[Horseman]

Hey ya'll. I've been teasing it for quite some time, but I'm finally at the point where I'm ready to pull the trigger on trading up my 30i to an M40i LCI.

I'm a bit torn right now on whether or not I want to go with Portimao Blue or stick with White. Love the white btw, but blue was always my first choice and Misano was too blue for me and the other blue for 30i was only available without the M Sports Package.

That being said, what has been your experience thus far with the 3-stage paint in terms of how well it holds up. Have you had to repair it at all at any point and did you feel it was way too expensive?

I ask, because I've had 2 incidents since I owned the car. One was my own fault and the other was a relatively small fender bender because some idiot decided he wanted my lane.

I'm a little worried about what the downsides would be to getting a 3-stage paint.

[RigaTony1982]

This thought has never once crossed my mind. Buy the color you like. Don’t worry about something that may or may not happen (potential repainting). If you have to repair it, that’s what your paying all that money to your insurance company for .

[Horseman]

Originally Posted by RigaTony1982

This thought has never once crossed my mind. Buy the color you like. Don’t worry about something that may or may not happen (potential repainting). If you have to repair it, that’s what your paying all that money to your insurance company for .

I hear ya. I'm still very much leaning toward Portimao blue. BMW themselves actually reminded me when they were repairing my car this last month. We had a conversation when i went to pick it up and told her my plans and such. Didn't even occur to me the additional cost of a 3-stage paint.

[RigaTony1982]

Originally Posted by Horseman

I hear ya. I'm still very much leaning toward Portimao blue. BMW themselves actually reminded me when they were repairing my car this last month. We had a conversation when i went to pick it up and told her my plans and such. Didn't even occur to me the additional cost of a 3-stage paint.

FWIW, someone hit my wife’s 3-month old X3 in our parking garage (left a note thankfully), and it’s Black Sapphire Metallic. She had it repaired at an authorized BMW repair center, and you’d never know. Everything was picked up by insurance. I think you’ll be fine if you go Portimao.

It’s a great color and was on my short list when I ordered mine. I’ve seen it in person on the Z4 and it fits the car really well.

[Horseman]

Originally Posted by RigaTony1982

FWIW, someone hit my wife’s 3-month old X3 in our parking garage (left a note thankfully), and it’s Black Sapphire Metallic. She had it repaired at an authorized BMW repair center, and you’d never know. Everything was picked up by insurance. I think you’ll be fine if you go Portimao.

It’s a great color and was on my short list when I ordered mine. I’ve seen it in person on the Z4 and it fits the car really well.

I've seen how Portimao Blue looks on an 8 series, but not on the Z4. I saw someone on Facebook that appears to have gotten the Portimao Blue with magma interior and i NEED PICTURES of that ASAP! Going this weekend to try and put in my order.

[RigaTony1982]

Originally Posted by Horseman

I've seen how Portimao Blue looks on an 8 series, but not on the Z4. I saw someone on Facebook that appears to have gotten the Portimao Blue with magma interior and i NEED PICTURES of that ASAP! Going this weekend to try and put in my order.

That would have been the combo I went with had I ordered Portimao.

Try looking on Autotrader or Cars.com and see if any are for sale with that combination. They usually have decent pictures posted.

[SpeedyATL]

I worry about repair issues with Matte paints, but not with the standard gloss and metallic paints. A GOOD modern shop can match color. etc well, but the matte paints are a whole different challenge to match.

With a couple of recent repairs under our belt, the bigger issue I've found is just plain quality prep work from the body shop, regardless of paint or color. Both repair jobs we've had done in the past 6 months had significant dust in the paint and inconsistent orange peel. Both were supposedly good shops. One was a BMW certified shop and one was not.

The first pass of both shops was total crap. One was fixed in round 2, the other was a lease turn in and the dealership had to accept the shitty work because their in-house BMW certified shop did it.

[Westside Guy]

Originally Posted by Horseman

I hear ya. I'm still very much leaning toward Portimao blue. BMW themselves actually reminded me when they were repairing my car this last month. We had a conversation when i went to pick it up and told her my plans and such. Didn't even occur to me the additional cost of a 3-stage paint.

Have you considered putting PPF on your new car? This will help to minimize any potential rock chip damage which would probably drive you crazy!

[Horseman]

Originally Posted by Westside Guy

Have you considered putting PPF on your new car? This will help to minimize any potential rock chip damage which would probably drive you crazy!

Without question. But it's not an end all be all. Doing PPF and ceramic like I did with my current Z4.

[Westside Guy]

Allover PPF or just the front?

[Horseman]

I did Hood, front, lights, mirror caps and rocker panels before.

[Westside Guy]

Originally Posted by Horseman

I did Hood, front, lights, mirror caps and rocker panels before.

You should also do the A pillars. 😉

[bacampbe]

We had Portimao Blue on an M340 for 3 years. Never noticed a problem with it, but we were lucky and never needed body work. We liked the color so much I ordered it on my M40i that just started production today.

[Horseman]

Originally Posted by Westside Guy

You should also do the A pillars. 😉

My bad I forgot to mention those. Yes did those too

[BEAR-AvHistory]

Think it depends on the color as to how hard it is to match the repair to the rest of the car.

Only downside is it can be hard to match on a repair. Personal experience my Sapphire Black had the drivers door hit by getting backed into. Was in the car so no issues about who did it. My BMW store had its own shop & the repair was prefect.

Other side of the coin. When the Cobra was painted the specialty shop that painted advised against a 3 step paint job (damage repair) even though they got paid a lot extra for it. Went with it anyway. Thought this might be interesting.

Why its costs more & is hard to fix. Car has Jaguar silver stripes & Dodge dark red main color.



First whole car is painted silver.



Then the color coat goes on. After that a number of clear coats go over the top.

[ebirotedu]

Is your Cobra replica a Factory Five?

I happened to see this video recently and it's got the wheels turning....

The great thing about the FF kits is that you build it yourself. The bad part is that you build it yourself.

[BEAR-AvHistory]

Originally Posted by ebirotedu

Is your Cobra replica a Factory Five?

I happened to see this video recently and it's got the wheels turning....

The great thing about the FF kits is that you build it yourself. The bad part is that you build it yourself.

Yes its a 2014 Mk-IV complete kit. Took 13 months from off the truck to license plates issued. You screw up the build & its all on you. NO factory warranty or service.



One thing thats good is if you elect to buy a Coyote from FORD Racing it is warrantied for 2 years or 24,000 miles. FWIW 488WHP on a DynoJet. Most likely at 10% loss its about 535BHP at the crank.

[ebirotedu]

Very nice! 13 months is quite a bit faster than some of the other YT builds I've watched.

Recently I was looking at some of the Ford Performance crate engines. Initially I thought it would be kind of cool to put a Voodoo 5.2L flat-plane crate motor into a Cobra, but the only FP kit is for offroad/race use only. And it's a mere $27k or so.

The Coyote is ideal, I think. If I do decide to build one, that's the route I'd go.

[BEAR-AvHistory]

Originally Posted by ebirotedu

Very nice! 13 months is quite a bit faster than some of the other YT builds I've watched.

Recently I was looking at some of the Ford Performance crate engines. Initially I thought it would be kind of cool to put a Voodoo 5.2L flat-plane crate motor into a Cobra, but the only FP kit is for offroad/race use only. And it's a mere $27k or so.

The Coyote is ideal, I think. If I do decide to build one, that's the route I'd go.

With out totally derailing this thread. I took the body to the painter Whitby in Greensboro NC shortly after I got it. While they were letting the composite cure then painted I was building the chassis.

Saved a lot of time over the guys that built the chassis first then either did or shipped the car for painting.

[Horseman]

Originally Posted by BEAR-AvHistory

Think it depends on the color as to how hard it is to match the repair to the rest of the car.

Only downside is it can be hard to match on a repair. Personal experience my Sapphire Black had the drivers door hit by getting backed into. Was in the car so no issues about who did it. My BMW store had its own shop & the repair was prefect.

So my local BMW dealership also has an inhouse body shop too. Took my Z4 there after the accident in early May.

[DM6]

I found my 30i in Glacier Silver paint to be incredibly soft on the front bumper and hood. I had cuts, knicks, gouges, and scrapes all over at 30k miles from regular highway driving. Drove me nuts.

Get the color of your choice, then slap some PPF on that bad boy and be done!

[alvitdk]

I was worried about my color choice being Frosted Grey Metallic, however, getting ppf installed as we speak in the front, hood, lights, rocker panel and A-collumn, it really does not matter much. Get your preferred color, ppf is better than compromising for the eventuality of damage down the road and having regrets.