My E46 project *pics and details*

So iv had the car for about 2 years now and really havent done much. Although I have done a little hear and there and recently doing more and thought it would be good to enlighten all of you on what iv decided to do and what i plan on doing.

I deleted my muffler and absolutely love it, been thinking bout taking off the second muffler so there is a little more rawr

Painting over all the chrome was a recent decision and very great full i did it. only had a cost of $15. and thats for tape, sand paper, and a can of professional spray paint. all turned out very great

I used vinyl in the begining and wasnt satisifed at all with the results on the trim. nor was i happy with vinyl for smoking my headlights. it does look good though install properly haha

Considering painting my stock style 44 wheels black but really think it is really cheap looking. still deciding though.

Went in and bought a csl style front bumper with the front diffusers and wouldnt change a thing about it. looks dead sexy and its not even painted yet.

also dont recommend 2 15's in a coupe.... knocks ur rear windshield loose. but they sure do sound sooo ****in sexy

pics soon. sorry.

ill try to keep up to date when i add more little DIY mods to the bimmer. until please leave any comments on what i should or shouldnt do.

can't wait to see those pics, but sure sounds like you have a nice set up! good work! not a fan of black wheels either... but depends on your car color.

^That.

Your $15 paint job is going to be very expensive. You are going to wish you hadn't done it.

Originally Posted by salm

^that.

+1

Originally Posted by GoingNuts

Your $15 paint job is going to be very expensive. You are going to wish you hadn't done it.

ur so right. the car has 170,000 miles so im sure i will have it long enough for it to matter...

and its been lookin great so far. have no regrets bout it. paint is staying on well


will have more pics tomorrow

looks really good, ive seen tiag with chrome and it is but with the black it sets it off, i dont get how a 15$ paint job is going to be expensive?

I have the same color car and similar rims. I wanted to paint my rims black but thought it would look cheap as well. I eventually chose to go with a dark gun metal. I think it looks way better than black.

Originally Posted by GoingNuts

Your $15 paint job is going to be very expensive. You are going to wish you hadn't done it.

^^^ this you might think your paint is sticking to chrome but give it about a year and some driving in hard rain and you will see it's not sticking at all....

Originally Posted by alexle0814

I have the same color car and similar rims. I wanted to paint my rims black but thought it would look cheap as well. I eventually chose to go with a dark gun metal. I think it looks way better than black.

Looks good but I hope you did some serious prep work on those or once again... it will be coming off in a year or two

Originally Posted by alexle0814

I have the same color car and similar rims. I wanted to paint my rims black but thought it would look cheap as well. I eventually chose to go with a dark gun metal. I think it looks way better than black.

actually looks pretty good. iv seen gunmetal on my wheels and it doesnt look as good. kinda looks like they are just really dirty. my style doesnt have a good contrast on a different color in my opion.

Originally Posted by WFRFitness

^^^ this you might think your paint is sticking to chrome but give it about a year and some driving in hard rain and you will see it's not sticking at all....

i dont disagree with that at all honestly. that is what i expect to happen. and when that does come around i will sand and spray again for $15. i know its a ***** to do but honestly i enjoy working on my car and making it look good. when i say its been on for a while its been there for about 5months and still looks as good as it did the first day. but over weathering and this winter idk whats going to happen to it

Originally Posted by WFRFitness

Looks good but I hope you did some serious prep work on those or once again... it will be coming off in a year or two

sanded washed primed anything else i should of known of?

dont paint your style 44! keep them stock

At the body shop make them remove the pre installed bolts in your bumper for the front license plate before the paint job...

Originally Posted by GoingNuts

Your $15 paint job is going to be very expensive. You are going to wish you hadn't done it.

once the paint starts to fail is it going to run onto his car paint??? Q1E31SQ

I've painted trim/wheels before with a rattlecan, it was about 10 years ago on a car that needed it badly. Even with decent prep-work, it needs redone about once a year. Rattlecan paint just isn't very thick/durable.

I wouldn't do this on a brand new car, but in this case it's a very viable option since the car has a lot of miles, and OP might not keep it a whole lot longer.

Looks great by the way!

Next mod/repair: Roundel overlay from Bimmian. Your roundel is pretty beat.

There's something about trying to improve an E46 with a can of spray paint just doesn't sit well with me. I'm sorry but I think this is a failed experiment.

I painted my grills..... you do it right - sand, prime, wetsand, spray, wetsand, clear and after a year they were perfect, even stood up against rocks and all sorts of other sh1t. OP did you use a matte clear? cause I used like 4 layers of paint and 5-6 layers of clear and it was perfect.

Originally Posted by mvrk10256

I painted my grills..... you do it right - sand, prime, wetsand, spray, wetsand, clear and after a year they were perfect, even stood up against rocks and all sorts of other sh1t. OP did you use a matte clear? cause I used like 4 layers of paint and 5-6 layers of clear and it was perfect.

The grills really work well with plastic adhesion primer. The matte clear coats in my experience turn the paint grey with too many coats.

Originally Posted by gamberroski

At the body shop make them remove the pre installed bolts in your bumper for the front license plate before the paint job...

bought a cheap bumper and they cant be removed. but i will have to get them smoothed out or something.

Originally Posted by spage

I've painted trim/wheels before with a rattlecan, it was about 10 years ago on a car that needed it badly. Even with decent prep-work, it needs redone about once a year. Rattlecan paint just isn't very thick/durable.

I wouldn't do this on a brand new car, but in this case it's a very viable option since the car has a lot of miles, and OP might not keep it a whole lot longer.

Looks great by the way!

thanks,
yeah my car has 175,000 so dont count on it running much longer

Originally Posted by Gator325

There's something about trying to improve an E46 with a can of spray paint just doesn't sit well with me. I'm sorry but I think this is a failed experiment.

i agree with you on this 100% bimmers are way too nice of cars to put spray paint on. even an E30 doesnt deserve spray paint if its a car you plan on keeping and making nice.

Originally Posted by spage

Next mod/repair: Roundel overlay from Bimmian. Your roundel is pretty beat.

gotta wait until i paint my hood

Originally Posted by mvrk10256

I painted my grills..... you do it right - sand, prime, wetsand, spray, wetsand, clear and after a year they were perfect, even stood up against rocks and all sorts of other sh1t. OP did you use a matte clear? cause I used like 4 layers of paint and 5-6 layers of clear and it was perfect.

nope no clear. i couldnt find any at home depot so i just said **** it

the grill i did 5 coats but with the trim i did one very light spray then i did a decent 2nd coat and then covered it again one last time. waited 1 hour between each coat