Paint correction on Jet Black E92 - thin clear coat

[dietrichf]

Jet Black E92 needs some love. Lots of marring on the hood when you look closely. Took to Auto Concierge in Fremont and had the paint depth measured. The trunk was ok at around 115 microns, but the rest of the car was between 61 and 85 or so. Not much room left to correct and maintain the factory clear coat.

So at this point I'm considering options.

If we do any more correction on the paint, that's about it I think. That'd be the last time it could be polished. So I would need to follow up either a coating or a wrap. That way I'm maintaining the coating or sealant instead of exposing the paint to more wear and tear.

Wraps: Suntek or XPEL
Coatings: Cquartz, Modesta, Opticoat, etc

What I'm looking for is someone who's been in a similar situation with the dreaded Jet Black E92 where the car had just been brutalized by a past detailer.

Feeling bad enough about this, so advising me that I should have had the paint depth measured before I bought the car doesn't really help. Looking for constructive comments to get the car's exterior in good shape.

Thanks in advance.

[Properstyle]

That's insane, m3 have extreme te thick clear coat I wonder if the previous owns have used a rotary to do one and have cut the clear down like that.

My suggestion do with what you can just polish the car. Don't do a cut. Keep it light.

[pooyab]

Off topic but how expensive is Auto Concierge? And can I go to just get a quote? The car has a fair amount of swirls and one or two scratches from last owner.

[Helmsman]

Wow, previous guy most have been heck of a polisher man. Curious, does that mean the orange peal is all gone now?

[dietrichf]

Originally Posted by Helmsman

Wow, previous guy most have been heck of a polisher man. Curious, does that mean the orange peal is all gone now?

Still a decent amount of orange peel, but I'm not sure how much it had from the factory

[dietrichf]

So if I don't really have enough clear coat to work with long term, is it worth it to do one more correction then lay down either a wrap or a coating to lock that in? That way I'll be maintaining the coating/wrap instead maintaining the paint.

[dietrichf]

Leaning towards one more paint correction, repainting the hood+bumper (to get rid of minor rock damage) then wrapping the whole car in XPEL. That way I'll have a 10 year warranty on the wrap, very minor scratches/swirls will self-heal, and I'll be maintaining the clear coat on the wrap instead of the (very soft) factory paint.

Won't be cheap, but the car should be like new after this.

[vsix]

Originally Posted by dietrichf

Jet Black E92 needs some love. Lots of marring on the hood when you look closely. Took to Auto Concierge in Fremont and had the paint depth measured. The trunk was ok at around 115 microns, but the rest of the car was between 61 and 85 or so. Not much room left to correct and maintain the factory clear coat.

So at this point I'm considering options.

If we do any more correction on the paint, that's about it I think. That'd be the last time it could be polished. So I would need to follow up either a coating or a wrap. That way I'm maintaining the coating or sealant instead of exposing the paint to more wear and tear.

Wraps: Suntek or XPEL
Coatings: Cquartz, Modesta, Opticoat, etc

What I'm looking for is someone who's been in a similar situation with the dreaded Jet Black E92 where the car had just been brutalized by a past detailer.

Feeling bad enough about this, so advising me that I should have had the paint depth measured before I bought the car doesn't really help. Looking for constructive comments to get the car's exterior in good shape.

Thanks in advance.

Then take some cash in your hand's and repaint the car from scratch.
It's not such a big of a deal, just a few k but very well and wise spent considering you'd like to keep this car for a long time.

[dietrichf]

Originally Posted by vsix

Then take some cash in your hand's and repaint the car from scratch.
It's not such a big of a deal, just a few k but very well and wise spent considering you'd like to keep this car for a long time.

I was thinking it would be upwards of $16k to do a ground up high quality jet black paint job on the car. Could be way off though.

[vsix]

Originally Posted by dietrichf

I was thinking it would be upwards of $16k to do a ground up high quality jet black paint job on the car. Could be way off though.

I really don't know what you have to pay but that's pretty spot on what I payed for mine a few week's ago.
Man it's like everything in life, you got to set priorities. Don't think to long about it, you want a cool azs looking M3? Go for it instead of polishing and burning money on all kind of stuff.
You know what to do? Get various paint shop's give you a quote.
Just let them know you aren't a money throwing dummy.
Show them not only but just because you drive an M you know how to keep your money together.
Refer to shop's you already contacted and let them know you have a rough estimate...give them pressure...otherwise you get ripped off.
Competition is a B... Let her work for you

[dietrichf]

Originally Posted by vsix

Competition is a B... Let her work for you

heh thanks. Anyone know of any great paint shops in the Bay Area? Bob at Auto Concierge has a place he works with that I'll probably get an estimate from. Curious about other places in the area I can talk to for comparison.

The car looks pretty nice for now so it's not a huge huge rush. But I'd like to do it this year. Any help shopping around would be

[ddas]

It's practically impossible that someone removed 40+ microns of clear from an e90/2 m3. Most do not even have that amount of clear total to give up. If the finish is absolutely free of orange peel, MAYBE someone has been too aggressive and removed a bunch.

Bob is a real expert on PC but you should have the paint read with a PDG that can read individual layers, thus revealing the true amount of clear coat you have.

If Bob's PDG only reads the total depth of paint, I do not blame him for saying no thanks for doing PC with those measurements. But that's why it's good to have something like a Positector b3 advanced.

[rjd598]

Originally Posted by pooyab

Off topic but how expensive is Auto Concierge? And can I go to just get a quote? The car has a fair amount of swirls and one or two scratches from last owner.

bob is considered one of the best in the industry. you get what you pay for. i'm sure you can call him and get a good estimate from him.

you do realize the cost difference between wrapping your car and coating it right? pretty big difference. if it were me i would get my car coated in modesta. they have some very good coatings even above mc-05 just can't remember what they are right now. wrapping is a great option, but the cost compared to a coating like modesta would turn me off.

[JR M3]

Originally Posted by rjd598

bob is considered one of the best in the industry. you get what you pay for. i'm sure you can call him and get a good estimate from him.

you do realize the cost difference between wrapping your car and coating it right? pretty big difference. if it were me i would get my car coated in modesta. they have some very good coatings even above mc-05 just can't remember what they are right now. wrapping is a great option, but the cost compared to a coating like modesta would turn me off.

BC-03, BC-04 and PD coating are the other Modesta options

[rjd598]

Originally Posted by JR M3

BC-03, BC-04 and PD coating are the other Modesta options

i know pd is the newest one, but for some reason thought there was another one that stood above them all.

[ddas]

These others bring up a valid option, Modesta coatings.

Modesta has probably your best solution if you really do have thinner clear coat. You can have P-01A applied and then topped with BC-05 which will provide you with a substantial additional layer of protection.

If you have deep pockets and want the best Modesta offering, the PD coating will give you the closest thing to a bullet-proof coating. It is not for the faint of heart in terms of cost. The yearly cost alone would make most detailers blush. The fluorine topcoat for the PD coating is stunning.

[pooyab]

Just had my clear coat measured. Ranged from 120 to 90 on all panels. So I'll probably be doing a coating of some sort on mine too.

[Greg@DetailedImage]

Originally Posted by pooyab

Just had my clear coat measured. Ranged from 120 to 90 on all panels. So I'll probably be doing a coating of some sort on mine too.

This is about average across the board these days. We work on all kinds of cars from brand new vehicles, to classics, and while paint characteristics varies greatly between automotive manufacturers, one thing is consistent... they are all thin.



^Reading on 2011 BMW M3


It is common for newer vehicles to have around 100-150 microns of total paint thickness, sometimes more, sometimes less (keeping in mind that this includes primer, base and clear coat). The only layer that really matters is the clear coat layer. Once the clear has been penetrated, you're out of luck. As already mentioned, most electronic paint thickness gauges only measure total paint thickness and therefore do not allow you to read exact clear coat levels unless you have an ultrasonic gauge which is a costly investment.

Routine polishing truly removes very little material at all and can therefore be performed on a fairly regular basis (yearly at most in my opinion) without ever seeing any issues, however if you do not maintain your vehicle properly and require heavy correction every couple of years, you're certainly limiting the life of your paint. Proper maintenance is critical, as safe washing and drying will drastically reduce the amount of defects and the severity of defects introduced into the paint overtime. This translates to polishing less frequently and less aggressively which means your paint will last a very long time.

In my article about paint coatings, one of the key benefits that I discuss is the fact that a paint coating will add material to the surface of your paint. This is something that traditional waxes or sealants will not do. Consider this hypothetical situation - you polish your vehicle and remove 2 microns of clear coat every year for 10 years. This totals 20 microns of material removed, which in most situations is no cause for concern, however what if you could remove much less over time? If you apply a paint coating after polishing, you are adding back an average of 1.5-2 microns in most instances (some coatings claim to add more). This means that after the coating has been applied, light swirls and scratches will then reside in the coating layer, and next time you polish the car you will be removing the coating and very little (if any) paint, so over time the total amount of paint removed will be much less than a vehicle that has not been coated.

The Benefits of a Paint Coating by Zach McGovern


Zach McGovern
Detailed Image Ask-A-Pro Blog Author
www.AttentiontoDetailingPeoria.com

[pooyab]

Originally Posted by Greg@DetailedImage

This is about average across the board these days. We work on all kinds of cars from brand new vehicles, to classics, and while paint characteristics varies greatly between automotive manufacturers, one thing is consistent... they are all thin.



^Reading on 2011 BMW M3


It is common for newer vehicles to have around 100-150 microns of total paint thickness, sometimes more, sometimes less (keeping in mind that this includes primer, base and clear coat). The only layer that really matters is the clear coat layer. Once the clear has been penetrated, you're out of luck. As already mentioned, most electronic paint thickness gauges only measure total paint thickness and therefore do not allow you to read exact clear coat levels unless you have an ultrasonic gauge which is a costly investment.

Routine polishing truly removes very little material at all and can therefore be performed on a fairly regular basis (yearly at most in my opinion) without ever seeing any issues, however if you do not maintain your vehicle properly and require heavy correction every couple of years, you're certainly limiting the life of your paint. Proper maintenance is critical, as safe washing and drying will drastically reduce the amount of defects and the severity of defects introduced into the paint overtime. This translates to polishing less frequently and less aggressively which means your paint will last a very long time.

In my article about paint coatings, one of the key benefits that I discuss is the fact that a paint coating will add material to the surface of your paint. This is something that traditional waxes or sealants will not do. Consider this hypothetical situation - you polish your vehicle and remove 2 microns of clear coat every year for 10 years. This totals 20 microns of material removed, which in most situations is no cause for concern, however what if you could remove much less over time? If you apply a paint coating after polishing, you are adding back an average of 1.5-2 microns in most instances (some coatings claim to add more). This means that after the coating has been applied, light swirls and scratches will then reside in the coating layer, and next time you polish the car you will be removing the coating and very little (if any) paint, so over time the total amount of paint removed will be much less than a vehicle that has not been coated.

The Benefits of a Paint Coating by Zach McGovern


Zach McGovern
Detailed Image Ask-A-Pro Blog Author
www.AttentiontoDetailingPeoria.com

So it should be fine to detail a couple more times? Our jag paint thickness varies between 180-150 so I guess it has a longer lifespan than mine.

[Greg@DetailedImage]

Originally Posted by pooyab

So it should be fine to detail a couple more times? Our jag paint thickness varies between 180-150 so I guess it has a longer lifespan than mine.

Certainly should be fine. If the vehicle does not require extensive correction, I would not hesitate when it comes to routine polishing every 1-2 years for many many years to come. Just keep in mind that proper maintenance to reduce the risk of creating swirls is much easier and cheaper than polishing the paint to remove the defects

Zach McGovern
Detailed Image Ask-A-Pro Blog Author
www.AttentiontoDetailingPeoria.com

[pooyab]

Originally Posted by Greg@DetailedImage

Certainly should be fine. If the vehicle does not require extensive correction, I would not hesitate when it comes to routine polishing every 1-2 years for many many years to come. Just keep in mind that proper maintenance to reduce the risk of creating swirls is much easier and cheaper than polishing the paint to remove the defects

Zach McGovern
Detailed Image Ask-A-Pro Blog Author
www.AttentiontoDetailingPeoria.com

This time it needs a decent amount of work due to previous owners, but afterwards it should be much less. Thanks

[mpower4life]

A coating will not keep your car from being marred and scratched... especially being that super soft jet black paint. Listen to Bob, he knows his stuff and I have worked with him multiple times.