1986 BMW 325e

[Doorman]

Looking for some advice from you guys.



Great forum and lots of great info.
I've been non stop sucking up info for days.

I'm not new too cars (41yrs old) and not new too keeping them clean and looking good.

I've dabbled in clay bars and hand waxing over the years and cars, some decent results I'd say.

Wife and I recently picked up another bmw to add to the stable. A 1986. 325e. Bought it from the second owner (he bought it 87!) garage kept and made its way between Chicago and Atlanta regularly.

On too the bad parts.....or good for you guys!!
PO "tried" to touch up some fading/rock chips on the hood and trunk.

http://s166.photobucket.com/user/Doorman54/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsa06c6263.jpg.html?sort=3&o=1


http://s166.photobucket.com/user/Doorman54/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps45a21ee7.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0






As you can see in the pictures he sprayed some paint on the hood and "rollered" some paint on the trunk. What can I do too make those look any better? I realize "perfection" may be way outta the question!

The rest of the car isn't too bad. It responded well to some clay, scratchx2.0 and a bit of wax on a test spot on a door. All my reading says a DA and proper materials and it should turn out looking pretty good.

What does "Detailing 101" have as far as any input?

I'll keep this thread updated as I work on the car.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: 1986 BMW 325e

We've taken the liberty of copying the images to our gallery as Photobucket doesn't tend to play well with forums.

Let's take a look at the trunk lid first as it's a bit easier to see what's going on here.

There is a hard line just to the left of the BMW badge - is that from the previous owner? The left side appears to be factory paint - fairly flat, not a ton of texture (orange peel) but definitely quite a bit of swirls. The right side, however...... !! Tons of texture in the paint and almost zero clarity. It looks like the paint on this side was rattle canned on, and not with a high degree of skill. Oddly enough, we had someone bring a car into one of our Thursday Night Open Garage sessions last fall with almost the exact same issue, except the current owners were the ones who rattle canned the trunk lid!! Zero gloss, tons of texture and a very rough feel to the surface. We undertook the daunting task - especially if you've never done this before - of wet sanding the trunk and buffing it out. It came out pretty fantastic, to be candid about it, but it took a fair bit of work and, again, it's not something you want to just jump right into if you've never done it before. Using the right type of sand paper, proper technique, and knowing what to look for are very critical here, but it can be done.



Looking at the hood in the image below, we suspect much of the same thing is going on. Looking at the gloss and clarity of the hood compared to the top of the fender seen at the bottom of the image, we see a similar disconnect in gloss and clarity between what we suspect is factory paint (fender) and rattle can respray (hood).



Below are a couple of shots of just what can be done to this sort of botched repair. Coincidentally, this was also on a 3 Series BMW, but this was a rental car with a bad body shop repaint of the rear bumper and trunk lid.

As you can see, the texture is extreme and clarity is totally absent. We wet sanded with nothing more than 3000 grit on a DA, and then buffed out with our DA Microfiber Correction System on a DA polisher.


Huge difference here. Although not perfect, it's a transformation that took literally a matter of minutes to accomplish and it completely changes the presentation of the car.


So, can you do this to your recently acquired 325e? In theory, yes. In reality...... have you ever done this sort of thing before? Are you willing to spend the money needed to fix the damage that occurs if you sand though to the primer, or worse? What's your ultimate goal with the car? How brave are you?

[Doorman]

Great info Michael!!

You are correct
The line to the left of the emblem. In person it looks like it was brushed/rollered on.

The hood definitely looks sprayed.

Am I willing to tackle such a project?
I'd say yes.
Getting the rest of the car looking better will give me some practice working with the products, speed, pressure, etc.
I've called around to get numbers to have the hood/trunk repaired....$500-$650 have been my numbers. I know worst case scenario what I'm in for money wise if I botch it up!

[davey g-force]

Re: 1986 BMW 325e

I'm interested to see how you go.

Perehaps you should purchase an old test hood / panel from a wrecking yard to practice on first...

[Selectchoice]

Re: 1986 BMW 325e

This could be quite interesting! I'm looking forward to seeing how it all ends up.

[Doorman]

I'm interested to see how you go.

Perehaps you should purchase an old test hood / panel from a wrecking yard to practice on first...

I figure what I have is pretty bad already!!

I'll follow what I've read and start mild and work up. If anything I'll get a workout!!

Gonna hit Harbor Freight today and grab their DA. I'll read over a thread I saw about what mods to make to it first.

[Doorman]

Started a bit today on the hood.

I tried to do part of the original paint and part over spray area.
Sorry for the bad light.

Harbor freight 6" DA
Blue pad
Speed 4

Test panel
Ultimate compound

Photobucket is being stupid.....
I'll try to host somewhere else.

I don't think I have enough posts to add images yet

[Doorman]

Test panel



Looked good in my eyes!!

More to come later.

[Doorman]

Let's try again!!

Test square
Drivers side of hood.

http://s166.photobucket.com/user/Doorman54/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpskz9555ug-1.jpg.html?sort=3&o=1

Spreading out test square
http://s166.photobucket.com/user/Doorman54/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsjtz0llrl-1.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0


A pic looking from windshield towards leading edge of hood.
http://s166.photobucket.com/user/Doorman54/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsfapkdnbp-1.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

Sorry for the crappy lighting.

Not much sun in Chicago lately!!

[Michael Stoops]

Re: 1986 BMW 325e

Sure looks like you're making some good progress! Keep it up, and take your time. But, um..... some better lighting will really make your life a whole lot easier with this!

[davey g-force]

Re: 1986 BMW 325e







I took the liberty of posting your pics up.

Looks like it's coming along well. Any updates?

[Doorman]

Sure looks like you're making some good progress! Keep it up, and take your time. But, um..... some better lighting will really make your life a whole lot easier with this!

The iPhone camera isn't the greatest. The light isn't as bad as the pictures show.

I've accepted that the hood and trunk will have to be sanded. Been doing lots of reading about it lately.
Doesn't seem too scary to me.


I've started working on other parts of the car and progress has been great!!


I did the passenger door first to getan idea of the improvement.

Then I did the whole passenger side.

Clay
Ultimate compound
Ultimate polish
Carnauba plus wax.

Did a 50/50 on the roof.
Hard pic to get indoors.

My pics uploaded.....do I have to get approval first?
Using the mobile app.

[Doorman]

Photos from previous post.

Passenger door



Passenger quarter for comparison.



Entire passenger side


I'll upload more later.

Been busy with life!

[davey g-force]

Re: 1986 BMW 325e

Good stuff...

[Doorman]

Good stuff...

Thanks!!

I'm really enjoying it as well.

Nice to see almost instant results every time I work on her.

Wife's honda odyssey will be next.....that may NOT be so enjoyable!