I have a hellcat red 1998 z3. Any one know the color of the trunk paint. It doesn't look red but I don't think it is primer color either. I want to repaint the battery area back to original.
Thank for any help
Bob
Thank for any help
Bob
trunk Paint
- Thread starter BOB1948
- Start date
The actual battery compartment has an protective underseal type coating so looks different to main boot/trunk internals. If the surface is sound you can overspray it with base coat.
I've always thought the other internals to be base coat without a clear lacquer top coat - certainly looks that way on mine. The general Helrot colour code is 314 but there are a few sub codes check the ident label on your suspension turret.
I've always thought the other internals to be base coat without a clear lacquer top coat - certainly looks that way on mine. The general Helrot colour code is 314 but there are a few sub codes check the ident label on your suspension turret.
I've wondered about the "flat" finish in both the trunk and engine compartment too. We have a small repair shop in Oregon and I look at every BMW
I've wondered about the "flat" finish in both the engine compartment and trunk too. I have a small repair shop in Portland, Oregon and I've looked at almost every later BMW that comes thru and they all seem to have been assembled that way. I've read that the Z cars were painted after most of the assembly work was done so not clear coating those areas that aren't normally visible may have been a cost cutting measure. For what its worth we had a Mercedes SUV (ML350) in yesterday and the engine compartment had the same type of finish so that may be the standard of assembly in Europe these days
Zed Carer
Zorg Addict
The "flat" paint is the coat that the completed frame was dipped in at the factory before assembly with the base and laquer coats being added at a later stage. When the local BMW bodyshop repaired the boot welds on my 2.8 they had to mix the paint themselves as it was a factory only paint and was not available to dealers, etc.
I assume you had the problem of the diff to chassis welds breaking apart. From what I have been able to determine that's a fairly rare occurence and its very expensive and involved to repair. Are you aware of anything in particular that leads to this problem? If its engine related why don't all the M models fail? I would assume auto crossing and/or driver's schools might be a factor but I've seen cars used for both that have no problems-it almost seems to be the "luck of the draw" situation. In general BMW denies that the problem even exists and when it occurs they usually blame driver abuse of the car-which certainly sounds more like Porsche than BMW. I've had my 2.8 on our hoist several times and have had each of our techs examine the trunk floor and they, to this point, see nothing (thank God). Your thoughts on this would be appreciated. When your trunk was painted was the finish as "flat" as the factory and was the shop able to mix a good match? Were there any issues arising from the "galvanized" portion of the chassis? Thanks for your time
Zed Carer
Zorg Addict
In my case the boot welds were showing signs of failure but there were no other problems - Details Here
There were some lengthy discussions a few years ago - Details Here
Thanks for pointing me to this discussion its very interesting and illuminating, I'm going to spend more time going over each post but I didn't want you to think I was ignoring your help. What amazes me is that BMW (in europe?) recognizes the problem and tries to rectify it on an individual basis. That is the direct opposite of what I've heard here in the U.S. and is very encouraging. One brief question and I'll leave you alone. Do you think the 2.8 roadster is an "easier" car to live with on a daily basis than the larger engine models (the M in particular)?
You tube it! I remember seeing a couple of clips on you tube reference this and some repairs especially on the M3 saloon but I do recall a clip on the Z3 as well. I think it is repairable but not a job for the faint hearted and I would expect deep pockets would be a requirement.
Zed Carer
Zorg Addict
My own opinion is that the 2.8 (& possibly the 3.0) are probably easier to live with on a daily basis than a ///M. My wife bought herself a 1.9 M43 in Jan 2001 and she kept that for nearly 7 years before trading it against the Z4. After the Z3 had gone I missed it and after looking around decided that I wanted one of the last 2.8M52TUs as the engine is legendary and the majority of the car is "old school" so even I can take it apart and put it back together again.
If it is only the boot welds that are failing; i.e. no cracks in the diff mount, etc then some people have found garages who strengthen and reweld the boot floor for around £300.
Back to the original question regarding paint in the boot (trunk).
The modern paint process is generally degrease the body, zinc phosphate dip, cathodic electrophoretic dip (ED) paint followed by baking, PVC or PU seal joints, PVC or PU underbody coating and bake again. The foregoing steps give the main corrosion protection. The car is now ready for cosmetic finishing first is the primer or surfacer which helps give a smooth surface and partially protects the ED coating from UV which would cause it to break down. Next is the basecoat which gives the colour and sparkle to metallic colours, finally external surfaces are protected with clearcoat which protects the basecoat from chemical and physical attack and gives additional UV protection whilst making the car looks nice and shiny (unless it is matt of course). The car will be baked once or twice more during the latter stages depending on the manufacturer and site.
The inner surfaces on my silver Z3 look to be finished in the primer coat only. Basecoat and clearcoat are not requred for internal surfaces. There could be some variation for other colours, however, I would expect most to be primer finished.
The modern paint process is generally degrease the body, zinc phosphate dip, cathodic electrophoretic dip (ED) paint followed by baking, PVC or PU seal joints, PVC or PU underbody coating and bake again. The foregoing steps give the main corrosion protection. The car is now ready for cosmetic finishing first is the primer or surfacer which helps give a smooth surface and partially protects the ED coating from UV which would cause it to break down. Next is the basecoat which gives the colour and sparkle to metallic colours, finally external surfaces are protected with clearcoat which protects the basecoat from chemical and physical attack and gives additional UV protection whilst making the car looks nice and shiny (unless it is matt of course). The car will be baked once or twice more during the latter stages depending on the manufacturer and site.
The inner surfaces on my silver Z3 look to be finished in the primer coat only. Basecoat and clearcoat are not requred for internal surfaces. There could be some variation for other colours, however, I would expect most to be primer finished.
Did mine for £75 , still holding many donuts later,can't say that the M is more expensive to run than the 2.8 unless for fuel
Zed Carer
Zorg Addict
I've seriously considered getting a ///M but research showed potential significant (to me) additional costs: front discs £250 to 300 for the M compared with £80 to 100 for the 2.8, more mundane is the outside temperature sensor £100 for the M vs £20 for the 2.8. My local BM specialist does menu pricing for services and the M is more expensive especially for Insp II. So as a long term (15+ years) car the M IMO would be more expensive than the 2.8 and potentially much more expensive; e.g. Vanos.
Pretty sure your trunk paint wont be primer or basecoat. I had some mixed by paint factors. Paint was 2-pack with a matting agent added. Colour match is assured if they use the colour sampling gun (or whatever its called!).
Aaahh you got me,I'm not that good at forward planning ,I'm lucky to do 3000 miles a year in the M,and in 15 years I'll be 70 so I'm hoping the extra costs don't come until I can save up a bit lol.
This is probably the best route for a matching refinish paint. This will not be the same paint as the original factory finish but a good paint factor will give a good match.
The refinishing industry and private owners don't have same facility as BMW to bake the paint the original type of paint properly. 2K paint is used in the aftermarket applications to allow lower temperature or air drying. Some OEMs use 2K for clearcoat as it provides a harder wearing high gloss finish finish.