[BMW335icoupe]

Is it as good as everyone says. I just purchased some and want to try it this week. What is the best way to prep the paint.

Thanks.

[kjang]

I just use a strong batch of diluted IPA after washing and claying the area.

[Surly73]

Originally Posted by BMW335icoupe

Is it as good as everyone says. I just purchased some and want to try it this week. What is the best way to prep the paint.

Thanks.

I've had pretty good luck with it on BMW Barritz Blue and, so far, Sparkling Graphite.

Don't expect the are to be flawless like factory-fresh paint. The "three foot" view is excellent, however. Generally I tend to strongly, strongly prefer to keep factory paint whenever possible. I know there are people out there respraying hoods and fenders annually, that's just not me.

My Barritz Blue E39 is below. The photo left side is Colorchipped, the right is not. There are two photos - one has had the contrast "pushed" to show chips.

Indoors




Direct sunlight (the fogginess on the left just needed more buffing, it's not a defect)




Hope this helps.

[BMW335icoupe]

Thanks for the tip!!!!

[BMW335icoupe]

Originally Posted by Surly73

I've had pretty good luck with it on BMW Barritz Blue and, so far, Sparkling Graphite.

Don't expect the are to be flawless like factory-fresh paint. The "three foot" view is excellent, however. Generally I tend to strongly, strongly prefer to keep factory paint whenever possible. I know there are people out there respraying hoods and fenders annually, that's just not me.

My Barritz Blue E39 is below. The photo left side is Colorchipped, the right is not. There are two photos - one has had the contrast "pushed" to show chips.

Indoors




Direct sunlight (the fogginess on the left just needed more buffing, it's not a defect)




Hope this helps.

Yeah thanks so much!!!! It really did help a lot. Thanks for providing photos. I am going to probably do it Friday so we will see how it goes.

Thanks.

[Surly73]

Originally Posted by BMW335icoupe

Yeah thanks so much!!!! It really did help a lot. Thanks for providing photos. I am going to probably do it Friday so we will see how it goes.

Thanks.

Generally, unless they improperly mixed your paint, it's up to you how good it is. I can see in my photos that I missed a couple of chips on the left. That's not the doctor's fault Really large pits will be tough to do but the usual chips should be OK. My dad got some chips on a dealer-painted replacement hood and they looked like moon craters, with shattered and upheaved clearcoat around the strike. Dr. Colorchip didn't do well on those but how could it? The non-factory paint really took rock hits way different than the factory paint does.

One thing they don't tell you about is lighting. When I use DRC I usually back my car into the garage and bounce diffuse light (like the sky/clouds - not direct sun) off of the car at a steep angle. On my Barritz Blue I was able to easily see the effect of the final leveling step and see clearly when it started/stopped smearing and how much more rubbing I needed to do. With the light bouncing method the chips look like comets as you buff over with the smoothing compound. It's hard to describe, but ideal lighting conditions should be described in the instructions as it really affects the results.

Looking at these pics makes me miss my E39...