An update on my newly bought sexy friend.

[ake53]

yes! i couldnt believe my eyes. if you look at the motor or even the interior it just cant be possible.

[TwinTurboGTR]

Unless the X was wrecked and auto check but a fuggazi number for mileage? I know with my '90 300ZX, the title was perfect and sold it with 62K on the clock. When I was looking for my X I bought a CarFax. Just for kicks, I checked on my Z32. Well, last known record was 2009, it was salvaged and rebuilt then disapeared. Last mileage written down 528K miles with the same owner? Impossible. I don't care how well you take a care of a car. For a 1990 to have half a million miles, it just cannot be cost effective. Hell when I bought the thing, I put brand new turbos in there. Garrett T25s, full engine overhaul and such. I spent 8 grand getting the car right. I am assuming after I sold it, it needed new turbos again, plus a clutch, more motor work, etc. It would have been cost inhibitive to do that work. But lets just say the guy did the work, ok no problem. Then explain how since 2006 till 2012, he put on 450K miles? Where the hell was he driving CA and back every day of his life?

[ake53]

exactly! its got to be the people inputting the mileage or broken odometers.

the X was not wrecked, trust me im russian, I know wrecked cars, salvage, rebuilt titles etc.

the owner financed it, than traded it in to dealer, dealer than throws it on the auction, it goes thru two dealers until one kicks the x5 to me. showing me a clean car fax wit 89k miles? while my other dealer friend shows me the autocheck saying 300+ miles? strange...
and good story about you 300zx, always wanted one. but got a boat instead (volvo)

[NicholasW]

Hey man, not sure if I overlooked it, but how did the Dr. Color Chip stuff work for you? I've got some pretty nasty spots on my hood. I was considering getting the hood painted, but someone I know suggested the Dr. Color Chip.

[TwinTurboGTR]

It worked ok. So long as you are not expecting perfect, then it works fine. So with a chip, after you wax, it accentuates the chip because wax fills it. So the wax highlights the chip. But if you use the touch up paint, the defect "goes away", until you wax again. The paint is very thin, like water and shrinks a lot. So you need to go over it twice with a different method. So the instructions tell you to first clean the spot with alcohol, then drop some paint NEXT to the chip and then swipe it in. This essentially fills the chip and colors it. Then you use the solution to blend it in. When you look at it, the paint colors the chip. Notice how I didn't say fills the chip. You will notice the paint lays flat inside the chip. Now I tried 4 times to fill a chip in this way. But it just never got it right. So what I did was; drop your brush into the the paint and get a tiny drop on the end of the brush. Then touch the droplet of paint to the chip. Then leave it. Yes it will sit higher and yes it highlights the chip. Let it dry for 10 mins or so to let it cure. Then use your blending solution and with very very light pressure and plenty of solution, start taking the high spot out. Do it until the paint is almost flat. Now with mine, after I finishing getting it almost flat, I left it a tiny bit high. I wanted to see if once it dried, would it shrink? Well it does. Most of the chip is filled, but still isn't perfect. If you look hard, I mean hard, you can find the chip.

With my eyes, I see all the chips right away, but others think it looks great.

So to answer your question in short, if you want perfect, get the hood and bumper stripped and repaint it, then use a clear film to protect the paint. But if $1000 isn;t in the budget and $100 is, then this can work out just fine. I actually ordered 2 bottles of their blending solution and 5 refills of their special wiping cloth. I filled in 140~ chips and I didn't even use half of a bottle of solution and only 1 cloth. So I don't know what people were talking about online when they said, "I could only fill in 40 chips and I ran out of solution and the cloth was filthy. To be honest, the cloth I pitched wasn't even that dirty. I only chucked it because I used it for 10 or so sessions and was afraid of it picking up dirt and such off the paint.

It works ok on chips, not so great on scratches. You just can't get the paint thin enough to fill it in, especially if it is a light scratch. Deep scratches, you have a better shot.

[TerminatorX5]

I have a factory PDF for 16:9 Nav retrofit for a non-nav E53s. file is over 1Mb, so i can't post it. I have a whole bunch of retrofit instructions, for various models (not for ALL!!), so if you are looking for something, I can check to see if I have one for you...

EDIT: removed personal email address

[TwinTurboGTR]

Huh? I must have missed something??? Was that for me bud?

[NicholasW]

Exactly the information that I was looking for. Thanks for the detailed response!