sand blast or chemical), or just use a primer, (even though BMW didn't) - Test the degree of matting agent on a spare trim first (any E46 steering wheel trim will do). Paint cards are only a starting point. Jeewiz, that was supposed to be a quick post, talk about OCD. CSL did that to me.