My 325iC Body/Paint Project

[stevofthahill]

Looks absolutely amazing. I'm sure you mentioned it somewhere in the thread, but what color did you end up using?

[bimmerboy12]

How did you do that to your molding? I'd really like to do that to mine!

Car looks awesome! Paint job turned out incredible for a garage job. I'll bet those tight spots were fun to wet sand and buff!

Thanks! I glued a piece of plastic to the backside of the trim, then bondo filled the hole to over flush, then sanded with a 16" reciprocating sander.... I tried with my 5" DA sander at first and it didn't turn out. Primed and painted flat black. It was actually a lot more work than I anticipated. If I did it again I would just buy the euro trim.
Yeah the tight spots are definitely a challenge. Mostly around the rear license plate is the worst.

Sorry if I missed it, but what was your final paint cost and what brand, etc. did you use?

I used NAPA Crossfire brand paint, with their Finish 1 brand clear and hardeners. My final cost of everything including filler and sealer primers, reducers, paint, clear, hardeners, mixing and measuring tools, air filters, rubbing alcohol, and LOTS of sandpaper = about $500. I went overboard on color and clear though so you could get away with less.

Looks absolutely amazing. I'm sure you mentioned it somewhere in the thread, but what color did you end up using?

Thanks! I went with 138/3, cinnabar red (zinnoberrot) the factory color. These pictures look really orange under bright fluorescent lights... I will snap more pics tonight when I get it out under natural light, and get the IS spoiler on.

[N2MYE30]

Yes, this does look amazing! Nice work!

[bimmerboy12]

UPDATE September 5: Got all the paper and cardboard off and did some more assembly. Its starting to get there. I couldn't put my fogs in because one of them is broken... I am too embarrassed and pissed off to talk about it.. FYI I need a set of fogs lemme know if you got em.

[hi its me alec]

You're doing a really good job... exactly the route I see myself taking in the future. I'm going to read the whole thing again haha



edit: read it again, got more motivation, thanks

[bimmerboy12]

You're doing a really good job... exactly the route I see myself taking in the future. I'm going to read the whole thing again haha



edit: read it again, got more motivation, thanks

No problem! Good luck.

Update Sept. 7: did nothing this whole holiday weekend on the lake... but did score a set of fogs on eBay for 66 bucks shipped. Will do a urethane clear coat treatment then Lamin-X. Those + the iS lip and install the HID's and the front is finished.

[Vrbovan]

Looks great! how many times have you painted a car before? how much practice do I need before I attempt it?

[SamE30e]

That looks prety amazing. I'm jealous. I'm working on getting my car done in the winter, I'd do it myself but I have dents, and they would be tough to do myself.

[bimmerboy12]

Looks great! how many times have you painted a car before? how much practice do I need before I attempt it?

I painted two other cars but one was in high school like 12 years ago and the other was a single stage enamel 5 years ago. To tell you the truth, if you're good with rattle cans, you'll be good with a sprayer. Maybe practice with those doing multiple coats and a final "drop coat" to avoid "corn rows". If you put enough layers on (both color and clear) you can work out noob mistakes and end up with a great looking coat.
Also, watch lots of YouTube videos. They taught me how to buff polish and it worked out great.

[bimmerboy12]

That looks prety amazing. I'm jealous. I'm working on getting my car done in the winter, I'd do it myself but I have dents, and they would be tough to do myself.

I had a dent magic guy come out and pop out all the dents in my wife's car for $200. He also got a couple bad ones out of this car, dents that I was skeptical bondo would fix. I filled a couple and they came out good.

[bimmerboy12]

Quick update September 9: installed an OEM E36 cabrio antenna assembly.. looks great!







Also did another cool mod... since I bought a coupe trunk lid I now had two trunk lights... if you look inside your lid there are two cut-outs for lights .. its symmetrical. So I took the spare one, spliced in the wires and snapped it in. Twice the light! Also put in my new tool set.. old ones were rusty from leaking 3rd brake light... part of the reason I got rid of it with the coupe trunk lid.



Also got the taillights, emblem, latches, etc. installed. Taillights utilize the factory fog space as extras for reverse.



More updates to come. This whole thing is painfully slow but hey, working full time and get about 3 weeknights a week...

[stevofthahill]

I don't think you can get much better than a plastic bumpered, early taillight cabrio. Any plans for suspension?

[bimmerboy12]

I don't think you can get much better than a plastic bumpered, early taillight cabrio. Any plans for suspension?

Yep! I want Eibach pro sport or H&R springs. Haven't thought about shocks/struts yet... The Monroes I put on there are about 3 years old.

[e30rapidic]

nice!! Want to paint my zinno cabrio next? hehe

[colombacho]

jelous.