Repainting the E34...hopefully soon

[xlr8tin]

Right now it's white, with the black bottom. Since I've decided to go ahead and get it repainted, I've been struggling (and probably will until it's painted) with the color to paint it...This is my 4th white car, and I'm getting sick of it. But when it's clean...it really doesn't look that bad.

One color I've been debating is black. I love black cars, and I think the E34's look great in black. Plus I could get the bottom to match.

I'm thinking it will be difficult to paint the plastic bumpers any color, and it might look stupid if just the rockers are painted to match and not the bumpers. So either color, I think I'll have to keep the bottom black.

I was also thinking of a smoke gray....I'm really not sure but I know if I don't go white, then it will be something dark...

As many know I'm also getting sdsilvere38 wheels, so I'll have to consider that....I'd like some feedback and some thoughts on my ideas...;)

[4500 RPM]

If I change mine it will be British Racing Green.

Any of the violets like Daytona Violet or Techno violet are great but not sure what they would be like with Parchment interior.

[xlr8tin]

If I change mine it will be British Racing Green.

Any of the violets like Daytona Violet or Techno violet are great but not sure what they would be like with Parchment interior.

That's interesting...my interior is the same as well...green isn't for me though

[NikosX]

You going to paint the jambs? Pull the engine and paint the bay?

[tammer]

You going to paint the jambs? Pull the engine and paint the bay?
... if not, don't change the color.

-tammer

[xlr8tin]

I gotta talk to the painter first about it. I'm gonna try to go there today. Door jams would be nice. Probably won't bother with the engine bay, sounds like too much money for what I want to accomplish.

[NikosX]

A solid paint job WITH jambs is going to cost well over 2k.

[xlr8tin]

Agreed. I also have to get my fenders straightened out. I have very noticeable gaps where they meet the hood. I have found a body/paint shop here and should be between $1500-2000. But I still need to make sure. If they can do the bottom white, I'll consider it more.

[E34ührer]

... if not, don't change the color.

-tammer


+1000000000000000

Keep it white and buy a black E34 or completely strip and paint jambs and bay.

[xlr8tin]

Ok, I just got a quote of $1850....for the white, another $700 to do another color..

my concern now is the bottom of the car. I really want it to be white to match. He said he could paint it....but we noticed at the bottom of the door there is a small, rubber weather strip that would stand out if the bottom was white.

How can I avoid this problem if I paint everything white? Will the weather strip come off, or can I buy a white strip to replace it?

What did BMW do for the 1995 E34's?

[i5401995]

Ok, I just got a quote of $1850....for the white, another $700 to do another color..

my concern now is the bottom of the car. I really want it to be white to match. He said he could paint it....but we noticed at the bottom of the door there is a small, rubber weather strip that would stand out if the bottom was white.

How can I avoid this problem if I paint everything white? Will the weather strip come off, or can I buy a white strip to replace it?

What did BMW do for the 1995 E34's?

Only $700 to do another color? Did he even ask you WHAT another color or pulled that number out of his ass? Run away, it's not an extra $700 to change colors from original, more like extra 2g.

:rolleyes

[xlr8tin]

Only $700 to do another color? Did he even ask you WHAT another color or pulled that number out of his ass? Run away, it's not an extra $700 to change colors from original, more like extra 2g.

:rolleyes

I'm down south...there good ol' boys down here. Plus he has a Bimmer, so he's giving me a deal. :buttrock People aren't nice in NY like down here.

And of course the 700 isn't for anything special. That's for the extra work needed to do the jams and engine....not so much for paint

[eightynine535]

A solid paint job WITH jambs is going to cost well over 2k.

I can get a quality job for half that price.

[T444E]

What did BMW do for the 1995 E34's?

Search.
Quite a bit.
Mtech skirts, body colored lowered, gathered leather panels etc
The Mtech skirts have Mtech lower door trim to match. Not cheap from the dealer either and kinda hard to find.

[xlr8tin]

The price is all irrelevant right now...

What are my options for the rubber at the bottom of the doors?....Anyone??


Search.
Quite a bit.
Mtech skirts, body colored lowered, gathered leather panels etc
The Mtech skirts have Mtech lower door trim to match. Not cheap from the dealer either and kinda hard to find.

I realize this, but what about the weather strip. They must of used something else?? I would think that water would get in and rot out my floor:help

[T444E]

The weather strip is the Mtech door trim. It takes place of your old black one.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/diagrams/v/i/3.png

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=HE63&mospid=47410&btnr=51_0782&hg=51&fg=20

Number 12 and 13.

[xlr8tin]

I see, thanks for the info...I'm not in the mood to spend the cash for those pieces, but I hate to keep the bottom black just because of this small problem...


Has anyone else painted the bottom other then black on a 94 or older??

[ExJxC]

I had a green 91 525i a while back and one side of the car got damaged. It had other paint issues so I had them paint the entire car a matching green. We painted the bottom as well and stuck with the black trim. It looked good. The shop recommended keeping the bottom of the front bumper black so I agreed. Over all I was very happy and didn't have any issues for the next 4 years we had it.

My advice: Keep it white. Paint the bottom white if you want but live with the black trim. If the trim is going to be an issue for you stick with the original colors. Lets face it, these are older cars and unless you have the time and money to build the car you want stick with original items.

[jehu]

A solid paint job WITH jambs is going to cost well over 2k.


I called The body guy I had weld in some floorboard today to talk about painting. He said a whole car paint in the same color would be $3-4K but it would be done correctly. No Orange Peel and would I have no doubt look superb.. I said maybe you can just paint the nose ,hood and Trunk lid..lol..

[blakamin]

Has anyone else painted the bottom other then black on a 94 or older??
All my mouldings and bottom rubbers have been painted to match the car... black :rolleyes

If it's prepped right and paint has a flex aid in it, there will be no problems.

[Dexm]

I like the light blue that I've seen on the E12 and E28 -- I guess they discontinued the color in the 80's. But it's always been my favorite.

I'd go with something like that.

Or go the German Police dual-color paint job. :alrightbmw: Green and white, IIRC.

[T444E]

I like the light blue that I've seen on the E12 and E28 -- I guess they discontinued the color in the 80's. But it's always been my favorite.

I'd go with something like that.

Or go the German Police dual-color paint job. :alrightbmw: Green and white, IIRC.


Funny you mention that, someone on the Isuzu Impulse/I-mark forum just bought this:
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j223/Aamir_bt/bimmerforums/e281.jpg

[xlr8tin]

I had a green 91 525i a while back and one side of the car got damaged. It had other paint issues so I had them paint the entire car a matching green. We painted the bottom as well and stuck with the black trim. It looked good. The shop recommended keeping the bottom of the front bumper black so I agreed. Over all I was very happy and didn't have any issues for the next 4 years we had it.

My advice: Keep it white. Paint the bottom white if you want but live with the black trim. If the trim is going to be an issue for you stick with the original colors. Lets face it, these are older cars and unless you have the time and money to build the car you want stick with original items.

Can you take a pic of what the side looks like and send it to me? I'd like to get an idea of what it looks like.

I have been thinking how I might just have to keep the bottom black since it will stand out more against white, but I can really picture how it would look.

[Binjammin]

I'm down south...there good ol' boys down here. Plus he has a Bimmer, so he's giving me a deal. :buttrock People aren't nice in NY like down here.

And of course the 700 isn't for anything special. That's for the extra work needed to do the jams and engine....not so much for paint

There are some things on a car that it's ok to cheap out on. Oil, oil filters, tires, brakes, gaskets... all the parts that hold the car together. If you're not beating on the car it won't make a hell of a lot of difference. There's purists that will argue that, but for the point I'm trying to make it's the truth.

Your paint job is the one thing on your whole car that everyone sees. A cheap paint job is the one thing EVERYBODY sees. Do they give you a wet sand for that price, or leave the runs in for free?

$700 paint jobs can sometimes even look good, but in a year you'll see cracks in your bumper from flexing. You'll probably have a good amount of chipping in the leading edge of your hood too, not to mention the massive amount of overspray everywhere on your car.

Not doing under the hood is a massive sign of fail btw. If you ever try to sell the car the first thing someone will notice is the color change. Then the "was the car wrecked" questions will follow. I know, because 1: I've sold cars, and 2: I've bought cars. If I see mismatched paint like that I'll stick around to talk to the owner like I'm interested, but at that point I'm being polite and I've already made up my mind.



I see, thanks for the info...I'm not in the mood to spend the cash for those pieces, but I hate to keep the bottom black just because of this small problem...


See above. If you don't want to spend, don't paint the car.


I called The body guy I had weld in some floorboard today to talk about painting. He said a whole car paint in the same color would be $3-4K but it would be done correctly. No Orange Peel and would I have no doubt look superb.. I said maybe you can just paint the nose ,hood and Trunk lid..lol..

Wow man, your floors were rotted out?

[xlr8tin]

I don't know why everyone thinks I said it was $700 for the repaint???

It's $2700 to do a repaint in another color....That's not cheap by any stretch...Everyone has to realize I'm in Alabama....EVERYTHING is cheaper here...

What's $2700 here, would be 5700 in New England....I know becaase I just moved from there.

Anyhow, No one is gonna want this car when I'm done with it. It's only gonna serve as a trade in to pay for taxes for a new car. But the more I can do for it the longer I'll keep it.

[Aamir bt]

Funny you mention that, someone on the Isuzu Impulse/I-mark forum just bought this:
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j223/Aamir_bt/bimmerforums/e281.jpg


i've actually had that car for like 3 years now. i just now started getting it back to shape after sitting for a year though.....:) and funny enough i do not favor the light blue, i will be getting it painted a deep darker blue.

OP: be sure to post pics of the finished product!

[FaKingFastBMW]

I don't know why everyone thinks I said it was $700 for the repaint???

It's $2700 to do a repaint in another color....That's not cheap by any stretch...Everyone has to realize I'm in Alabama....EVERYTHING is cheaper here...

What's $2700 here, would be 5700 in New England....I know becaase I just moved from there.

Anyhow, No one is gonna want this car when I'm done with it. It's only gonna serve as a trade in to pay for taxes for a new car. But the more I can do for it the longer I'll keep it.


not to doubt you or anything but saying something is more than twice in NE compared to the south is highly exaggerrated. i've been down to the dirty south and lived there for some time. its not THAT much cheaper :nono

why dump that much money into a car your not serious about just to trade it in to pay for taxes??? that doesn't sound logical to me. if you have $2700 why not just save it up and put it towards the new car? dealers would rather see the green cash rather than a freshly painted 15+ year old car unless you have an m5 which i don't see that stated. i have friends and family that own dealships, and let me tell you, your not going to get money on a trade-in, they might not even take it...

you sound like your contradicting yourself by wanting to spend the cash to paint a car to the possible extent of a color change but want to skip out on the engine bay and some seals. :confused

you should do some long hard thinking before committing to something like this.

sorry if this comes off kinda hard to you. just an opinion