Project finished - 'MY22' 318is - bare metal, nut and bolt restoration

[Melon]

Well look at mister copy cat over here!

[Sh3rpak!ng]

ohhhhh yea subbed.... been a while since a really juicy build thread came up!

[e30davie]

..... “WHY paint it if you’re just going to sound deaden it?’ my response… I WILL know… and that’s all that matters.

Are you an engineer? sounds like something an engineer would say.


Well its certainly orange! A bold but great choice i think.

[uturn]

Everytime I see an orange BMW I'm thinking....
1) 2002 roundie Inka Orange
2) Jagermeister DTM

Beautiful color!!!

[Jordan]

Looks like some absolutely gorgeous paint work!

[burkey001]

Wow, so sorry to hear about your old car, it was my favorite on the board and almost made me buy LMs (I actually think I still may).

As for the color, soooo many great choices.

My first choice would be Porsche slate grey 6601 x2 although you already had a grey one so if you want something different. I say Graphite Blue Metallic.

thanks bud, it was a sad, sad day... i hope this one makes up for the loss :)

[burkey001]

So the colour decision was a long and involved one.
I had been saving up about 18 months to fund this paint job and body work because I wanted a ‘a new’ car, I wanted it done by an excellent body shop (recently won best body & best paint @ Motorex this year) so I knew it would cost a fortune.

For the longest time I had been planning one particular style based upon stuff I had / had liked previously. I ordered an E92 335 back in 09 and it had a black / saddle brown interior and I LOVED it. I also flipped out every time I saw an individual in Champagne Quartz Metallic (CQM).

So that was going to be my jam. 100%.

Then someone on E30 Enthusiasts Australia posted this link to a car done by H&R’s boss – an orange 318is… I know it well know, it seems the whole internet does, but I had never seen it or heard about…. Jaw dropped… that colour!

So, we did a lot of spray outs on panels, solicited opinions from far and wide. Of my extended family only my wife thought orange was cool. Huge votes for CQM So orange it was.

Glad I did. Whilst CQM is an awesome colour, it would have been ‘just another dark-ish BMW’. Not that I want to stand out, but I don’t mind a little bit of pizazz… so anyway it all happened and we have orange.

I thought a solid colour would be cheaper to apply than a tri-layer pearl like CQM. Not so, not really anyway. Needs 3x white base coat and 5x orange coat to get the coverage and vibrancy. That plus clear + sand + flow coat + flatten + polish + flatten + polish… still ends up being crazy labour.. AT the time I was freaking out as I thought I had a big budget and I obliterated it by 25% (percentage small, numerically large).

Still, glad it’s done and glad it’s orange.

It is a great paint job. I wanted everything coloured orange. I didn’t’ want any area to reveal that it may have once been a white car. So the body guys were at times using hobby air brushes to fill in every single nook and cranny. Hot rod guys… they take their time. Many discussions were had on the interior “WHY paint it if you’re just going to sound deaden it?’ my response… I WILL know… and that’s all that matters.

Inside underway

Various colour sanding stages.







Many little details were improved. Like every sealed edge of twin skin panels was stripped and resealed in a VERY tidy manner.

Base coat done





First coat of clear going down





[img][/img]


First clear coat done on a few panels



Two weeks of sanding and polishing later and the finish is really quite hard to fault




And that’s all for today ��

[iwantspeed]

excited to see what you do with this

[jeenyus]

The metallic one is pretty awesome. I don't think i've ever seen a color like that before that pearls into a champagne color. Very cool.

[Staszek]

Wow, so sorry to hear about your old car, it was my favorite on the board and almost made me buy LMs (I actually think I still may).

As for the color, soooo many great choices.

My first choice would be Porsche slate grey 6601 x2 although you already had a grey one so if you want something different. I say Graphite Blue Metallic.

[Julien]

Can't wait to see the shell painted!

[ArtFoodBMW]

WOW

Amazing work. I am in love with those BBS LMs. Is there anything those don't look good on? :D

BBS LM's look great on everything

[mike.bmw]

Amazing work. I am in love with those BBS LMs. Is there anything those don't look good on? :D

[burkey001]

Colour samples.

so way back when.... a couple months back, the choice of colours was debated...

Colour to paint an E30 that you're doing a 'nut and bolt' restore on. Something truly over-capitalised.

Opinions pls.

After pining for Champagne Quartz metallic for so long I think I am shifting to a non-metallic colour. Painter has put me off CQM as its a 3 layer paint (basecoat + 2 pearl + clear). Quite reasonably says I'll never ever get a colour match if I need anything touched up, will need to paint whole car.

Car will be on some genuine BBS LM, not on airbags but low enough (if you're 40). Interior complete retrim is looking like dark anthracite with saddle brown/tobacco seats.

I'm not aiming for a car that shouts "I'm modified" I am trying to create a contemporary E30 through the lens of "If BMW still made E30, what would the series options be via Individual?"

Colours as you see them
Porsche Oslo blue Z77 x2
Porsche slate grey 6601 x2
Porche slate grey Y97 x2
Porsche graphite blue metallic (broke my own rule) x2

I know these all look quite similar... let them wash over you...









after all that... someone threw a curveball at me... orange!

BMW Champagne Quartz Metallic and Feurorange II
With my current diamond black BBS LM for reference, though I think silver discs would suit better. Strongly considering ordering some BBS E50 silver / polish lips.
i like both colours a lot. CQM is pretty classic and inoffensive. Classy looking colour and I am convinced it would look great on an E30. However that orange... Gee I really, really like it.

[saucers]

INSANE. sub'd