Unofficialbmw.com

[agossage]

Hi Fellow E30 owners,
I think the last time I posted on here was two years ago. Well, if you can remember to way back them, my car is off of the road, and undergoing some major restoration type stuff. I have a question about painting now.

For those of you that have painted your E30s, how much time did you put in on your own for prep work? I hear this is the most expensive part of the venture, and would like to save myself some cash.

If you did do the work yourself, what tools/supplies did you find came in most useful?

Arturo

[whiskeybravo]

When I painted my first E30 about 5 years ago, I did it the most thorough way I knew. So I sanded it down all the way to the metal. That usually took about an hour per panel. Having an electric powered rotary sander was crucial.

At the time it was my only car, so I had to do it panel by panel. I HIGHLY recommend doing the whole thing at once, or at least major sections of it. I say it because the longest part of the whole process was taping off the panel before painting. So the fewer times you have to do it, the less painful it is. Taping would take about an hour per panel. Don't leave it on for very long after painting or it will start leaving sticky goo on your car.

Then it was ready for priming, wet-sanding, painting, etc...

The only money I spent was on the primer, the paint, some tape, and a $40 paint gun. I already had an air compressor to hook up to the paint gun. And I already had the rotary sander. And my dad helped me out a lot cause I hardly knew what I was doing, it being my first time. If you are going to paint it yourself let me know and I can keep blabbing on about that part of the process.
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88 325iC

[agossage]

Did you apply primer immediately after sanding down to the metal? Or, did you leave the exposed metal for some time, a day, maybe two, then prime all panels at once? I only get maybe two or three hours at a time to work on the car. So, this is going to be a very lengthy process.

My other question, how about the undercarriage? Any work down there?

All of the information I can get about the paint will be beyond helpful. I plan on having the paint sprayed by a pro. If I do it, it'll look like some kids finger painting.

I have one book on restoration, it mainly talks about forming metal though.

[whiskeybravo]

I don't remember the exact details but I certainly did not leave the metal exposed for any long period of time. If you do that, then rust will form. So it may not have been minutes afterward, but certainly within an hour or two.

I also did it panel by panel since it was my daily driver. So I would have to sand a panel down to the metal, tape it, and prime it, all in the same afternoon. But there are different ways of doing. You could for example, do most of the taping the day before you start sanding. Also, most people don't sand all the way down to the metal. Most stop at the primer and just add another layer.

And as far as painting goes... it was my first time, and my dad's first time in like 20 years, and it came out pretty damn swanky. There was one panel where I got a little too close and caused a drip. But it's really not that bad. And if you are going to prime it anyway, then you can use that time to practice using a paint gun. It all depends on your available time and how much you want to spend for the paint job.

Feel free to keep asking away, I'm glad I can help!
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88 325iC