XSeries-forum

After picking up my £45 IS valance which I was chuffed about it wasn't going to take me long to get it painted and fitted, it arrived Monday by Monday night it had been test fitted then filled and primed then Tuesday it was painted and Wednesday afternoon I fitted the new valance and left it wedged up till this morning to allow the sikaflex to set:



This morning at work I took a few pics on the valance fitted:





Then after thinking about painting the rear bumper to look like it has the 4.6 IS valance fitted until I get my hands on a genuine valance I made a start in my lunch break today, I got my motor up on the ramp and cleaned off all the silicon used to make the black part look black and then set about masking out the area to be painted my intention was to get a head start as i wanted to get it painted when i got home:







As luck would have it i finished work early so got home at 3pm and got to work masking the car up so to not get over spray on my freshly machine polished paintwork:





Then gave the area one final clean before priming:



followed by colour and lacquer:



Then the finished job unmasked:





I have to say it's turned out great and it will probably cause me to stand down my rush to find an IS valance I'll just keep an eye out for a cheap deal.

A few pics of it all done:

It's a great alternative to the OEM valance.

what you got planned next, looks good

Do you ever bloody sleep ).

do mine...do mine .do mine....it's just outside now )

that rear looks good


once masked how long did that take....coats....time in between etc?

I plan to have a go when the weather is warm and collect the right number or rattle cans...not sure where from yet

[quote="Sanj"]
It's a great alternative to the OEM valance.
[/quote]

Thanks I really like how it turned out.

[quote="shadrack"]
what you got planned next, looks good
[/quote]

Wheels..... but cant decide what to go for 20's or 22's, I went with 20's on my ML as the general consensus in the ML world 22's wrecked the ride quality.

Any input opinion from those riding on 22's would be great.

[quote="Reusch"]
Do you ever bloody sleep ).
[/quote]

Even when sleeping im dreaming of what im doing next.... )

[quote="storminmike"]
do mine...do mine .do mine....it's just outside now )

that rear looks good


once masked how long did that take....coats....time in between etc?

I plan to have a go when the weather is warm and collect the right number or rattle cans...not sure where from yet
[/quote]

)

Thanks,

How I did it,

One decent coat of plastic primer (if silver use white if a dark colour use grey) I then left it 20 mins to dry then I applied a decent coat of Audi silver I had a full can in the shed so thought I'd use it up as a base coat to make my Titan silver go a lot further, I let the Audi silver dry for 10 mins then applied a coat of the BMW Titan silver and again let it dry for 20mins then gave it 2 dusting with lacquer I find if you go to heavy with the lacquer over silver with the first coat the silver kind of separates and goes patchy after the 2 light coats 10 mins later I give it a heavy coat.

I then unmask while the paint is still going hard, If you wait till the paint has dried you have more chance of ripping he edge where the paint meets the masking tape.

Hope that helps any other question let me know.

I had 20s and 22s on my x5 and tbh I could not tell the difference in ride quality

Excellent, thats what I wanted to hear

[quote="dpbayly"]

[quote="storminmike"]
do mine...do mine .do mine....it's just outside now )

that rear looks good


once masked how long did that take....coats....time in between etc?

I plan to have a go when the weather is warm and collect the right number or rattle cans...not sure where from yet
[/quote]

)

Thanks,

How I did it,

One decent coat of plastic primer (if silver use white if a dark colour use grey) I then left it 20 mins to dry then I applied a decent coat of Audi silver I had a full can in the shed so thought I'd use it up as a base coat to make my Titan silver go a lot further, I let the Audi silver dry for 10 mins then applied a coat of the BMW Titan silver and again let it dry for 20mins then gave it 2 dusting with lacquer I find if you go to heavy with the lacquer over silver with the first coat the silver kind of separates and goes patchy after the 2 light coats 10 mins later I give it a heavy coat.

I then unmask while the paint is still going hard, If you wait till the paint has dried you have more chance of ripping he edge where the paint meets the masking tape.

Hope that helps any other question let me know.
[/quote]

It does....thanks for the low down. I guess you're using a proper spray gun and not a rattle can warrior like myself?

If I was to procure titan silver (which mine is too) rattle cans would you go dealer?

I've already got some clear plastic primer (Plastikote Plastic Primer Clear) from when I did the steering wheel

used these before....very good mixed cans
http://auto-paint.co.uk/carpaint/index. ... oductId=21

[quote="storminmike"]

It does....thanks for the low down. I guess you're using a proper spray gun and not a rattle can warrior like myself?

If I was to procure titan silver (which mine is too) rattle cans would you go dealer?

I've already got some clear plastic primer from when I did the steering wheel
[/quote]

I used rattle cans on the rear today, I had the Titan silver made up for me by the company that supply us at work with the body shop paint (A R Davis) But to be honest Halfords paints will work just fine, I'd also use a white primer as the silver will cover better over it.

[quote="dpbayly"]
[quote="storminmike"]

It does....thanks for the low down. I guess you're using a proper spray gun and not a rattle can warrior like myself?

If I was to procure titan silver (which mine is too) rattle cans would you go dealer?

I've already got some clear plastic primer from when I did the steering wheel
[/quote]

I used rattle cans on the rear today, I had the Titan silver made up for me by the company that supply us at work with the body shop paint (A R Davis) But to be honest Halfords paints will work just fine, I'd also use a white primer as the silver will cover better over it.
[/quote]

I rattle can'd the whole boot lid on my e30 and by the time I had polished it up with t cut and polisher it looked like new and a pro job used rattle cans

[quote="shadrack"]
used these before....very good mixed cans
http://auto-paint.co.uk/carpaint/index. ... oductId=21
[/quote]

I work in Warrington....which is near to this place......hmmmm thinking now....thanks

[quote="shadrack"]

I rattle can'd the whole boot lid on my e30 and by the time I had polished it up with t cut and polisher it looked like new and a pro job used rattle cans
[/quote]

[quote="dpbayly"]
I used rattle cans on the rear today, I had the Titan silver made up for me by the company that supply us at work with the body shop paint (A R Davis) But to be honest Halfords paints will work just fine, I'd also use a white primer as the silver will cover better over it.
[/quote]

Cheers guys

It's not exactly a big piece either....how many tins of primer/silver/clear do you reckon it would take?

If I have enough I might do the gear knob and perhaps the odd other bit

That is superb work. Liking how its come along for sure.

As for wheels, unsure how you will not notice the difference on 22's as I've run 18's (winters)' 20's, 21's and 22's. 22's certainly a lot firmer ride.