Repaint (All Over)

[Jimania]

I'm shopping for an all-over paint job for my '97 528i because the clear coat is lifting. I've been told that the factory paint is single stage paint.

I've had shops propose single- and two-stage paint and don't understand why I would want one over the other. Can anyone shed light on this situation? Thanks!

[sherlock2002]

Do you mean two stage or two pack? If your car is a metallic colour the two stage, two pack is the best. This means they put the base colour on first, then they clear coat it. Two pack is also used for solid colours. There is no basecoat just the colour. The colour is like the clear coat, no buffing, straight out the gun finish! When dry, hard as rock and shines forever!
The single stage,I guess, is an acrylic paint. This is cheaper to do, needs buffing after painting and if you live in a sunny state, it will fade after time and you will wish you went for the two pack.
I would think BMWs now are all two pack finished.
Hope this helps to answer your question.

[Dave95M3]

Here's a great article about single Vs. Base/Clear paints by a very knowledgeable forum member!

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/hot-topics-frequently-asked-questions/21924-practical-differences-between-single-stage-paints-clear-coat-paints.html

[Jimania]

Yes, mine is metallic and needed the two stage process. I worked with a local Maaco shop that had good online reviews. I dropped the car off with all trim removed including front/rear window moldings, sunroof gasket, body side moldings, grills, sidemarker lights, roundels, 528i badge, and I removed the headlights and tailights in their parking lot.

I'm extremely pleased with the paint and body work. To remedy the lifting clear coat they took the hood, roof and trunk deck down to bare metal. They shot the M5 bumper cover off of the car and I installed it at home. They charged me $1,900 which was remarkably better than the $4-5k other body shops wanted.

I installed all new trim and the car look brand new. See pics in one of my albums.