What type of black paint for lower valance?

[MrT8064]

Hi, I'm currently busy doing a few bits and pieces to my new 318is.

Currently the rear lower valence is painted totally white, which has faded and become a bit cracked so needs to be repainted.

Originally the 318IS had a white upper and black lower to the valence (see photo below). I'm wondering if anyone knows:

A. What type of paint was used for the black (and white too if its different from the body paint)?

B. What the original black paint code was for the lower valence.

Thanks!

This is what mine looks like:


This is what it should look like:

[magpie]

just use satin or mat black rattle cans .

[MrT8064]

Nice! I was thinking it might be some fancy extra thick and durable paint

[FinalD]

I'd probably go ahead and use plastidip spray on it as it is more durable than normal paints. I used it on my front grilles and front splitter which have all taken a hammering from stones and still look good.

[MrT8064]

I'll look in to Plastidip. The finish looks nice and smooth.

Is there any way to totally remove the front and rear valance? Or is it something that will need to be painted on the car?

[FinalD]

I don't know about the rear one as I don't have one on the cab. The front one on my car is removable I was just being rally lazy. I also need to redo it because of my laziness I have paint runs.

The nice thing about plastidip is if you don't like the finish or look, you can just peel it off.

[MrT8064]

Cool. So would the process be: Strip paint, Prime, Plastidip?

[FinalD]

You can prime for plastidip but you don't need to. Ensure the surface is clean and you can spray it right on there. It is a rubberised paint and has a matte/satin look to it once fully dry.

I quite like it as there is minimal prep required and it also protects from stone chips etc. It should last well in terms of chips etc but I don't fully know yet and don't know how it'll respond to cleaning compared to a properly painted surface. If you want it looking stock/OEM then I'd suggest you do go down the full sand, primer, paint route with normal paints.

[harry_p]

Nice! I was thinking it might be some fancy extra thick and durable paint

It's the thick stonechip coating under the paint which gives the protection, the paint on top is just to make it look good.

A neatly masked line and a coat of satin black should be fine. I think a gloss might be a bit too bright, satin should match in with the black plastics.

[MrT8064]

Thanks! I sort of like the idea of taking everything back to bare metal so I can check nothing is rusted, then start from the ground up.

I'm planning on doing the same with the front sometime too (though that will be totally white).

[twins]

satin black is all you need ,mask it off, quick scotch brite to key the area so the black sticks and then dust it on till you have a nice finish ,that's what we used to do in the bodyshop when we had them in back in the day (main bmw dealer)

[hongkongfuey]

Plasticote . I've done most of my car with it. Wheels and engine parts too gorgeous. Still on

[MrT8064]

Plasticote does sound clever, especially if its fairly chip resistant! You did your wheels with it!? Have you got a photo?

[Jozi]

I wouldn't take it back to baremetal, just get a cupped wirewheel with the fine bristles and it will do a good job of removing the stone chip but not harm the underlying primer. No point stripping of good primer only to re-prime it again and exposing the metal to air/moisture.

Back to primer to see if there's rust or a good visual inspection of the whole valance and only tackle dodgy looking spots. Then stonechip it with something from 3M or Dinitrol and paint over it after that.

This type of wire wheel (or drill attachement)

[MrT8064]

Think ive got some wire brushes like that lying around. Ive got a tiny rust hole in both the front and rear valence so I'll certainly be taking these areas back to bare metal.

Would you suggest removing the valence entirely (is this possible?) or just removing the bumpers and masking over the wheels/bodywork?

Oh and for the white front and white at the rear, will a normal can of Alpine white do it, or will I want something slightly harder waring?

[Jozi]

Rear valance is part of the body and can't be removed, the front can be removed. If your careful you might get away with spraying it with the bumper of and covering up everything you don't want painted.