Frozen Gray M3 U.S. Owners Warned About Matte Paint

[ddigangi]

id be hesitant to say that body shops that are say lamborghini and ferrari body/paint certified wouldnt be able to handle touchup and paint

[karussell]

even just washing the car will eventually make the paint more glossy. i would say whoever gets this color needs a full wrap in matte ppf. of course you could save yourself a lot of hassle and just do this on a standard grey M3 and have the same result. the wrap will cost about $3K and also only last about 3 years before getting shiny as well.

[Frosty]

...I think without a doubt this car was NOT designed to be a daily driver... how many did they make this color? Not many... and few will pay $5k for Frozen Grey,Black,AW

The frozens are a special finish, people who buy one need to know that, the disclaimer is just as bad as the one that says dont use a hair drier while in the tub.. They have to protect themselves from idiots

~Frosty

[davedave]

Originally Posted by Krozi

So how do you protect the paint if you can't wax?

do a vinyl matt wrap, problem solved

[Templar]

I don't even take my little Mitsubishi Eclipse to automatic car washes, let alone my new BMW.....

[Tallest]

and i thought that there existed a non reflective clear coat that would be waxable, washable, etc, all without any issues... at least many in the detailing section on this website were swearing by this.

then again, bmw tested this and probably knows what its talking about. strange. wrap seems like such an easier option!

[aka_phox]

Im glad I didnt get that Frozen Grey....I dont feel so bad now.

[kaykay]

Originally Posted by racedoc11

Well, in short this car will NOT look the same in 6 months or less...

100%, no question. After a few washes it'll start to slowly shine.

Originally Posted by karussell

even just washing the car will eventually make the paint more glossy. i would say whoever gets this color needs a full wrap in matte ppf. of course you could save yourself a lot of hassle and just do this on a standard grey M3 and have the same result. the wrap will cost about $3K and also only last about 3 years before getting shiny as well.

I was under the impression that a wrap was in the range of $1,000 - $1,500. Anyhow, IMHO $5k for a matte color (which in essence is just 1/2 of SG Metallic) is the dumbest thing you can do with your money. BUT, if you're a collector, want to have a very rare color and will barely drive it, to each his own.

Originally Posted by aka_phox

Im glad I didnt get that Frozen Grey....I dont feel so bad now.

I was very close to pulling the trigger on FG myself after being approved by BMW NA, but decided against it for an amazing SG Metallic color which is just awesome.

A vehicle shouldn't be a headache, a waiver, a pain in the ass, tree sap, bird poo, pollen, stains, rain spots, etc. They're ALL inevitable. I'm a maniac, I find myself dusting off my car at 2am one day after a wash, I can't even imagine the hell of a color like this which I feel will take a lot out of the enjoyment of driving this incredible machine.

Again, to each his own. But I think that BMW should cover this paint under their maintenance umbrella, that just says this paint is prone to a lot of problems and must be taken care of meticulously.

[quality_sound]

Originally Posted by teleopti

No. think about it. who the hell would carry the frozen paint color let alone no wtf to do with it

The color is just Space Gray. It's the matte clearcoat most shops won't be able to do correctly.

[karussell]

Originally Posted by kaykay

I was under the impression that a wrap was in the range of $1,000 - $1,500. Anyhow, IMHO $5k for a matte color (which in essence is just 1/2 of SG Metallic) is the dumbest thing you can do with your money. BUT, if you're a collector, want to have a very rare color and will barely drive it, to each his own.

i'm talking about paint protection film with matte finish. wrapping an entire car in it would cost about $3K. its much harder to wrap a car in PPF (8 mils) versus wrap vinyl (2 mils). as little sense as it makes to order this finish, it would be even dumber to buy it and then wrap it in a color change vinyl of the same color. at least with the matte PPF, you can see the finish and the paint is actually protected. color change vinyl does next to nothing in protecting a car.

[Silverstone]

This is a collectors car. I would never wanna go through this headache. Love my Silverstone II

[2045]

this should be common sense on the matt paint. no big deal.

[ghosthi32]

Originally Posted by STi2Three35i

a true BMW enthusiast should know how to take care of Frozen Gray paint.

right...

[Norsk]

Hmmm... sounds like "High Maintenance"

[quality_sound]

Originally Posted by karussell

even just washing the car will eventually make the paint more glossy. i would say whoever gets this color needs a full wrap in matte ppf. of course you could save yourself a lot of hassle and just do this on a standard grey M3 and have the same result. the wrap will cost about $3K and also only last about 3 years before getting shiny as well.

What makes you say it'll get glossy over time? Washing doesn't do ANYTHING to smooth the paint. Not even a little.

I agree a matte ppf would be ideal to keep it looking like it's supposed to, but disagree that washing will cause problems. I have no experience with the wrap so I can't say if they'll get glossy over time or not.

[karussell]

the matte is achieved with a porous type clear coat. this diffuses the light instead of reflecting it giving it the dull appearance. when you rub it, all the tiny hardened particles in the clear coat get rounded off over time making it shinier appearing. this is pretty typical with matte painted cars in the aftermarket. now i have no experience with the bmw clear coat for this frozen grey paint so maybe its more resistant to rubbing, but i would think it also has the same issues. washing is the least abrasive of course but you do this the most frequently. thats why they say to try to power wash caked on stuff before cleaning it.

the matte paint protection film of which i have just received a sample of to try will also get shiny with rubbing over time.

Originally Posted by quality_sound

What makes you say it'll get glossy over time? Washing doesn't do ANYTHING to smooth the paint. Not even a little.

I agree a matte ppf would be ideal to keep it looking like it's supposed to, but disagree that washing will cause problems. I have no experience with the wrap so I can't say if they'll get glossy over time or not.

[quality_sound]

Originally Posted by karussell

the matte is achieved with a porous type clear coat. this diffuses the light instead of reflecting it giving it the dull appearance. when you rub it, all the tiny hardened particles in the clear coat get rounded off over time making it shinier appearing. this is pretty typical with matte painted cars in the aftermarket. now i have no experience with the bmw clear coat for this frozen grey paint so maybe its more resistant to rubbing, but i would think it also has the same issues. washing is the least abrasive of course but you do this the most frequently. thats why they say to try to power wash caked on stuff before cleaning it.

I still disagree. Otherwise scratches would get better over time for the same reason but they don't. I agree about the power washing. It woudl just make everything easier.

the matte paint protection film of which i have just received a sample of to try will also get shiny with rubbing over time.

You know, I've been dying to do a matte wrap on mine. I've never seen a matte blue but thnk it would look pretty hot.

[M3Fool]

FG coupe costs 100k euro in Germany..... hows about dem apples

[illirep]

Frozen gray is gross looking anyway. Looks like they only finished half of the paint job. Who would pay a premium to have a dull paint job? I don't understand the fad with this matte crap all of the sudden. Better yet, people spending $6k to have matte vinyl applied to their entire car. Mind boggling!!

[BMW3R]

Bummer. I really liked the paint color. However, I love the space grey car I have now too!

[southlight]

Originally Posted by Jason

Whether this is due to the sensitive nature of the matte finish paint or to avoid potential litigation from Frozen Gray M3 owners is not known.

I know that it's not US specific. European customers ordering Frozen Gray need to sign a similar waiver.



Best regards,
south

[jlstyle]

So what's the point of this paint being so fragile?????