Can't repaint the E30? Look at what these guys did

[Aeirvin_95]

Or you could have fun with it(;

Circuit board inspired.

$75 worth of material and 8 or 9 man hours.

[DIIRTY-30]

Spraying and paying for the paint is only 10% of the job.

Everyone seems to leave out how much work and effort it is just to do body and prep work. That's what will truthfully dictate if a paint job is worth 4k or not. A really good body guy is a dime a dozen.

[Mfever]

spent about $5300 on just my paint at a reputable shop not including and of the trim and other crap associated with taking the car apart and what not. I got a friend to a bring the price down a bit but its factory fresh now.

[ajhostetter]

Dude, are you a politician? Because that was a great pull of PART of what I said that totally missed my point. I was saying do all the prep yourself or with an experienced buddy, then have those clowns just shoot the paint. It's a way to get a good result on a budget.

[joncrz]

FWIW, Maaco isn't bad

Then you completely missed what goes into a good paint job. Yes quality of paint is part of the equation but a customer tends to notice a bad job because of the lack of experience and attention to detail a body guy/prepper/painter has. Yes you can find great deals when it comes to paint but anyone of those guys who is always on their game will command a higher price/salary and that gets passed along to the customer. Likewise, experience isnt everything. From what I understand a lot of top quality shops will pass up a prospective employee who is coming from maaco because of the bad habbits they will bring along with them.

I guess my biggest gripe is craigslist car flipper and shitty dealers will use maaco 200$ service to add 1000+ to their overall selling price... ugh

[fresh_TD]

Lol

[capn]

I would never spend half or more of what the car is worth on just a paint job..that is insane..for example, to drop $10k+ on a $20k car is ludacris in my eyes..but then again if I was a baller, money would be the least of my worries..with that said is bad math, does not make sense..that's just me though, everyone is different and some have deeper pockets then others.

[woc]

I was just trying to explain that a really good paint job on a classic and rare car will eventually pay itself in the long run. e30 M3 will become a rare collectable car.

[fresh_TD]

I would never spend half or more of what the car is worth on just a paint job..that is insane..for example, to drop $10k+ on a $20k car is ludacris in my eyes..but then again if I was a baller, money would be the least of my worries..with that said is bad math, does not make sense..that's just me though, everyone is different and some have deeper pockets then others.

[woc]

It is if you intend to keep the car in good conditions. Like I said m3s will go up in price in the coming years. Even regular e30 are going up in price for such an old car. I bought mine for $1500 5years ago, now they are going for 5k 7k in real good conditions. so...shit...I am bad with math. Dam how do the guys from "wheeler Dealers" make it happen?

[fresh_TD]

okay paint job 2k, a nice paint job 4k+, a very very nice paint job 9k+. You just don't want a nice paint job on an m3 you really want to keep that 20k value up, now if you own an regular e30 why would you rape yourself that way? just get a good quality job for 2 or 3 k and call it a day.

So? Spend half of the value of the car or maybe more just on a paint job? To keep up the value? That's not good math ;-)

[woc]

okay paint job 2k, a nice paint job 4k+, a very very nice paint job 9k+. You just don't want a nice paint job on an m3 you really want to keep that 20k value up, now if you own an regular e30 why would you rape yourself that way? just get a good quality job for 2 or 3 k and call it a day.

[ajhostetter]

FWIW, Maaco isn't bad if all you need is paint. What you need to do, though, is put in the If you have the time, inclination, and skill to get all your prep done right, strip all the trim and trailer it there, you can get a decent result.

[blunttech]

12k spent on a 300 dollar 325e is crazy. 12k spent on a really nice M3 is another story. There are as many grades of vehicles on here as there are personalities on this board. I can see spending 12k on a car that is worth it. My 02 was in that neighborhood.for paint and body. That said, Im over the over restored cars and would rather have a "nice" 5k dollar paint job so I could actually enjoy the car and not worry about every little nick its bound to get

[joncrz]

wrong,
its called labor time.
it has nothing to do what someone is willing to pay, it has everything to do what its going to take to refinish a car.
I tell people all the time, it dosnt matter if your car is worth $100 or $150000, if it requires $8k for of work that's what it takes because the damage (bad paint, trim removal, body work etc..) dictates that. I don't ever look at someone and say " this guy looks like he has deep pockets, $12k for a paint job!"

This.
Source: someone who has a brother who owns his own body shop.

people dont seem to understand how pricey a GOOD paint and body guys go for on top of price of material. You especially want someone who isnt going to walk off with your tools or customers items. My brother struggled the first few years because he could not find decent guys who wouldnt fuck up the process or jack shit.

People who want 1K paint jobs can always go to maaco :giggle: