where can I go to get touch paint in spray cans for BMW
Have you tried any Auto paint stores??? Or the paint section in an autoparts store??
NAPA will mix a can of spraypaint matched to your specific vehicle for around $25. The caveat is that they will match the original paint color, not the color it turns after fading in the sun for years. It may not be an exact match.
Does BMW sell them in their parts department? Other brands do.
You might be able to get a direct match at a BMW dealership if the car is new and hasn’t faded. If the paint has faded at all, you should just go to an auto parts store or Walmart and pick up an approximate match.
An auto paint supplier will do this but keep in mind it will not match except maybe if your vehicle is basic black. They will make the paint from the paint code from the vehicle but there are variances in the same color. I am not talking light blue dark blue. If your paint code is xyz red there can be different colors that must be “played with” by a painter to get it just right.
All I’m saying is don’t expect a perfect match just because they mixed it special for you.
There is an outfit on line that will package a can of paint for you. Just google the touch up paints but its not cheap. You need the paint code. Also you need the clear coat if it is CC, but as the others said, may not be a perfect match anymore and the paint is never as thick or as good as a body shop would do it. Combine that with needing to blend it in, color sand it, polish it, etc. and if you don’t know what you are doing, good luck.
As Bing said good luck. Just remember when you fail ( and you will ) it will cost you more to have it fixed right. The paints that are used on cars for the last 20 years or so are hard to work with. a BMW has a paint from the factory that very hard to work with. If you use the wrong type of paint to try to refinish it, you can eat the factory paint off it just like paint remover. Or in my not adhere to it at all. Leave it to a pro.
Oh and to match the color will be a nightmare. The different shades in a color coming off the line at factory when it was new is bad enough. Now its sun faded on top of that
Touch up paint usually comes in a small bottle with a brush. Rattle cans are a bit more than touch up IMO. That being said, I’ve had pretty good luck using them when necessary. I used to frequent a paint store that had a spectrum analyzer that could analyze the sample and get a better computerized match to the existing paint. They would mix it and put it into rattle cans if you wanted it that way. I managed to match a candy job once pretty good which is extremely tough. My friends and I describe the quality of the job by how far away you have to be to no longer see the imperfections. I have cars that are 1 footers and some that are 20 footers. The candy job was deemed a 5 footer, better than expected! People’s expectations vary so the “krylon restoration” might be OK for the OP…
oldbodyman, how you define failure in this context is pretty subjective. When I buy touch-up paint, I don’t expect a perfect repair. My main goal is to prevent rust, and my secondary goal is to make the damage not so obvious, so you only notice it if you look right at it.
I’ve had good luck with both spray can car paint and the small bottles of touch-up paint. I use the small bottle and brush on very small scratches after applying a small amount of rust converter, and on larger areas, I sand the area down to the metal and prime it before I paint.
Given we are talking about a BMW, the OP’s goals are probably loftier than mine.
As several have already said, you probably won’t get an exact match. There are things you can do to minimize that problem. For one thing don’t tape off a square around the area like I see so many do, and then paint right up to the tape! I guarantee you it will stick out like a sore thumb. Mask off any surrounding molding, chrome, etc and paint beyond the repair area, try to blend it in. Afterwards you can use rubbing compound to remove the overspray. It won’t be perfect by any means, but it will be much better than the other way. At least you won’t have little squares all over your car!
I don’t know why but DfromSD your example reminded me of a guy I worked with that painted his car outside on a nice sunny day. I went out to look at it during lunch and as I approached I couldn’t believe how decent it looked given he had used spray cans. I went around to the other side to find the entire side literally covered with dandelion seeds…
@ TT: The parts store I manage sells T/U paint. You wouldn’t believe the people who will just go right out in the parking lot & start spraying away! No sanding, no prep work, no masking, just paint it!
LOL at your dandelion seed example!
Whitey The failure I am talking about will that the paint may not stick to the BMW. Cars Painted across the pond is different than what’s used here. Rattle can paint will be lacquer paint. I have spot painted these cars and had peel off when buffing it out. This was before we knew what were dealing with. I will never forget the look on my bosses face when he was buffing out a Ford made in Germany. It started to peel. He then pulled at a lose pice and pull the paint off most of the side of the car. We tacked it up on the wall! He had used a lacquer paint. You need to used a 2 part paint. IE one with a hardener. I would not try BMW with a rattle can. A old car or truck with rust yes. DfromSD I would believe you! I used to have people come in and want there car painted after they primed it that way. No sanding just spray it on. I had a customer walk into my spray booth once. I had spray mask on it after the paper. It’s a clear soap. He said while you got the spray gun out ,paint this dent. So I did! Ran the paint right off the car!! I looked at him and said no charge! LOL
I had a customer walk into my spray booth once. I had spray mask on it after the paper. It’s a clear soap. He said while you got the spray gun out ,paint this dent. So I did! Ran the paint right off the car!! I looked at him and said no charge! LOL …
I would have loved to see the look on the customers face when you did that. That was not very smart for the customer to do that. And whats the logic of painting a dent? It’s still a dent!
The look on his face was worth the mess I made! It was not as good of a look thought as I got when I painted my manager. He had walk into the booth to ask me a question. He thought I was done and had the dryer on or he would not have come in. I did not hear him and as I was coming off the 1/4 panel I spayed him good with clear. We sill laugh about when I see him. His white shirt and tie were sill on the wall at the shop last I knew.
As you see on this site some people don’t have clue about cars. You would be amazed at what people thought paint would hide. The one thing I don’t miss is … I know this guy who can paint my car for $300.00. Why do you want $3000.00?
As you see on this site some people don’t have clue about cars. …I know, and whats better is one of them that visits this site has never swung a wrench but he is an expert.
You would be amazed at what people thought paint would hide. …I HEAR YOU. I manage a body shop now and that is so true. But what frosts me are the people who come in driving a rolling piece of **** and after we finish polishing their turd they are upset we that did not repair non related damage for free.
As noted paint actually highlights any defects and makes them more noticeable. I’ve said it before, customers come to the body shop as Mr. Magoo and return as the Professor to pick it up, inspect the work under a microscope and argue the bill.