E46 Daydreams

[19birel]

Personally I wouldn't have sanded it in between coats, I feel like that contributed to the lack of depth in the paint finish. I recently color matched the tow hook cover on my 5 series and my process was as follows (the cover was pre primered grey btw).

1) Light dust coat of color
2) Heavier color coat for full coverage
3) One more relatively light color coat for good measure, to ensure full coverage
4) Light dust coat of clear
5) Heavy wet coat of clear

This resulted in a near perfect match, here are a couple pics.

Untitled by Ayrton @ Drive19, on Flickr
After I finished applying the color coats.

Untitled by Ayrton @ Drive19, on Flickr
After final wet coat of clear

Untitled by Ayrton @ Drive19, on Flickr
Dry and installed on vehicle (No I'm not the idiot that tried removing the cover with a screw driver, gouging the bumper )

Untitled by Ayrton @ Drive19, on Flickr

Hopefully that helps you a bit.

[screescree]

I agree with the other gentleman, it does look like you've sprayed it from 6-8 foot away. Give it a right good sanding, prime it, and then spray a bit closer. Always sweeping left to right (or the other way!) and back again, spraying just before you hit the item.

[Mehowski]

you definitely should have primed it. Primer color does have a small effect on the final color but mostly you'll just get a much better paint job because primer makes a smoother surface and the color coat won't fill minor imperfections like primer does. Also it looks like you didn't clear it quite right. for clear you need to do a couple light coats, and then your last coat has to be so wet that it's right on the verge of running or sagging for you to get a proper shine. That takes practice but if you get a run in your heavy coat you can wet sand it out

Thanks for the advice! As it already came in primer I didn't think much of it until it was too late. Should I sand it down again and start from scratch?

Also the clear coat layers I've used were nice and thin and I still have a few can't left! I can try to apply a thicker layer to finish it off. Just need to figure out if I'm happy to settle with the colour first.

[TheTynosaur]

you definitely should have primed it. Primer color does have a small effect on the final color but mostly you'll just get a much better paint job because primer makes a smoother surface and the color coat won't fill minor imperfections like primer does. Also it looks like you didn't clear it quite right. for clear you need to do a couple light coats, and then your last coat has to be so wet that it's right on the verge of running or sagging for you to get a proper shine. That takes practice but if you get a run in your heavy coat you can wet sand it out

[Mehowski]

Hi all, so this update might be a bit more interesting and once again one of you might be able to help me.

E46 Aplina Splitter update:

So I have this splitter lying about and if I'm honest I'm not 100% keen on it. Once I get M side skirts it might look kinda cool as it'll be all level, but for now I'm not 100% and I think it hangs a little too low on the front. Regardless, I decided to spray it.

Now everyone I know told me to take it to a body shop, so once again I decided to ignore everyone and give it a go myself. What's the worst that could happen? I waste £25 on some spray paint. Boo-hoo.

So, first things first I had to make the goddamn thing fit the bumper. A few drill holes later it sat like this.



Hmm, all good I guess.

The thing was already primered FYI.

So, I prepared the splitter properly, cleaned it and dried it using a paint prep kit I picked up in Halfords. Credit where it's due it actually worked really well.

I'm totally new to using spray cans by the way, so this is what it looked like after two coats of Topaz Blue.

DISCLAIMER: I don't care about filling in any scratches or bumps. Also apologies for the messy room, I'm currently in the progress of moving house!



Not too bad, a bit patchy but it's only two coats.

After this I sanded I wet sanded it down with 2500 grit and applied another two coats.



Much better if I can say so myself!

So, I sanded it down again just to get it smooth and applied the lacquer/clear coat.

It looks pretty good, although it's definitely not a showroom finish which bothers me a little. I'm still waiting for the clear coat to properly cure before I sand it down one last time and polish it.

One thing that worries me is that it's not a 100% colour match. Despite using the correct paint, it's simply not as dark nor metallic. I feel maybe I should have re-primered it in Grey?

Let me know what you think. After all, this was more a bit of fun for me to try painting something properly for the first time in my life - where did I go wrong and how do I fix it?



Also worth noting there is no filter on that photo. That's the way it looks.

Another thing I did was add little rear bumper extension things. No clue what to call them, but I had a little bit of leftover allfit lip and just went at it with a Stanley knife. I'll get a better photo of it soon but for a 5 minute job I'm chuffed with the way they look. They look a little short in the photos but I assure you in the flesh they flow well with the lines of the bumper.

If anything, this is only giving me ideas to make a proper diffuser...



Thanks a lot for reading!

[Mehowski]

So, it was pay day yesterday so it's time for me to do some bits and bobs.

Until then, I'm going to dump some photos on you. Thanks!

[190Evan]

IMO if you tucked your wheels the car would lose its class and not look near as good, I would do a slight pull and get that fitment a little tighter.

[Mehowski]

Thanks everyone for your mechanical knowledge, I'll hop on the engine maintenance during September and October.

While mechanical stuff is important I find it a little boring to talk about, so back to the aesthetics. I'm currently browsing eBay for some M side skirts and I think it's time I finally get my splitter painted too. I'm also trying to decide if I want to tuck the rear, or roll the heck outta the arches and space the rear wheels out.

Players 11, probably the biggest show in the UK is taking place next month sometime in the middle, so I'm aiming to get my shit sorted for then! I'll be sure to turn up nice and early and get a key parking spot. At least that's the plan.

Next week I'm down in Belgium for Rollhard's Belgian chapter. Boy am I excited - if anyone is from around there, pop along! Drop me a DM on insta and we can organise a photoshoot or something. I won't be taking the E46, but I'll be there in my mate Matt's E38 7 series.

I feel like the pace of the Stance Works forums is picking up recently which makes me really happy. I've been using this forum since late 2013 (I only got my licence in Sep 2015!) and I've fallen in love with the community around it. I'll try my best to get a few of my friends set up on here and get their build threads going too. I love the new Driver's Meeting podcast that is taking place now, I don't know if the admins read these build threads still, but I'm patiently waiting for part 2 of the first podcast to be uploaded onto YouTube!

Also, sad news - I ripped off my side skirt extensions on a rough road and lost them somewhere in the dark.

So, have some last photos with the side skirts. I'm also a little bothered because I don't have any proper rollers of this car, I guess that's the problem of being the photographer friend... no one is there to take photos of me.











I'll find some time after work one day this week and I'll have another proper photoshoot with this so you all have some pretty photos to look at.

[19birel]

I would be more inclined to think that your valve seals have gone rather than the head gasket. If you don't have signs coolant contaminating the oil than that would pretty much confirm the valve seal theory.

[Dynalmite]

I had an 330ci for a while and that thing always leaked oil but never as much as yours, good luck with finding the cause!

[190Evan]

burning oil doesn't indicate a head-gasket usually at all. Being an older BMW, you're gonna have oil consumption. Whatever you do, DO NOT run a gasket sealer through your system... it will clog holes you don't want clogged and is NOT a cure. Have a compression test done, buy a PCV valve as its a part of service and you can do a test to check valve stem seals by letting the car idle for 15 minutes and then stomping on the gas, if smoke comes out its most likely your seals. For example my seals are really bad and I burn a quart every 400 miles.

[TheTynosaur]

https://www.lowlygentlemen.com/collections/stanceworks-shirts/products/stanceworks-windshield-banners-pair

Maybe it's a US only thing now if you can't see them?

If those cars are anything like the e36s, you can spend tons of time hunting down the cause of the oil burning and never figure it out. I get smoke and burn oil too but no other symptoms of a head gasket so I've just accepted it and I know a lot of e36 people that say the same but I'm not as well versed on e46s so I don't know if it's the same for you guys.

[Mehowski]

Thank you guys!

Update time:

So, as I've been ticking off the aesthetic parts of the to-do list I must say I've sort of forgotten to actually take care of the engine, which is probably the most important and expensive part of the car - I really can't afford for the car to go wrong here.

While I did service it about 3,000 miles ago, I never took care of the oil leak. Another thing a friend pointed out to me is that I'll have white smoke coming from my exhaust when I start it up and when I put my foot down. Not good. Seeing as I go through a whole liter of oil in about 750-900 miles, it all makes sense that I'm probably burning a little bit of oil.

Now I know what you're thinking, the term which puts shivers down the back of any car enthusiast. Head gasket. *insert dramatic music and thunder noises*

So, I said I'll be taking care of rear springs etc. next month, no no. I will firstly fix the leaking gasket seal, and then I'll take it down to the garage and get my cylinders pressure tested.

From there, I'll do the necessary work to get it running right. I mean the car is already running really well as far as I can tell, no stuttering and I can't smell any oil, but if symptoms are showing then it's best to catch any problems before they develop. I was also thinking on getting new spark plugs and petrol filter, but this should probably come before the rear springs too. Until next month then, I shall make sure I don't rag the poor thing and drive it sensibly. I do this anyway I guess so it won't be tricky.

Oh, I also found out that the stance|works banners have disappeared from The Lowly Gentlemen store. I'm a little heart broken as I've wanted one since before I got my licence. Luckily a friend of mine had a spare white one, I wanted a chrome one to match my stickers on the back however I can't be picky at desperate times like these!

That's another dream come true I guess, finally get one of the banners on my own car...

[SWR]

Caught a quick glimpse of this at Rollhard, went to have a closer look later on but you must have gone

Looking unbelievably well I really like those centre caps!

[Fila]

Dude I'm in love with your car and I freaking love this shot.Keep it up with the good work