My E39 had the misfortune of getting into a little fender-bender a few months ago. The term fender-bender can be used here quite litreally as the damage was mostly to the front left fender With it being my daily driver and needing to use it quite often I was not in the position to send it in for repairs until only very recently.
Initially I was only going to repair the accident damage and get the necessary parts resprayed but when suddenly luck was back in my favor. Nippon Paint Malaysia offered to respray my car for me so I could try out their new Nippon Paint Nax Premila 2K Auto Refinish. Some of you probably have never resprayed your car before so I’m going to take you through the process so you can have an idea of what happens when you send your car for respraying and why it takes so long – more than 2 weeks in some cases.
The E39 has always been one of the cars that I’ve always wanted and I finally bought it fourth hand from a friend. Prices now for a 1997 model hover around low 50Ks to low 60Ks, depending on condition and how urgent the owner wants to sell the car. The first owner was a Sime Darby company and the second was an advertising agency. It was originally Silver but somewhere along the way it had been painted Sparkling Graphite, which was one of the colours offered on the pre-facelift E90.
The Sparkling Graphite paint was not in perfect condition. There were lots of stone chips on the front bumper and hood, and in one spot a big paint chip mark had started to rust. The rear two doors had lots of bubbling near the window trim and there were loads of marks on the side of the car that looked like tree sap.
So off the car went in for repainting at a place appointed by Nippon Paint. As described in one of my previous posts, first the body preparation will have to be done. I was aware of these two dimples on my boot, but little did I know that there was so much surface imperfection on the rest of the car.
Basically the imperfections will have to be filled with putty like Nax Universal Putty or Nax Filling Putty. You can see that the area with the paint bubbles at the top edge of my rear doors have also been treated appropriately. At this point the car would look so bad that you’ll find it hard to imagine it getting back to its original shiny state again but be patient, it will!
Then the car will have to be sanded down to remove some of the paint and smoothen out the service. The clear coat has to be removed, otherwise a new layer of paint will not stick properly. Above is the result. it looks kinda like a matte version of Sparkling Graphite with little pink patches around.
Areas of the body where paint is not supposed to touch are taped up. The bumpers have been removed as they will be prepared separately. Bumpers are made of different materials so they use certain different components such as Nax PP Primer, which is different from regular primer as it is designed to work with Polypropylene material such as bumpers, spoilers, and etc.
At this point, the paintshop begins to prep the surface with primer. A primer coat essentially ensures your total paint system adheres firmly to your car (a binding layer) and has other benefits such as increasing entire paint durability, and adding extra protection for the car body. The primer used for my car is the Nax 2400 2K Primer Grey Surfacer. The Nax Premila 2K Auto Refinish range actually has two different kind of body primers – the 2400 and the 1200.
Both are intended for different usages. the 2400 primer is for repainting jobs such as my car where there is already some kind of layer of paint on the car, or even for spot repair jobs. The other primer is the Nax 1200 Etching Primer and is used for baremetal surfaces, such as when you are restoring a classic car and you’ve decided to sandblast it down to baremetal. It is used as a pre-treatment for the metal or alloy. The metal has to be blasted to a minimum of SA 2.5 or optimumly SA 3.0. SA 3.0 basically means pure metal, while SA 2.5 means the metal is about 85% clean.
Nippon Paint specifies the kind of mix and thickness to use for each of its products. For example, the 2400 primer has to be mixed with a hardener and thinner in a 4:1:1 or 4:1:2 ratio. For plastic parts, an additional half part of softener has to be added too.
The optimum spray gun viscosity, pressure, gun distance, and other parameters are given to ensure the best surface possible. It is important that these settings are followed otherwise undesirable paint details such as orange peel can occur excessively. It is of course hard to prevent such defects, so they will have to be treated more effectively post-paintjob via detailing the car.
These photos were snapped as the work progressed as I kept checking back at the shop every 2 days or so and lo behold finally the new paintjob was on! In my previous post I’ve explained that a regular two-stage paintjob consists of a primer layer, a base coat where the paint actually gets its colour, and finally a clear coat.
For the basecoat, Nippon Paint specified the Nax Premila 8000 Basecoat system for my paintjob. Basically there are two different basecoats available for use in the system – the 8000 and the 7000. The 8000 Basecoat is used for metallic, pearl, and crystal colours and require a clearcoat while the 7000 system is used for solid colours and a clearcoat is optional.
Sparkling Graphite’s colour code is A22, which is considered a Mica colour (fancy name for pearlescent). Mica paint basically uses a silicate mineral called mica that is ground up and added to the paint, while metallic paint uses metal flakes in the paint.
After the basecoat has been applied, it’s time for the topcoat or clearcoat to be added. Once again, Nippon Paint has different types of clear coats for different purposes. Both are made of acrylic urethane. According to Nippon Paint, the Nax Premila 9400 Clear Coat 4:1 is a fast dry paint, suitable for spot repair work such as accident damage. The one used on my car is the Nax Premila 9600 Clear Coat 2:1 system which uses half the amount of hardener. Nippon Paint says this is a slow dry clear coat and is more suitable for resprays of the whole car. Multiple layers of clear coat may be sprayed.
Some touch-up polishing work on the paint. You have to sand it a little more wherever there’s imperfections in the clear coat, buff it and glaze it to bring out more of the shine. It’s kind of sad to see the shiny paintjob get dull again with the sanding but this disappears when everything is done.
And then finally… the car is done! Sparkling Graphite is quite an interesting colour. Like most pearlescent/Mica paints you get different shades under different lights. Sometimes the car appears to be some kind of dark Anthracite especially on the indoors, but outdoors it becomes a kind of shiny purplish grey.
I must say I am quite happy with it. The car has been really refreshed now. A big, big thanks to Nippon Paint for the paintjob.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
A very impressive paint job. Questions:
1. How much would it cost?
2. Do they really go through so many different process for every customer or special treatment for you?
Nippon Paint Malaysia, do you want to sponsor repaint my Viva? hehehe…
Lucky you Mr. Paul.
By the way, nice paint job. Thanks for the painting info.
Actually really work-intensive paintjobs include removing much more of the paint, which is required if you are changing colour. I did not have to do that as I was repainting the same colour. These processes are done by the paint shop (more towards workmanship) and not Nippon Paint (supply the paint).
walau eh, the ttitle should read – nipon pimp my car!
my car also got misfortune too…
all nippon paint guy very handsome..hehehe..(please offer me free repainting too)
nice mirror finish painting..any indicative price?
What a nice result you got there!
nice story bro!
NIPPON PAINT PIMP PAUL TAN CAR!
congratulation… DECO! DECO! DECO!
Hey Paul, How much is the cost?
How does it cost to paint an outside body of a car nowadays? My car got a few scratch and kemek and few area due to unexperience lady driver. Anyway, I want to paint to a black pearl colour. Do U guys know how much it cost in average?
how much to paint ? i was thinking paint my 7 years old Altis with same colour cos UMWT dont have this colour…
Congrats Paul,
It always nice to see a babe (a car) shines again…
Wow, what luck, mate! A new coat of paint just when you needed it the most- and that new coat definitely makes your E39 restored to its rightful glow and pristine condition! Looks like an interior car valeting is now a must to complement the beauuutiful exterior? *wink*
Cheers, Andy Lee
Ps : Can't wait to read up more on your progress with the other Beemer restoration!
One word to describe:
Beautiful.
wow, nice car u have there :-)
damn paul, what happen? a passing motor? or bump into a corner?
so nice of nippon to sponsor the paint sia. nice colour and job.
always good to see a car that has shiny reflective paint on. looks good and feels good when driving in one.
ur e39 is 520,523 or 525 ??
paul , paint quality wont be noticed straight after its done….wait a little longer…maybe 3 to 6 mnths , n see if the paint is eaily scratched or easily get stone chips…..if i wer u i wd have painted a brighter color abit….looks too dark! it doeesnt show much of the car curves….bt the color is kinda unique on the road….plus , since everything was done for free , complaining is not an option !
your car really shines Paul!
wow.. paul.. the e39 is my favourite bmw with its Mafia-style looks its a car which i would love to have no matter how old it is..
hehe.. nice post :P
I agree with Ben S-X5!!!!E39 got that mafia look!!!but is it considered a classic??I still found E39 quite modern to be called a classic.Paul,why don't u get a full AC Scnitzer bodykit??I saw a few E39 with AC bodykits n it look damn sweet!!and why dun u post some interior photo??
where u done it email me the dealer [email protected]
Aisey Paul …at least give us the indicative cost la for us prospective customers
One for similar colour and the other for change of colour …my 1 year old car badly needs a new paintjob .
By the way for BMW looks awesome now and the photo quality is pro like
Paul!
Care to mention the price at least?
wheel is from M model,nice
how do you manage the bumper, repair or replace from salvage.
heavy car ,,good rock solid.
by the way, sold off your perdana?
Paul,
nice job done to ur ride…
what are the budget quotation for the job?
interested to rejuvenate my v6…hehehe
nippon paint…i like!
I think a rough estimate was about rm3k for this job. i will check and get back to you guys.
nice paul.. nice work by the nippon pr people also ;)
now your car has the looks to match the power! ;)
Oh wow.I HAVE AN IDEA PAUL. When i need to spray my car you can pretend it's yours and them blog about how it needs nippon paint. Deal?
Paul Tan said,
October 17, 2009 @ 9:32 am
I think a rough estimate was about rm3k for this job. i will check and get back to you guys.
RM3k? Quite reasonable.
Paul, does RM3k (your estimated price) include the paint and other materials, or just the workmanship. Furthermore, the guy who did your paint job, tell lah who…
more pictures of the completed job please….
paul, u need to lower yr ride a bit=)
if is 3k that very resonable
pergh.. memang mengancam ko punya BMW..
baru cat baru dah nampak smart giler..
tapi klu kancil aku, tukar cat or pakai cat yg paling mahal pun still look same r..
huhuhuhu
syok la dapat sponsor…. keta aku dh 15 tahun cat berlapuk, nak cat pun dah x berbaloi….
another one word to describe : fantastic!
paul.. good one from nippon to step up and conduct aggressive marketing online! got dealer list but can recommend any good paint shops in JB area recommended by nippon? product is half the story.. the worksmanship also important.. somemore can nippon help give indicative labour costs or not? we are always afraid we get potong by these shops..
paul…wheres the workshop????
need to have my 12 years old W210 a new paint job…wit nippon paint of course…
yes please check the cost for us paul. Alot of old cars here in our country. A fresh paint can do wonders. My father's 27 year old iswara is in badly need of body repair and respraying. The problem is the body is damaged extensively by rust. Looking at it not sure even nippon paint can rescue my dad's iswara.
can i get this E39 around 70k now??? any use car dealer??
paul..can let us know where is the workshop?
im kinda interested with this coz im planning to repaint my ride which is red colour to crystal white colour..and im still doing survey among the paintings and workshops and etc…
thanks..
Paul get a sponsorship for the paint job. + free tyre also.
To Nippon: I badly need your paint to paint my 13 year old wira with rust bubbles on my roof. Please sponsor me because I don't have enough money to pay the paint shop. I promise to be a good boy if my wish come through
Paul: Nice paint job on your ride. Very 'firece' :D
Paul,
You have 2 BMW's??
Previous post was E30 coupe http://paultan.org/2009/09/13/birth-of-the-e30-co…
now this E39?
Nipponpaint gave you a used beemer as well:P