NYC Weather/Rain Destroyed Paint.
 

Greetings all,

So I purchased my SAV in February, with me being the second owner after letting go my 5 series and the previous owner lived in Florida. I guess the Florida sun toasted the paint and I get the short end of the stick. After a full compound detail the paint was looking awesome and shinny with just a few deep scratches the I managed to fix with touch-up paint. But this weekend I got this surprise. Here are pictures of how the paint just started to peel off my hood:

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/m...s/IMG00152.jpg
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/m...s/IMG00153.jpg

Now I have to strip and paint the entire hood and further inspect the vehicle for paint cracking. Does anyone know of a good auto-body shop in the NYC area that does good work?

Is that yellow showing through? Isn't the primer color supposed to be white? Are you sure the paint is original?

According to the vehicles records and carfax the vehicle has never been in an accident so I am assuming it is the original paint. And its not yellow, it more like greyish. Pictures were taken on a rainy day with iphone.

Dunno...
either a really suspect orig paint job, or a shoddy repaint on the hood, or...
Our X is almost 9 yrs, and has been through/sat out in some serious weather,
here on the mtn and, a few winter seasons of bake jobs in FL. Which makes
me not nervous about it being parked outside in the next monsoon.

Either way, it's a shame, but fixable.
GL, mD

that is very odd, i bet its been re painted. go to a wholesale dealership and ask them to check the paint thickness with their paint thickness meter, then you'll know if the paint is original or not.

Thanks for the insight. I think I am going to do this because it does feel extremely thin. I held a few pieces and its very "crunchy feel". Being that the vehicle is an '02, not that many years behind and also not everyone reports all repairs and accidents to carfax, so naive of me to think that this may have not been the case.

In any event, I have to shellout the duckets to fix this. Does anyone have any stories, input, or opinions about the kinda work done at franchises like Maaco?

Your hood may also have been resprayed due to rock chips or other cosmetic reasons besides being in an accident.

I think that may end up being the case here. Or at least, I hope so as I have a 2002 model year as well. I have been a BMW nut for a long time and haven't heard that this is a common issue.

If youre in the NYC area, i'd get it painted at C&D in Hackensack. They do terrific work

Impressive Auto Center in NY has very reasonable rates and the work I've seen is superb. If they weren't so far away, we'd probably be taking our 3 series there to get repainted.

It depends on YOUR eyes and whether or not you can pick up on the differences in color, orangepeel, etc.

Anybody decent should run at least $8-$1K'ish....for a repaint. Maybe some blending as well.

Cheaper can probably be had for less. It all boils down to what would be acceptable to you for the $$ invested...

+1. Expensive but worth every cent.

I agree with the above posters, CD Autobody is where you want to go if you do not want to be dissapointed with bodywork. He has done work for me,my friends and family members for the better part of 12 years and I have never been dissapointed.

As for the thickness of your paint, if the hood were resprayed it would actually be thicker not thinner. Check the hinges and bolts, if anything it could have been a replaced hood.

If you do go to Matt he will definately tell you what has happened.

Thanks everyone for your help and input. Due to the extensive hours at work I have not had a chance to drive over the bridge and check out C/D Autobody, I did visit their website and I was impressed by the photos. I will keep you guys updated on the cause of this paint peeling and the body work to be done.

If you do intend to go call ahead and go sat morning for an estimate, should be a quick drive. He fixes a lot of BMW's. He does a lot of work for BMWNA in NJ. Ask for Matt, he is the owner.

I am also really busy working crazy hours and travelling overseas once a month for work. Thats why I appreciate someone like Matt, I leave him the car (he is not the fastest) but when you come back to pick it up its exactly as you expect it. I tried other places in the past and usually have had to come back to correct things they missed, that is where you waste the most time. My only issue with CD is when they are busy there they either cannot take your car or will take a little normal than a typical place to repair your car. Good luck.