Costs for whole car "blow over" respray

[carreauchompeur]

Folks,

I popped into a body shop yesterday to get rough prices for some paintwork on my E36 M3. Basically, I NEED to respray the bootlid as it had paintwork quite early in its life and the lacquer is failing .

I also identified small patches of corrosion on the panel beneath the bootlid, and a nasty stone chip which is bubbling slightly on the bottom part of one door.

Aside from this I was thinking that the bonnet and wing tops could benefit from a refresh.

Basically, the bodyshop are saying that even the small blemishes need to be "whole panel" jobs.

I'm not convinced, but it did get me thinking that it could be easiest to simply respray the car. The paintwork overall is in very good condition, just with the usual minor age-related scratches etc.

Assuming that it's only the real "problem" panels which require significant preparation, how much might one expect to pay for a fairly low-key respray?

Car is Cosmos Black.

Cheers.

[littleredrooster]

My local spray-gun genius reckons about £50 per panel, more for bonnet, for a tidy-up job which does not need lots of prep.

[robdcfc]

I charge around £1500 to do that kind of respray, problem is you cant put a proper guarantee on it as the previous paint is obviosly not attached to the car correctly.

Rob

[grumpy52]

Hardly such a thing as a blow over these days,as in all things you get what you pay for,basic colour only and you do all the prep can be had for about £800-£1000 for whole car.
If its remove trim and proper prep without any repairs the price starts to climb then add repairs and it soon gets out of control,paint costs lots and lots and its getting harder to run at a profit ,especially if doing insurance co work.
Good luck ,if you find a good guy ,look after him !

[carreauchompeur]

Thanks, it's food for thought. The boot lid is the only "defective" paintwork, the rest is just dings that have been picked up over the years. I'm quite relaxed about it as it was picked up on the previous owner's RAC report from 2006 so was probably just a vandalism-related respray of the panel- Lacquer just isn't right.

Would me doing the prep work decrease the cost?

[jones325i]

You mention corrosion on the the rear panel (below the boot shut line) - if you haven't already, it's worth taking the boot seal off and checking how bad it is. The flange along the lower part of the boot aperture that the seal pushes onto is formed where two skins meet (i.e. the rear panel is made of two pressings welded together.

My very early E36 (1991) 325i saloon went in this area in the early 2000s. Corrosion had started inside the flange that the seal pushes onto so couldn't really be ground off. I took the plunge and had a new rear panel put in by a car restoration garage. At the time the car was very tidy, low mileage, family owned since '95 but still it was about £800 to get this done... I did keep the car another 9 years after this though.

Hopefully yours is only surface and not in the flange. The early E36s (91/92 so pre M3) seem terrible for rust around the rear.

Here's some pics of the job.

One area of rust:



New panel assembly going on the car (note the scorch marks on the 3/4 panel when the brazing has been done at the join.)



View from inside of the new rear panel (the two skins are supplied already assembled)



Shot of the poor old rear panel assembly

[carreauchompeur]

Ouch, don't show me things like that!

I **think** it's only surface rust on the outside where it's been scratched, certainly nowhere near the join/seals but will have a look. This, along with the bootlid, is the main bit I want to sort.

[kayzee]

robdcfc said:

I charge around £1500 to do that kind of respray, problem is you cant put a proper guarantee on it as the previous paint is obviosly not attached to the car correctly.

Rob

Jeez... I got a whole car respray, with bumper repairs and in a different colour for £550. Make sure you shop around!

[DocArbathnot]

kayzee said:

Jeez... I got a whole car respray, with bumper repairs and in a different colour for £550. Make sure you shop around!

That is ridiculous

Edited by DocArbathnot on Thursday 21st February 15:15

[cjb1]

Consider a wrap?

[Output Flange]

Ah yes, the quick blow-over...









Best £5k I ever spent

[Six Fiend]

Chomper old chap have you worked through the list of the usual SW favourites?

[DaveEssex]

kayzee said:

robdcfc said:

I charge around £1500 to do that kind of respray, problem is you cant put a proper guarantee on it as the previous paint is obviosly not attached to the car correctly.

Rob

Jeez... I got a whole car respray, with bumper repairs and in a different colour for £550. Make sure you shop around!

What a total waste of £550. You would have got just as good a life out of painting it with a brush and Crown Exterior Gloss.

[MysteryLemon]

robdcfc said:

I charge around £1500 to do that kind of respray, problem is you cant put a proper guarantee on it as the previous paint is obviosly not attached to the car correctly.

Rob

Just out of curiosity, where does that price actually come from?

I'm assuming a blow over envolves stripping the car, masking up, cleaning and keying the current surface and spraying over however many coats of paint.

Does the cost come from materials or is the majority labour? How long would a "blow over" take in man hours?

Edited by MysteryLemon on Thursday 21st February 15:35

[jones325i]

Output Flange said:

Best £5k I ever spent

Looks fab; fair play to you!

[carreauchompeur]

cjb1 said:

Consider a wrap?

Thanks, don't really want to change colour though and the bonnet/dings would still need prepping...

[MysteryLemon]

carreauchompeur said:

Thanks, don't really want to change colour though and the bonnet/dings would still need prepping...

Get a good condition bonnet off ebay/scrap yard, then wrap it.

[Raize]

MysteryLemon said:

Does the cost come from materials or is the majority labour? How long would a "blow over" take in man hours?

Pure profit obviously.

[750turbo]

DaveEssex said:

kayzee said:

robdcfc said:

I charge around £1500 to do that kind of respray, problem is you cant put a proper guarantee on it as the previous paint is obviosly not attached to the car correctly.

Rob

Jeez... I got a whole car respray, with bumper repairs and in a different colour for £550. Make sure you shop around!

What a total waste of £550. You would have got just as good a life out of painting it with a brush and Crown Exterior Gloss.

Yep!

Even 15 years ago you were into 4 figs for a proper job.

Oh how I miss it all - NOT!

[carreauchompeur]

Hmm, I could do it in a horrific colour I suppose

How much for a decent wrap? Part of me thinks a bit of selective paint fluffing from a decent bodyshop might be a better use of cash...