[mirracobmx40]

My neighbor backed into my driver door and the body shop basically has to repaint the entire side of the car to blend and everything. I figured since they're pretty much painting half the car I might as well get the whole thing painted.

I've always wanted an alpine white e92 but the right one never came along. I ended up getting an arctic metallic one which I love and have since found out that its a pretty rare color.

My question is, should I repaint the car Arctic Metallic? Same color it is now.

Or

Repaint the car Alpine white with a gloss black roof?

I have attached some photoshops I made of what the car could look like (with current rims and mods) so let me know what you guys think. (Also added a photo of the wrecked door.)

(Resale value is a minimal concern as I don't plan on selling the car. But absolutely tanking the value of it due to a paint change isn't necessarily something I want especially if Arctic Metallic happens to be a sought after color. Also, This is being done at a professional paint and body shop with a dealership. Not some Maaco job)

[Fiasco]

If your neighbor admitted fault and you're gonna be able to get them to foot the bill for the whole car paint job, go crazy.

If not and you have to pay for this yourself, don't listen to them, the shop fed you an upsell.

That quarter panel is in pristine condition. A paint technician that knows what he's doing would only need to repaint a new door panel and blend in the surrounding area. Take it to a few paint shops and get multiple opinions.

I notice some scratches on the left side of your front bumper, don't let that be the reason you paint the whole thing either. Depending how deep those are they can likely buff out, and even if they are deep, a professional buff can greatly reduce the appearance of them.

[mirracobmx40]

Originally Posted by Fiasco

Don't listen to them, they fed you an upsell.

That quarter panel is in pristine condition. A paint technician that knows what he's doing would only need to repaint a new door panel and blend in the surrounding area. Take it to a few paint shops and get multiple opinions.

I notice some scratches on the left side of your front bumper, don't let that be the reason you paint the whole thing either. Depending how deep those are they can likely buff out, and even if they are deep, a professional buff can greatly reduce the appearance of them.

My roof has severe sun damage. I'm also putting on new skirts, mtech front bumper and mtech rear. So it's kind of a wash having all those parts painted vs just painting the whole thing.

The clear around the whole car has gotten pretty thin too so to fix it all the right way, a repaint is pretty much the only option.

[BSM n54iS]

Go crazy and get a BMW Individual color

[tcphoto]

They will need to paint the door jams, under the hood and more, I changed the color of one car and will not do it again. Do the repair and repaint along with the bumpers but I wouldn’t change the color.

[RayLivingston]

Problem is, it WILL be obvious the cars color has been changed, unless the shop does a LOT more work to do a LOT more disassembly and paints all the door and trunk openings, glass, and rubber seals, etc, and some painting under the hood, etc. I wouldn't do it.

[mirracobmx40]

Originally Posted by tcphoto

They will need to paint the door jams, under the hood and more, I changed the color of one car and will not do it again. Do the repair and repaint along with the bumpers but I wouldn't change the color.

What made you not want to do it again?

I'm not having the shop paint under the hood/engine bay as it won't really bother me if those aren't the same color if I do end up going white.

The quotes to repaint the same color vs white are almost the same (within a couple hundred of each other) and insurance is paying for it all + rental while it's in the shop so it really is coming down to preference.

A repaint alpine white wouldn't tank the value would it?

[krhodes1]

Originally Posted by mirracobmx40

What made you not want to do it again?

I'm not having the shop paint under the hood/engine bay as it won't really bother me if those aren't the same color if I do end up going white.

The quotes to repaint the same color vs white are almost the same (within a couple hundred of each other) and insurance is paying for it all + rental while it's in the shop so it really is coming down to preference.

A repaint alpine white wouldn't tank the value would it?

Realistically, the value is already tanked by having been hit in the first place. Changing the color will certainly make that worse unless it is done absolutely properly with much disassembly done. And even then, the fact that it's been painted will be a big turnoff to a lot of buyers.

Ultimately, do what makes you happy.

[mirracobmx40]

Originally Posted by krhodes1

Realistically, the value is already tanked by having been hit in the first place. Changing the color will certainly make that worse unless it is done absolutely properly with much disassembly done. And even then, the fact that it's been painted will be a big turnoff to a lot of buyers.

Ultimately, do what makes you happy.

Still a clean title, no previous accidents. So I don't really think this door being hit tanked the value per se.

Sounds good though. I'll probably have the shop paint some speed shapes in Arctic Metallic and Alpine White (maybe an individual color too?) and I'll kind of go from there.

[Serf27]

The shop is correct in painting the entire left side.
I am not sure if the insurance company is paying for a COMPLETE re paint of the entire car. That makes no sense.

If the price to repaint the left side and the price to repaint the car white are close to each other, I would be worried of how well of a job they would do. It’s definitely not a couple hundred dollar difference.

Paint it whatever color you want. Enjoy it while you own it. If done right, it won’t affect the value much later on, but it is a lot of work to do it right.

Engine bay being a different color you could live with. You will hate having different color door jams and trunk jam.

[mirracobmx40]

Originally Posted by Serf27

The shop is correct in painting the entire left side.
I am not sure if the insurance company is paying for a COMPLETE re paint of the entire car. That makes no sense.

If the price to repaint the left side and the price to repaint the car white are close to each other, I would be worried of how well of a job they would do. It’s definitely not a couple hundred dollar difference.

Paint it whatever color you want. Enjoy it while you own it. If done right, it won’t affect the value much later on, but it is a lot of work to do it right.

Engine bay being a different color you could live with. You will hate having different color door jams and trunk jam.

Insurance estimate was based off a bmw certified repair shop. So the quote was pretty high tbh but insurance wrote a check nonetheless. My buddy works at a dealer and hooked it up with their body shop guy who I've used before for repairs on other cars. So the quality is there for sure.

You're correct though, insurance isn't technically paying for the whole respray, I just found a great deal through connections. He ran through the numbers with me. It really is a few hundred dollar difference (without doing the hood/bay and trunk jam)

But yeah I think white would be cool especially in the AZ heat. And AW seems to be the most sought after color if I do end up selling the car later on.

I'll keep thinking on it but I'll be sure to post some pics once it's done.

[Serf27]

The quarter panel looks untouched. You could find another door in the same color and be fine. Used Bmw panels tend to match very well. Then just paint the roof black.

[TyroneShoelaces]

No way I would repaint the car a common factory color. AW while fine, but is really common. I would just buy an AW car rather than have a mismatch engine bay etc..Go something unique or individual rather than AW, but I'd stay your current factory color.

[haaken675]

Out of curiosity, would you mind sharing what the cost for the respray is? I am looking to have my car resprayed as the clear is essentially gone and need to fix a bunch of other little issues. Considering doing a color change to nardo gray....

[oVeRdOsE.]

Originally Posted by RayLivingston

Problem is, it WILL be obvious the cars color has been changed, unless the shop does a LOT more work to do a LOT more disassembly and paints all the door and trunk openings, glass, and rubber seals, etc, and some painting under the hood, etc. I wouldn't do it.

agree.

changing a car color, at least go with more unique colors. I know BMW got fancy ''cool'' name, but white it white and grey is grey, and even if they put a touch of sparkle, they blend with all other 90% black/grey/white cars on the road.

[mirracobmx40]

Originally Posted by haaken675

Out of curiosity, would you mind sharing what the cost for the respray is? I am looking to have my car resprayed as the clear is essentially gone and need to fix a bunch of other little issues. Considering doing a color change to nardo gray....

It's going to be around $2k give or take a few hundred depending on which color I go with. This is on the lower end for a whole paint job though. I'm just getting a deal because the owner of the shop is a friend of a friend.

[mirracobmx40]

Originally Posted by TyroneShoelaces

No way I would repaint the car a common factory color. AW while fine, but is really common. I would just buy an AW car rather than have a mismatch engine bay etc..Go something unique or individual rather than AW, but I'd stay your current factory color.

Finding an Alpine White car was always the goal. But they were all either too high mileage or just complete basket cases. Plus, all the mods I've put into the engine to dial the car to exactly how I want it makes selling it for a white car not really an option. Maybe I will do a BMW individual color but I really like the look of white with black roof and black rims. Storm trooper style. And the BMW Individual whites seem a little girly to me because they're heavy on metallic flake.

[BSM n54iS]

Originally Posted by mirracobmx40

It's going to be around $2k give or take a few hundred depending on which color I go with. This is on the lower end for a whole paint job though. I'm just getting a deal because the owner of the shop is a friend of a friend.

AND your neighbor is paying for the other half of it also right?

[tcphoto]

I wasn't thrilled with the results of my color change from years ago, I learned quickly that you get what you pay for. It looks like a door swap would solve 90% of your damage and perhaps wrapping it would be a good alternative.

[mirracobmx40]

Originally Posted by BdSM n54iS

AND your neighbor is paying for the other half of it also right?

The insurance settlement was based off an estimate from a BMW certified repair center. So the quote came in higher than it realistically costs to fix the door. I can chose to have my car repaired at any shop I want so insurance wrote a check for the estimate and I'm going to a cheaper shop. (but only because I trust the work and I can get more done for the same cost.)

[mirracobmx40]

Originally Posted by tcphoto

I wasn't thrilled with the results of my color change from years ago, I learned quickly that you get what you pay for. It looks like a door swap would solve 90% of your damage and perhaps wrapping it would be a good alternative.

The roof is toast and the rest of the paint on the car isn't great. I could wrap it but that would kind of be like putting a bandaid on the degrading paint. If half the car needs to be repainted to blend the door, and the roof needs a repaint then I might as well just paint the whole thing.

[haaken675]

Originally Posted by mirracobmx40

It's going to be around $2k give or take a few hundred depending on which color I go with. This is on the lower end for a whole paint job though. I'm just getting a deal because the owner of the shop is a friend of a friend.

That definitely is on the lower end cost wise. I have been quoted around $3,800-4,500 for a color change. I have had people tell me thats really low, and others say thats normal. Paint definitely does seem to vary, lol.