[NoKids]

the OEM touch up paint they sell for $40 in the parts department is crap (imo). i used a toothpick to apply miniscule amounts of it to cover rock chips on the bumper and hood. the end result looks like blotches of paint which are darker than my black sapphire color. From far away it looks good, but from up close it looks real messy and amateurish. has anyone had success making this stuff blend in with your paint color?

SAMPLE IMAGE:


HOOD BEFORE touch up (pic was in the shade)


hood after touch up (sunlight exposes the ugly reality of my paint)



full size picture of touch up fugliness here: http://www.leclocher.com/private/hoodRafter.jpg

[who's ur daddy?]

I think you need the clearcoat to help it match better...

[icandie]

i will let you know how my touch up job goes.. i'm goign to attempt it this weekend.. i also have sapphire black.

[samchoi604]

I rather have rock chips than touch up paint all over the hood... touch up paint looks like ass.

[MrZ]

Try with clearcoat.

But even without clearcoat, my jet black touch up paint blends better... Might be stupid advice, but did you check if it is a black sapphire, not jet black?

[ZuerstBMW]

Did you make sure you gave it a good shake?
I use small model paint brushes for my touch up and it always comes out great. Also the paint might have faded a little.

[SGxi]

You need to apply clear coat to make the colour a little less different.

The sparkling graphite is also a terrible match, but it appears once the clearcoat is applied, the match is much closer.

[halB]

Try Dr. Colorchip:

http://www.drcolorchip.com/

[m-technik]

Touchup paint ALWAYS looks like ass. Trust me, leave the rock chips or get your hood resprayed. Dont even waste your time with that crap.

[ZuerstBMW]

The only thing with getting the hood resprayed is that the paint will chip bigger if a rock hits again. If resprayed, I would clearguard it to prevent this.

[m-technik]

Originally Posted by ZuerstBMW

The only thing with getting the hood resprayed is that the paint will chip bigger if a rock hits again. If resprayed, I would clearguard it to prevent this.

Well when i say "Respray" i mean sanded, primed, painted and clearcoated by a bodyshop. If done by a proper shop, it shouldnt chip any easier than factory paint.

[NoKids]

Originally Posted by who's ur daddy?

I think you need the clearcoat to help it match better...

there are two bottles, i think the second one is the clearcoat. i applied it but dont think it made any difference.

i dont remember if i shaked the bottle or not.

[samej]

sounds stupid but try using your finger or a soft dense sponge (women's make up kits have great ones :>) and wipe the touch-up paint when you apply it. Don't try to fill in the chip! Let it dry, lightly wipe excess off the around and over the chip (sponge, polishing compound only if needed - if you have a decent wax job the paint will wipe off your clear coat), and repeat until the chip is filled in level. I polish at the end (and you can cheat by using toothpaste!) then clear coat & polish again.

[DeltaBMW'r]

Originally Posted by samej

sounds stupid but try using your finger or a soft dense sponge (women's make up kits have great ones :>) and wipe the touch-up paint when you apply it. Don't try to fill in the chip! Let it dry, lightly wipe excess off the around and over the chip (sponge, polishing compound only if needed - if you have a decent wax job the paint will wipe off your clear coat), and repeat until the chip is filled in level. I polish at the end (and you can cheat by using toothpaste!) then clear coat & polish again.

This is the method I used on my previous car... it's never the same as original but still better than the chips.

The metal flake in the paint makes it very difficult to match, but like another poster said.. make sure you shake the bottle very well before applying.. and shake it every few minutes while doing the touch-ups.

Also... it's always better to experiment and learn on a less obvious spot. I would do a lower section before I attempt the top on the hood.

[Sh0cker]

The SG paint really needs to be shaken well. I had results like yours the first time...the next time I shook it for a full minute or two and the results were MUCH better.

[SharpC]

shaking the paint will yield better results in terms of color match, but you're always going to see it when you look closely.

[SharpC]

Originally Posted by halB

Try Dr. Colorchip:

http://www.drcolorchip.com/

If this stuff works as advertised then I'm sold. the results on their site look quite dramatic.

Can you vouch for it?

[picus]

A few things.

1) BMW touch up doesn't match well. Ask me how I know?
2) The second picture is in the sun, it makes the existing paint look washed out because it is sand blasted, swirled, and generally a little tired looking.
3) The touch up is new, it looks like new paint, so it's like painting a new panel on a car with older paint. It won't match.
4) There is metallic in the paint, the metallic bits are sitting at a different direction than the OEM, which is helping to make it look darker.
5) Clearcoat will make it *darker*, that isn't what you want.

The way to make the chips disappear isn't easy, you need to sand them smooth then compound out the sanding marks. Additionally you need to compound the existing paint so it isn't swirled and doesn't look quite as sandblasted (although you can't get rid of that entirely, it's billions of tiny little indentations in the clear). Something like this:

http://www.autopia.org/forum/click-b...-56k-owie.html

Which, incidentally, was written by me.

If you aren't confident about using sandpaper, please don't do it. I'm just trying to illustrate how to make the chips go away.

[Inzane]

Originally Posted by picus

A few things.

1) BMW touch up doesn't match well. Ask me how I know?
2) The second picture is in the sun, it makes the existing paint look washed out because it is sand blasted, swirled, and generally a little tired looking.
3) The touch up is new, it looks like new paint, so it's like painting a new panel on a car with older paint. It won't match.
4) There is metallic in the paint, the metallic bits are sitting at a different direction than the OEM, which is helping to make it look darker.
5) Clearcoat will make it *darker*, that isn't what you want.

The way to make the chips disappear isn't easy, you need to sand them smooth then compound out the sanding marks. Additionally you need to compound the existing paint so it isn't swirled and doesn't look quite as sandblasted (although you can't get rid of that entirely, it's billions of tiny little indentations in the clear). Something like this:

http://www.autopia.org/forum/click-b...-56k-owie.html

Which, incidentally, was written by me.

If you aren't confident about using sandpaper, please don't do it. I'm just trying to illustrate how to make the chips go away.

Hi Picus,

Nice writeup. I don't know if you remember me but we had a few conversations on Autopia about E90 color selection a while back. You can take some credit in my final decision on going with Space Grey (vs. Crimson Red or Barbara Red).

Did you check out my picture thread in the photo gallery here?

Jason

[picus]

Originally Posted by Inzane

Hi Picus,

Nice writeup. I don't know if you remember me but we had a few conversations on Autopia about E90 color selection a while back. You can take some credit in my final decision on going with Space Grey (vs. Crimson Red or Barbara Red).

Did you check out my picture thread in the photo gallery here?

Jason

Hey Jason, I didn't, but I will.

Just looked, car looks great. I love the LCI front end.

[NoKids]

Originally Posted by picus

The way to make the chips disappear isn't easy, you need to sand them smooth then compound out the sanding marks. Additionally you need to compound the existing paint so it isn't swirled and doesn't look quite as sandblasted (although you can't get rid of that entirely, it's billions of tiny little indentations in the clear). Something like this:

If you aren't confident about using sandpaper, please don't do it. I'm just trying to illustrate how to make the chips go away.

Trust me Picus, i wont attempt to sand my paint. There must be more rock chips in my paint than stars in the universe. It's kinda depressing.

[picus]

Originally Posted by NoKids

Trust me Picus, i wont attempt to sand my paint. There must be more rock chips in my paint than stars in the universe. It's kinda depressing.

Odds are with some careful touchups, a proper sanding, and good compound it would look 100x better, but the issue then is that it'll happen again if you don't clear bra it. And will it look good enough to clear bra? Touch call. Most people just try to keep up on the big chips and leave it alone once it's sandblasted.