[Arthur55]

Hi All,

Unfortunately within a week of ownership my car has had some minor damage caused to the paintwork. It is very minor, the other party gave offered to get the area repaired which would mean a door respray........I understand that the skills of the bodywork shop etc play a big part in the result. But with Portimao blue has anyone had any issues with colour matching?

Really concerned a respray will only make matters worse.

Ta

[alFR]

I would say it depends totally on the shop. My old car (Daytona grey, a pearl effect metallic) needed a rear end respray after an accident / panel replacements and I was really concerned it wouldn't match, especially as it was done by the insurer's approved repair centre and I anticipated corner-cutting at every opportunity. When I got it back I couldn't tell anything had been done to it, it looked factory-fresh even to my very picky eyes. So, if you get a quality shop to do the work I'd say you should be OK.

[gavinwong]

I have PB and needed a full bumper respray when someone at work happened to scrape along the back.
No issues with colour matching

[RichardM]

Normally you need to blend the new paint in to the adjacent panel. If they took the door off and painted it you may see the difference. If it's a small area they may be able to blend it within the door

[Arthur55]

That's my concern.......having the door resprayed and then in say street lighting seeing a poor colour match.......Think I talk to the bodyshop......its just the portimao blue that worries me..

[Beemer5to3]

Originally Posted by RichardM

Normally you need to blend the new paint in to the adjacent panel. If they took the door off and painted it you may see the difference. If it's a small area they may be able to blend it within the door

This is 100% correct.

Portimao blue is a simple metallic colour so will be easy to blend for an experienced painter. You’re lucky you don’t have mineral white (or any other 3 stage pearl) which are awful to try and match properly. Do you research into the right body shop, and you should be absolutely fine.

[Arthur55]

Yeah I think research us the key to all this...........see how we get on.

[Arthur55]

Sorry follow up question........

Do manufacturers still have minor problems getting plastic bumpers etc colour matching metal panels?

[bmnut]

Originally Posted by Arthur55

Sorry follow up question........

Do manufacturers still have minor problems getting plastic bumpers etc colour matching metal panels?

Plastic painted parts can always look slightly out to metal painted panels due to different primer, flexible for plastic, and the metal flake in the paint as well.

Certain ways the light reflects off the panels even with the factory finish can look slightly out between a bumper and a rear wing panel.

[Arthur55]

Thanks, my area of concern is the passenger side where the front bumper meets the wing under the headlight. This plastic area is slightly darker, obviously as you said light levels and contours can affect the colour match.

I think the drivers side is a better match. But it's obviously personal opinion.

It may be that there has been a minor touch up. The car is second hand from a BMW dealership, so I doubt there's any recourse?

I have looked over the front of the car and can't see any other signs of repairs.

Do the paint depth measuring tools work on repairs?

[Assassin]

All about the paintshop, ask around and see what people think that have used them. If in doubt, use the BMW paint shop that your local BMW dealers use as its very unlikely that they will do it in house and BMW are usually very picky about the finish. Your point about the street lighting is very valid as many paints can look the same in daylight but under streetlights they show up like a patchwork quilt. This is especially so for black and red cars but others too.

[Arthur55]

Thanks........think I either ignore it, or pop around to the BMW bodyshop and ask their advice.

Just very frustrated I didn't notice it before.........

But looking at a friends new grey BMW it's surprising how mismatched they can be.

[bmnut]

Originally Posted by Arthur55

Thanks........think I either ignore it, or pop around to the BMW bodyshop and ask their advice.

Just very frustrated I didn't notice it before.........

But looking at a friends new grey BMW it's surprising how mismatched they can be.

Your last sentence above is exactly what I was meaning in my previous post. Colour matching between plastic and metal panels is a dark art but as others have said the BMW Approved Bodyshops are generally very good at matching so as the shade differences are almost unnoticeable to the naked eye. To Be Honest they are more likely to leave 'tool marks' from the polishing off process but these can easily be corrected by someone who knows what they're doing.
I recently had a full respray on my car's rear bumper and because the car is ceramic coated it had to go back to the detailer I use to have the newly painted panel re-coated. He had to spend some time doing a one stage machine polish on some of the newly painted areas before he was happen to apply the ceramic coating otherwise in certain light angles it could have looked like a bloody hologram!

As for paint depth measuring tools you mention I'm pretty sure they only work on metal panels, or at least they only used to!

[Arthur55]

Well......

When looking at the car very closely my eyes were drawn to a slight colour difference between the 2 passenger side doors......really very minor......but once it's in your head!!

So I visited my local BMW bodyshop......the car was inspected and the paint depth was checked, metallic parts only and it showed nothing out of the ordinary.

The passenger doors were checked, mountings and alike. No signs of anything being replaced or repaired, everything indicated original doors, no signs of repaint etc.

Putting a white sheet of paper to reflect in both shows nothing....I can't see any difference now. A bright white sun like light also shows nothing....

The tech says the doors etc are not fitted flush, so for example with the back edge of the front door a few MM proud of the rear door to help reduce any wind noise. I think this slight difference in the angle of the paint between the 2 areas isn't helping.

So think I need to lie down in a dark room.......Give my eyes a rest....and promise myself to stop staring at paintvwork......

[bmnut]

Dark room sounds like a good idea mate!
I used to be just like you and get stressed over a paint chip then spend hours trying to touch it in! Now in my mid sixties it's a case of 'sod it!' it's a hostile environment out there on the roads these days and life's too short. I keep my car looking as best I can and still touch in stone chips but not with the same degree of paranoia that I used to exhibit and just enjoy it for what it is!
My car is arctic race blue and maybe we notice the slight shading difference because of the blue hue since our eyes perceive different colours in different ways.The old sodium street lights of which there aren't that many left now as they have been steadily replaced over the past years were notorious for showing up the patchwork quilt effect of mismatched paint jobs! All down to the wavelength of the orange coloured sodium light!

So after your lie down don't look at your car before you get in it and enjoy the drive!

[Arthur55]

Ha ha bless you.....

For me its just the unknowing of the slight ssue with the passenger door.......reflections and a bright light show no difference, but glancing at it does......the top edge is perfect, but as you go down the doors there's a mismatch.....I'm convinced the angle and curvature of the doors don't help.

Thank god I live with LED street lights.......now for that lie down......