E86 Custom Body Work and Paint Project **Pics**

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What's up Everyone, just recently sccoped up this E86 for myself

Car is in really good shape aside from a mismatched side skirt & fender, and some dings here and there

Having previously owned a shop that specialized in exotics, I've decided to tear it all apart, make the panels lazer straigh and give it a ultra glossy paint job

Project is currently ongoing so I will update as I go

I've decided to delete antenna, delete rear markers from rear bumper, and shave off some spot welds from the door jambs

Once that's all complete, moving on to interior for a combination of red, black & carbon

 

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This is basic light blocking stage identifying any low spots, waves, and raised areas to get ready to do some light fill work , the goal here is to get a glass like finish, so it's all in the bodywork stage

 

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Antenna delete + rear bumper side marker delete

 

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Fugly side marker out

 

[Barty]

Spectacular attention to detail, really impressive! Looking forward to the end result

 

[True-Blue]

Subscribed

Friend of mine has a small bodyshop and I’m always amazed by what he’s able to do, I’m sure a lot of the prep must be a bit tedious but wish I had this skill set (and equipment) 8)

 

[MikeyH]

Very interesting, looking forward to how you progress with the work

 

[DrivenImage]

Thank you all! Yes lots of hours but very satisfying to do

First round of primer after some mild filler work, only using a high quality polyester finishing putty that can be applied over cured paint, never apply body filler over paint fwiw

The key is thoroughly, thoroughly sanding and ultra clean before applying

This first round was left to cure for about 3 weeks togive plenty of time to shrink before blocking

Letting all the materials cure and shrink properly will ensure that your final finish stays the same for years with out any sand scratch swelling, loss of gloss ect..

Also testing out the color, Alpine white has about 8 different shades so I went with a brigher shade, not as "cream" looking as the original

 

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Color test on underside of hatch

 

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Inner door jambs!

Smoothed out these spot welds, although they are not very visible, is just a simple fill and smooth job, doesn't take much, and the result is just priceless

The other three are covered by the weather strip so didn't bother with those

 

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Inner door jamb final result

 

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On to one of my favorite parts of this project!

I think BMW failed miserably here with the fit & finish

So I decided to smooth these two areas on the door jambs where the panels meet and these spot welds are visible

 

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Door Jambs cont'

Used panel bond, structural adhesive to fill in the bulk of it, then thin layer of poly to smooth everything out

 

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Sharpening body lines and more spot welds to smooth out !

 

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This is after about 3weeks of primer curing and shrinking, hand blocking from 220 - 320- then machine sanding 400 - 600 and spraying some prep solvent to check for straightness

Panels will be looking like absolute glass!

 

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More fit & finish, gapping everything right, and ensuring that the panels are completely leveled so when the light hits, the reflection throughtout the panel is straight and true

Enhancing that original "Flame-Surfacing" design, yea I'm abit OCD when it comes to panels

One thing I thiught about doing was tightening the gaps between bumpers -fenders - rear quarters - rocker panels, but it would have added a ton of hours and decided to pass on it and leave as is

 

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More surface leveling, it is not noticeable yet, but once the clear lands on it, it will all show properly

 

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I've tried to organize the pictures so they show in order, but the uploads keep mixing them up

 

[beanie]

Fantastic work! If only all body shops were this attentive.

 

[DrivenImage]

Thanx boss

Went with Super Jet Black on the roof, I did the roof first so that it has enough time to cure by the time I get to final assembly, the last thing to go on will be the hatch

So just before that will sand the roof down one more time and re clear coat to get that piano finish, the clear coat flow will be ridiculous