1990 E34 535i Sport Paintwork Restoration

[steviec_lj]

Hi guys,

Quick one, although it could turn out to be quite a lengthy thread depending on views.

I have recently puchased the above mentioned vehicle, which is in need of some TLC, both to the engine/underbody parts and the paintwork. The mechanical side of things I can take care of quite easily over the next couple of weeks.

However, my issues are with the paintwork, which over the past 10 years seems to have been neglected quite a bit, and is now faded quite badly in places. The previous owner simply applied T-Cut every time he washed it, which has resulted in paint being removed on delicate corners of the roof, leaving me with Orange coloured streaks.

There are also a few scratches and minor rust spots which require some attention, but these will be looked at with a flap disc, some stopper, high build primer and a bit of a top coat.

Anyway, back to the paintwork issue. After all of the repairs have been carried out, what would be the best way to restore the paint work on the car? Its a Zinnobar Red I believe, but will check this in the morning.

Any suggestions are greatly welcomed.

Oh, I do have the equipment and space to do a full blow over on the car, although I have never had the chance to do the treatment to a car before, so wouldn't know where to start.

Cheers,
Steve

 

[Will1983]

i think if your going to be chopping out rust and the like the car will look a lot better with a full blow over, patches of paint never look right, especially on red.

also if the previous owner has been using T-Cut excessively the original paint thickness is likely to be quite thin. mind you BMW paint is renowned for being very hard and usually pretty thick unlike Japanese cars which you can read the paper though.

 

[steviec_lj]

Hi Will, and thanks for the reply.

I have noticed on other BMW's of around the same age (of which I have 2 covered up in the garage) that the paint is extremely hard! Also, the Lexus sat on the drive, like you say has paper thin paint, which not only can you read the paper through, disintegrates under the pressure of general road grime and wind.

I don't necessarily think there will be much rust to be cut out, as the 2nd hand spares market for this model is still quite active and flooded with a majority of good quality parts, so replacements for most of the damaged/rusted parts on this vehicle are available, sadly though, not in quite the same shade of red. So I'm starting to think that I need to learn how to spray to a good standard and also set up the compressed air system in my garage properly.

One issue I have come across with owning an E34 535i Sport is the majority of parts on the vehicle are completely different to the E34 range, as this was stated to be the longest and widest BMW made in the E34 series. Oh joy, not only are the running costs through the roof, but so are parts prices! Well, it's going to be sideways everywhere from now on.

 

[GeorgeB]

After all of the repairs have been carried out, what would be the best way to restore the paint work on the car? Its a Zinnobar Red I believe, but will check this in the morning.

If the present 'worst case' is orange streaks, it suggest the numerous layers of primer and undercoat, or whatever, are still intact. I'd just fill any scratches and dents before rubbing it down lightly, and then spray red on top of red.

You'll obviously need to use primers on any repairs you do down to bare metal, so it would then become red on top of perhaps 95% original red, and 5% new primer.

I wish I knew how to build up car paintwork to be as high quality and long lasting as BMW paintwork on the E34 series, so there's no way I'd take the whole car back to bare metal.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

I've had a couple of e34s, great cars!!

You could try a clay bar + lube to remove the accumulated grime etc, this will leave the paintwork silky and give you a base on which to start polishing.

For MUCH info/advice pop over to Detailing World, but be sure you've got a good supply of tea/coffee 'cos you'll be a while...... If you can find someone with a Paint Thickness Gauge in your area that'd let know how much you had to play with prior to starting. I have one but I'm too far away.....

Or, log on to http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/seek-advice.html to read a 'stage-by-stage' turorial which will take you through all the processes.

Btw, If you're interested I have a new [in boxes] set of spark plugs for the 535 which I bought for mine but never got fitted before I sold her.

 

[Will1983]

+1 for the clay bar treatment, i thought my car was clean before i used the clay but it wasn't, loads of muck came off with it and when polished and waxed the outcome was amazing!

make sure you read the how tos on using it first though, you can end up doing more harm than good if you do it wrong. Meguiars Quik clay kit is sold in Halfrauds on their 3for2 range.