Got some pics here... any paint experts in the house?

[AllanS]

I took these a few days ago (and tried to keep them small!); I'm basically trying to figure out the best way to go about getting this "fixed". The paint in the rear quarters and rear right door is really bad looking- I'm not sure what the official term for it is. It looks like very fine scratches or cracks, and is only affecting those particular parts. Could this be fixed by buffing/polishing, or am I looking at needed it repainted?

So basically, if anyone know what's going on... please help!

Thanks
AllanS

[bjl4776]

I would go with a good application of compound, you would be surprised how much that can make the paint look better. Depending on how bad it is you might not be satisfied with the compound, wet sanding with a very very fine grit, but that can be dangerous and my take your gelcoat off if your not careful. Other than that your only option is to get it repainted, but i would definately get it buffed out good first, since a complete paint job would be alot more expensive

[AllanS]

Yeah, I was quoted around 1500$ from a quality shop for a repaint of the rear, with original BMW paint, and around 3k$ for the entire car.

[AZ_Jason_S]

Agree, you could wet-sand but it is dangerous becuause you could go beyond the clear coat. Probably the first thing to try is a rotary buffer. Not one of those orbitals every Autozone sells. One that spins at between 1000 and 3000 RPM (harbor freight sells one cheap). Get 2 pads, one for cutting, one for polishing. Get some Meguiars 1(fine coarse) or 2(medium coarse, more aggressive). Use that with the cutting pad. Get some Meguiars 9(Swirl remover) use that with the polishing pad. Finally get some Meguiars 7(Show Car Glaze) use that by hand with diaper rags. You could burn through your paint so you may want to ask a professional detailer to do it. You really need to be careful at the edges and corners of panels. Paint is thin, and the buffer will concentrate their. Some people tape the edges off with masking tape. Also check out Meguiars website. They have some good tutorials, you could probably even mail them your pics and get suggestions.

[winfred]

it looks like the clearcoat is starting to bust, id clay bar it then buff with glasing compound and random orbit buffer and see where it is at that point

[AllanS]

Awesome advice, thanks Jason- my father knows a guy who claims to both own, and know how to operate, such a buffer... but we're not on speaking terms at the moment :P

[AZ_Jason_S]

X

it looks like the clearcoat is starting to bust, id clay bar it then buff with glasing compound and random orbit buffer and see where it is at that point

[bahnstormer]

my 91 doesn't have a clear coat. just get some
3M rubbing compound and then a generic meguiars
or turtle wax or mothers swirl remover... =]

[632 Regal]

AZ the problem you are seeing is from a previous repair, an improper repair to boot. Could be from a couple things but Winfreds about the closest here.

My first guess would be that who ever made the paint/repair never knocked down the previous clear coat, this result is very common a few years after. My second guess would be using an incompatable paint over the existing but more likely the first scenereo.

My recommendation would be glazing compound and a wheel but doubt it will help a lot. What your seeing is the clearcoat actually cracking. If you even get the car redone it should be totally knocked down to the original color or primer, no clearcoats!

[AllanS]

Do you think I'd be better off getting the whole car redone, as opposed to just the rear? At first I thought that maybe the front had been repainted, and what I was seeing in the rear was the original, time-faded paint, but based on what you said, it could either be the exact opposite, or that it was repainted 2 seperate times, front and rear apart, and the rear wasn't done properly.

The guy at the shop I went to seemed to know what he was talking about, and explained the difference between (what he said!) was a "Maaco paint job", vs. doing it like how you said (the right way), down to the original paint or primer. He had the same opinion that you did, that it wasn't done properly and that the paint was reacting with the clearcoat.