Painting Front Valance

[Tru Ston3r]

Has anyone painted their front valence the body color of the car? I’m getting the car painted in 2 weeks and I’m having A hard time deciding if I want to paint the valence ( along with the side skirts and rear bumper.) If anyone has pics it would be appreciated.

[tsmcg161]

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Bumper and mirrors are also painted.

[Tru Ston3r]

Nice! Did you paint the lower duct?? The black around the bottom of the car.

[Cactuar]

I haven't seen an E32 with painted lower panels but the E34 M5 could be had with black or silver lower parts. It is another option to consider, but I don't know how it would look on an E32.

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[tsmcg161]

Yes. Used spot putty for the nicks and then wet sanded. Used a satin black rattle can.

[Cactuar]

Here's a quick Photoshop of an E32 with painted lower panels.

Stock
lowerpanels_stock.jpg
Painted
lowerpanels_painted.jpg

[CroughtonE32]

I think that M5 looks real sporty with the gray all around bottom, but I think the E32 looks a lot better stock. I had to have the black trim replaced about 6 or 7 years ago. Was driving down the highway near home and a metal ladder fell off of an open bed truck in front of me. We were in the left lane. I had a choice, turn quick in the middle lane and hit, whatever was there or run over the ladder. Lost a tire and cracked up the black trim along the drivers and passengers door. Was a damn horror story for me. Took quite a while to get those parts and new fasteners from BMW. Brought the car to the shop that did my 3 week bare metal paint job 8 years earlier and the owners actually felt sorry for me. Left the car with them for a week. Charged me a couple hundred dollars to remove and replace parts, and did a soft wet sanding of the car just to make me feel good. Those six years really went by fast.

[Cactuar]

Ouch, I'd hate to have that happen to my car.

For me, the lower painted panels work on the smaller E34. But when when it comes to the larger 7 series, having the paint extend to the bottom adds a lot of visual mass to the vehicle. You see this on the E38 too with the painted rocker panels, it looks heavy.
Black lower trim makes the car appear more athletic in my opinion.