San Marino Blue E92 M3

Shrike360 · 10-16-2020, 10:11 PM

First off, to kill any extreme excitement, this isn’t the one of one individual San Marino blue E92.

Bit of background, my first E92 was Interlagos blue. When it got wrecked, I thought I’d try something different. I found a low mileage Jerez black car as a replacement. After some time I thought, while Jerez is an extremely pretty color in the right circumstances, 95% of the time it is an off-black. I started looking into repainting, or selling it off to get an Interlagos car. Then I stumbled upon a thread from M2PDX, who is local to me, and used a product called Autoflex to wrap his car in San Marino blue: https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1530010

I saw his car in person and was impressed with the quality of a liquid wrap. Unlike a traditional wrap, it looks 3D and just like paint. Plus, it was completely removable and has some self-healing properties. So, I checked with the installer and got a quote for what I wanted to do. Clear protection wrap on the roof, San Marino blue on the rest of the car, then reflow (sand and recoat with clear) to get it to the desired finish. The quote was $4k ($350, $2400 and $1250 respectively), so I delayed having it done given the chunk of change. Well, I decided to bite the bullet a few weeks ago.

Now, this product has been out for a few years, and it has very limited documentation. M2PDX is the most in depth review I’ve found. I want to capture some of my thoughts and experiences as someone who puts quite a bit of effort into detailing my car (and watches Obsessed Garage in my spare time)

I dropped it off two weeks ago, as after the roof was wrapped in clear, it needed to sit for another week before the color coat. I’ve copied the photos of the process in the album. The roof spray wrap was first, and he also did the spoiler since it was easy to do with the roof. Next, the color spray. This was using Halo EFX instead of Autoflex. The installer prefers it. First, everything was taped off. The black base coat was applied (4 coats), followed by the color coat (4 coats) and then the clear (2 coats). For the reflow, the entire car is sanded down with 1000 grit, and two more coats of clear are applied.

So, here’s my car as Jerez black

Here’s my car when I picked it up today.

Man, this color is insane. Pictures do not capture this color accurately, there is far more purple in it the pics suggest. I’m copying a video walk around below. See some teal in there? It doesn’t exist in person, just blue. It is one of the most saturated colors I’ve ever seen. Interlagos is to Jerez, as this is to Interlagos. I love it.

Now, the job isn’t perfect. There is a bit of heavy spray on the hood causing dimpling, some machine marks that need to be buffed out, a chemical defect on my base paint (basically looks like heavy water spotting) popped onto the surface of the wrap, the inside of the door handles could use a buff down to smooth it and the lowest parts of the car (below the front lip and below the rear bumper) didn’t get sprayed. Also, the clear wrap could be refined in sections to remove the orange people. But otherwise, the quality is on par with OEM paint finishes.

I have to wait two months, then I will apply a coating. I’m looking at using the AMMO Reflex Pro coat, given it’s supposed to work on PPF. I will update with my experiences and how it reacts to everything in my detailing process.

To wrap this up, I’ll copy down my mod list as well:

AFE Stage 2 Intake
Macht Schnell Underdrive Pulley
VRSF test pipes v-banded to stock x-pipe
Corsa exhaust
Alpine stage 2 tune
Autosolutions UUK short shifter (20% reduction, +10mm height, 70A bushings)
Apex 18x10+18x10.5 EC-7s
Coby wheel alcantara interior bits

MJBO · 10-17-2020, 04:03 AM

Nicely done!

This is my favourite F80 colour, and the one I’d choose if I was to go that way.

akkando · 10-17-2020, 11:40 AM

yeah this is the color I would have wanted on the f80. I saw the m2 post about this liquid wrap as I always wished my m2 was in San Marino instead of Long Beach Blue. I think these liquid wraps are the way to go.

I'm confused though, what did you do to the CF roof? PPF or did you have it re-clear coated?

What is the reflow? is it just to get rid of orange peel?

So San Marino is Interlagos on steroids? I really like Interlagos. I find it to be a handsome blue, but also fun because of the purple you can see in some lighting.

Shrike360 · 10-17-2020, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by akkando

yeah this is the color I would have wanted on the f80. I saw the m2 post about this liquid wrap as I always wished my m2 was in San Marino instead of Long Beach Blue. I think these liquid wraps are the way to go.

I'm confused though, what did you do to the CF roof? PPF or did you have it re-clear coated?

What is the reflow? is it just to get rid of orange peel?

So San Marino is Interlagos on steroids? I really like Interlagos. I find it to be a handsome blue, but also fun because of the purple you can see in some lighting.

I had the roof wrapped in basically a clear PPF. It's similar to the color, except clear and thicker. Wanted to get some additional protection on the roof, and it came out pretty flat. The spoiler could use some refinement to get clarity back. It's also wetsandable if you're not happy with the surface.

The reflow is sanding down the finish, then respraying with extra clear. It's to remove orange peel and surface bumpiness. You can compare pic 21 and 27 in the application album to see a before and after. If you care about the quality of the wrap and want it to be paint like, definitely have it done.

To imagine the color vs Interlagos, add some extra purple to it, then crank the saturation way up. Interlagos is a fairly dark color, that doesn't shout until it's in direct sunlight. San Marino is yelling everywhere. My phone camera is just not capturing the color accurately; will have to see if I can improve it, or borrow a proper camera. In my garage, there is a lot of purple to it that isn't showing in the pictures. It is straight blurple in that lighting.

Decided to take it out today to run errands. It definitely makes you noticeable, I swear there was quite a bit of road rage going around me. Have to wait until next weekend before I can wash it and put on a spray wax, so it's going to sit for the rest of the week. Will order some more Sonax Perfect Finish and new pads to refine the surface before coating it in December.

I also have a buddy in Atlanta who is looking to do this process to his 991.1S, but in purple.

Shrike360 · 10-25-2020, 04:57 PM

Did a bit of work on the car over the week. Washed it, got out the DA polisher and got to work on some of the spots with compound and polish. It worked very well, got out the sanding/machine marks, as well as the chemical oddity on my hood. While going over it with a fine comb, found some spots where they oversanded in the process. Let them know, the car will be dropped back off with the shop to repair these issues.

One negative I learned about, this wrap does not like isopropyl alcohol. Which unfortunately is in most cleaners for removing polish oils. I'm trying out some Adam's waterless wash to see how effective a replacement it is.

Got spray wax on the car, will be keeping it up for a few months. Then I'll do a proper paint correction and coating. Also, popped on the winter tires now that temps are dipping below 40.

Took the car out on my weekend hike, low temps and minimal rain mean less muck to go through. Doesn't hurt that there's a great ring road around my hiking spot. Of course, I get back to my car, and the only other 2 cars in the parking lot (with enough space for over 100 cars) are sat right next to me.

6ixSpd · 11-05-2020, 08:59 AM

Wow, that honestly looks like paint.

Shrike360 · 02-17-2021, 08:22 PM

Been a kind of crazy past few months, just getting back around to the E92.

I ended getting sick of my 535xi wagon back in November, and started hunting for a replacement to it. Found this one owner 2011 Cayenne Turbo at the beginning of January for a great price, and completed the replacement process. Must say, I’m shocked how much I’m loving this thing. Amazing cruiser, fuel economy a touch better than the E92 but with a 26 gallon tank, and handles better than my old E90 335i (no, I’m not kidding).

Back to the E92. In prep for spring coming up, I'm getting some work done on it now. First thing was repairing the seat wear. Went to a nearby shop and it came out great. They also fixed the CTT's steering wheel.

Onto the wrap. Just got around to finishing up a ceramic coating on it. I brought the car back in a month after it was done to touch up the areas where they sanded a bit too aggressively. Installer told me to wait two months before doing any coatings, though the product websites suggest three. I ended up at three months, mainly because of other things going on.
Here are my thoughts and learnings while putting the coating on this week. I ended up doing the CSL & EXO combo. Will throw some Bead Maker on in a week after I wash.

- The clear coat is actually just standard automotive clear coat. The base is the rubberized layer that allows it to be removable. This means it should be compatible with almost anything you put on regular paint.
- Eraser (isopropyl alcohol mix) is no longer smearing on the surface. It seems like additional cure time resolved that issue.
- There are a few spots where the base was sprayed with heavier orange peel. Overall, probably 80-85% of the car is the same or better quality in orange peel compared to OEM paint. Which makes those few spots stand out more. The spots that got touched up also saw some heavier orange peel, but that was mostly just clear, so I was able to smooth it out a bit with compounding. For the price, I’m still okay with it. The rough spots are really only obvious under detailing light.

Pic after completing the ceramic coating.

And a comparison of the car before being dropped off for the wrap. Definitely an amazing change.

Next Monday, I'm dropping the car off to finally get the rod bearing replaced. Plus, some installing BW performance motor mounts. Curious to see how the bearing look at 43k miles.

akkando · 02-19-2021, 02:59 PM

Man, now that the "paint" looks perfect I would be compelled to protect it with ppf but that probably makes no sense on the spray on wrap. I bet ppf coming off would take the wrap with it.

Shrike360 · 02-21-2021, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by akkando

Man, now that the "paint" looks perfect I would be compelled to protect it with ppf but that probably makes no sense on the spray on wrap. I bet ppf coming off would take the wrap with it.

Yeah, no point in putting PPF on it, as the wrap is doing that job already (more or less).

Pending how long I keep the car, I may actually do a proper repaint in SMB and then cover that with PPF. But that would probably be ~ $15-20k to do that at the quality I'd want. This is a good temporary solution at a price I can stomach.

Shrike360 · 02-21-2021, 01:30 PM

For reference, here's some of the worst orange peel spots. The front and rear fenders got resprayed with clear, so some wetsanding would probably fix that. The stuff on the hood is in the base.

ccbl · 02-21-2021, 09:58 PM

I love that color! Given you paid some good money for the job, shouldn't the installer redo those parts that aren't so pretty?

Shrike360 · 02-22-2021, 08:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ccbl

I love that color! Given you paid some good money for the job, shouldn't the installer redo those parts that aren't so pretty?

I may take it back to him, but it's mostly minor and I'm noticing the oddities less. Curious if working it with the DA and a bit of heat was exacerbating it. Or I'm just not straight up on it. It's honestly not that bad, and about on par with OEM in almost all the other places.

Rod bearings out today, being replaced with BE bearings. Old ones look to be in pretty good shape.

akkando · 02-22-2021, 09:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shrike360

Quote:

Originally Posted by ccbl

I love that color! Given you paid some good money for the job, shouldn't the installer redo those parts that aren't so pretty?

I may take it back to him, but it's mostly minor and I'm noticing the oddities less. Curious if working it with the DA and a bit of heat was exacerbating it. Or I'm just not straight up on it. It's honestly not that bad, and about on par with OEM in almost all the other places.

Rod bearings out today, being replaced with BE bearings. Old ones look to be in pretty good shape.

Are those oem bearings?

WagonR · 02-23-2021, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shrike360

Rod bearings out today, being replaced with BE bearings. Old ones look to be in pretty good shape.

Where did you go for the rod bearing replacement?

Shrike360 · 02-23-2021, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by akkando

Are those oem bearings?

AFAIK, yes. Have all the maintenance documents from the first two owners, don't see any reference to having them replaced before.

Quote:

Originally Posted by WagonR

Where did you go for the rod bearing replacement?

Had it done at Matrix Integrated - Westside. Had a quote from AR motorsports, but they were something like $700 more to do.

10-16-2020, 10:11 PM	#1
Shrike360 Lieutenant 476 Rep 482 Posts Drives: 2009 E92 M3, 2011 Porsche CTT Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: PDX, Oregon iTrader: (0)	San Marino Blue E92 M3 First off, to kill any extreme excitement, this isn’t the one of one individual San Marino blue E92. Bit of background, my first E92 was Interlagos blue. When it got wrecked, I thought I’d try something different. I found a low mileage Jerez black car as a replacement. After some time I thought, while Jerez is an extremely pretty color in the right circumstances, 95% of the time it is an off-black. I started looking into repainting, or selling it off to get an Interlagos car. Then I stumbled upon a thread from M2PDX, who is local to me, and used a product called Autoflex to wrap his car in San Marino blue: https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1530010 I saw his car in person and was impressed with the quality of a liquid wrap. Unlike a traditional wrap, it looks 3D and just like paint. Plus, it was completely removable and has some self-healing properties. So, I checked with the installer and got a quote for what I wanted to do. Clear protection wrap on the roof, San Marino blue on the rest of the car, then reflow (sand and recoat with clear) to get it to the desired finish. The quote was $4k ($350, $2400 and $1250 respectively), so I delayed having it done given the chunk of change. Well, I decided to bite the bullet a few weeks ago. Now, this product has been out for a few years, and it has very limited documentation. M2PDX is the most in depth review I’ve found. I want to capture some of my thoughts and experiences as someone who puts quite a bit of effort into detailing my car (and watches Obsessed Garage in my spare time) I dropped it off two weeks ago, as after the roof was wrapped in clear, it needed to sit for another week before the color coat. I’ve copied the photos of the process in the album. The roof spray wrap was first, and he also did the spoiler since it was easy to do with the roof. Next, the color spray. This was using Halo EFX instead of Autoflex. The installer prefers it. First, everything was taped off. The black base coat was applied (4 coats), followed by the color coat (4 coats) and then the clear (2 coats). For the reflow, the entire car is sanded down with 1000 grit, and two more coats of clear are applied. View post on imgur.com So, here’s my car as Jerez black View post on imgur.com Here’s my car when I picked it up today. View post on imgur.com Man, this color is insane. Pictures do not capture this color accurately, there is far more purple in it the pics suggest. I’m copying a video walk around below. See some teal in there? It doesn’t exist in person, just blue. It is one of the most saturated colors I’ve ever seen. Interlagos is to Jerez, as this is to Interlagos. I love it. View post on imgur.com View post on imgur.com Now, the job isn’t perfect. There is a bit of heavy spray on the hood causing dimpling, some machine marks that need to be buffed out, a chemical defect on my base paint (basically looks like heavy water spotting) popped onto the surface of the wrap, the inside of the door handles could use a buff down to smooth it and the lowest parts of the car (below the front lip and below the rear bumper) didn’t get sprayed. Also, the clear wrap could be refined in sections to remove the orange people. But otherwise, the quality is on par with OEM paint finishes. I have to wait two months, then I will apply a coating. I’m looking at using the AMMO Reflex Pro coat, given it’s supposed to work on PPF. I will update with my experiences and how it reacts to everything in my detailing process. To wrap this up, I’ll copy down my mod list as well: AFE Stage 2 Intake Macht Schnell Underdrive Pulley VRSF test pipes v-banded to stock x-pipe Corsa exhaust Alpine stage 2 tune Autosolutions UUK short shifter (20% reduction, +10mm height, 70A bushings) Apex 18x10+18x10.5 EC-7s Coby wheel alcantara interior bits
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10-17-2020, 04:03 AM	#2
MJBO Major 2612 Rep 1,458 Posts Drives: 2023 G81 M3 Touring Join Date: May 2012 Location: Melbourne, Australia iTrader: (0) Garage List 23 BMW M3 Touring [0.00] 22 Toyota LC 300 [0.00]	Nicely done! This is my favourite F80 colour, and the one I’d choose if I was to go that way.
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10-17-2020, 11:40 AM	#3
akkando Major General 5863 Rep 6,635 Posts Drives: 17 M2 DCT LBB,11 e90 M3 ZCP IB Join Date: Jan 2017 Location: Bay Area iTrader: (1)	yeah this is the color I would have wanted on the f80. I saw the m2 post about this liquid wrap as I always wished my m2 was in San Marino instead of Long Beach Blue. I think these liquid wraps are the way to go. I'm confused though, what did you do to the CF roof? PPF or did you have it re-clear coated? What is the reflow? is it just to get rid of orange peel? So San Marino is Interlagos on steroids? I really like Interlagos. I find it to be a handsome blue, but also fun because of the purple you can see in some lighting.
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10-25-2020, 04:57 PM	#5
Shrike360 Lieutenant 476 Rep 482 Posts Drives: 2009 E92 M3, 2011 Porsche CTT Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: PDX, Oregon iTrader: (0)	Did a bit of work on the car over the week. Washed it, got out the DA polisher and got to work on some of the spots with compound and polish. It worked very well, got out the sanding/machine marks, as well as the chemical oddity on my hood. While going over it with a fine comb, found some spots where they oversanded in the process. Let them know, the car will be dropped back off with the shop to repair these issues. One negative I learned about, this wrap does not like isopropyl alcohol. Which unfortunately is in most cleaners for removing polish oils. I'm trying out some Adam's waterless wash to see how effective a replacement it is. View post on imgur.com View post on imgur.com View post on imgur.com View post on imgur.com Got spray wax on the car, will be keeping it up for a few months. Then I'll do a proper paint correction and coating. Also, popped on the winter tires now that temps are dipping below 40. View post on imgur.com Took the car out on my weekend hike, low temps and minimal rain mean less muck to go through. Doesn't hurt that there's a great ring road around my hiking spot. Of course, I get back to my car, and the only other 2 cars in the parking lot (with enough space for over 100 cars) are sat right next to me. View post on imgur.com View post on imgur.com View post on imgur.com Last edited by Shrike360; 10-25-2020 at 05:03 PM..
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11-05-2020, 08:59 AM	#6
6ixSpd Save the manuals! 6015 Rep 6,745 Posts Drives: '16 M3, '23 718 Spyder Join Date: Feb 2016 Location: 416 iTrader: (4)	Wow, that honestly looks like paint. __________________ '16 M3 \| '23 718 Spyder Past: E92 M3, F87 M2, E39 M5, etc
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02-17-2021, 08:22 PM	#7
Shrike360 Lieutenant 476 Rep 482 Posts Drives: 2009 E92 M3, 2011 Porsche CTT Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: PDX, Oregon iTrader: (0)	Been a kind of crazy past few months, just getting back around to the E92. I ended getting sick of my 535xi wagon back in November, and started hunting for a replacement to it. Found this one owner 2011 Cayenne Turbo at the beginning of January for a great price, and completed the replacement process. Must say, I’m shocked how much I’m loving this thing. Amazing cruiser, fuel economy a touch better than the E92 but with a 26 gallon tank, and handles better than my old E90 335i (no, I’m not kidding). View post on imgur.com Back to the E92. In prep for spring coming up, I'm getting some work done on it now. First thing was repairing the seat wear. Went to a nearby shop and it came out great. They also fixed the CTT's steering wheel. View post on imgur.com Onto the wrap. Just got around to finishing up a ceramic coating on it. I brought the car back in a month after it was done to touch up the areas where they sanded a bit too aggressively. Installer told me to wait two months before doing any coatings, though the product websites suggest three. I ended up at three months, mainly because of other things going on. Here are my thoughts and learnings while putting the coating on this week. I ended up doing the CSL & EXO combo. Will throw some Bead Maker on in a week after I wash. - The clear coat is actually just standard automotive clear coat. The base is the rubberized layer that allows it to be removable. This means it should be compatible with almost anything you put on regular paint. - Eraser (isopropyl alcohol mix) is no longer smearing on the surface. It seems like additional cure time resolved that issue. - There are a few spots where the base was sprayed with heavier orange peel. Overall, probably 80-85% of the car is the same or better quality in orange peel compared to OEM paint. Which makes those few spots stand out more. The spots that got touched up also saw some heavier orange peel, but that was mostly just clear, so I was able to smooth it out a bit with compounding. For the price, I’m still okay with it. The rough spots are really only obvious under detailing light. Pic after completing the ceramic coating. View post on imgur.com And a comparison of the car before being dropped off for the wrap. Definitely an amazing change. View post on imgur.com Next Monday, I'm dropping the car off to finally get the rod bearing replaced. Plus, some installing BW performance motor mounts. Curious to see how the bearing look at 43k miles.
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02-19-2021, 02:59 PM	#8
akkando Major General 5863 Rep 6,635 Posts Drives: 17 M2 DCT LBB,11 e90 M3 ZCP IB Join Date: Jan 2017 Location: Bay Area iTrader: (1)	Man, now that the "paint" looks perfect I would be compelled to protect it with ppf but that probably makes no sense on the spray on wrap. I bet ppf coming off would take the wrap with it.
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02-21-2021, 01:30 PM	#10
Shrike360 Lieutenant 476 Rep 482 Posts Drives: 2009 E92 M3, 2011 Porsche CTT Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: PDX, Oregon iTrader: (0)	For reference, here's some of the worst orange peel spots. The front and rear fenders got resprayed with clear, so some wetsanding would probably fix that. The stuff on the hood is in the base. View post on imgur.com
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02-21-2021, 09:58 PM	#11
ccbl Lieutenant 558 Rep 406 Posts Drives: AW E93 335i/Jerez E90 M3 6SP Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Ottawa iTrader: (0)	I love that color! Given you paid some good money for the job, shouldn't the installer redo those parts that aren't so pretty? __________________ Instagram @luongspec
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