Painted & installed my M3 bumper (pics inside)

**zarbat007** · 04-22-2009, 06:22 PM

Got the bumper from DDM.

The result was good enough, managed to scratch the bumper while installing it, but no big deal, they can be sanded and buffed later. Also got small run right side air/fog vent, no big deal since its not noticeable.
The match is pretty good considering its a silver (very hard to match).

Note that the right side of nose panel was "painted" by PO using a spray can (

), it has no clear and the clear is peeling off from the rest of places. I'll paint the nose panel in a month or two.

Pics:
Sanded off the primer, SEM adhesion promoter + Dupont 2540S epoxy primer/sealer:

Primer was sanded with P800 and gray scuff pad on corners/vent, then topcoated:

Topcoated with: R-M Diamont basecoat & Nason 497-00 clear.

Paint guns of choice:

Iwata LPH-400 LVX 1.4 for basecoat:

Sata Jet 3000 RP 1.3 for clear coat:

Thanks for looking!

**romoguy8** · 04-22-2009, 06:28 PM

Looks great!!!
Did you sand the primer that was on the bumper from when you bought it and then primed again? What was the last grit sand paper before you primed? Im sanding my DDM bumper right now and just want some info, thanks.

**cb44** · 04-22-2009, 07:00 PM

Looks good man. Droppp as I'm sure your aware.

**SD08** · 04-22-2009, 07:04 PM

I love posts like this.
Great Job bro.
A+

**zarbat007** · 04-22-2009, 07:43 PM

Originally Posted by romoguy8

Looks great!!!
Did you sand the primer that was on the bumper from when you bought it and then primed again? What was the last grit sand paper before you primed? Im sanding my DDM bumper right now and just want some info, thanks.

I sanded it off.
Why? Because its 1k primer, it was chipping off from corners and I didn't want to take a chance. Many dealer/aftermarket parts are coated with 1k primers that its best to remove them. But its good enough, you can paint over it.
I have a gallon of Epoxy primer/sealer around, its 2k (activated) and shrinkage is less.
I sanded off the primer using P400 wetsanding down to bare plastic. Then I sprayed adhesion promoter and after 30 mins sprayed primer over it. This is a "wet-on-wet" process so no need to sand.

In your case, use 800 grit sand paper and use grey scuff pad for those tight/vent areas, do it gently, you just want to scratch the primer so the paint can stick to it. Do not sand through the bare plastic!
If you did, you need to spray adhesion promoter over it.

Are you using spray cans?

Originally Posted by cb44

Looks good man. Droppp as I'm sure your aware.

Not a fan of drop,don't like the harsh ride and I'll be shovelling snow during winter.

Originally Posted by SD08

I love posts like this.
Great Job bro.
A+

Thanks!

**E36Guy** · 04-22-2009, 07:48 PM

Nice... looks great!

**romoguy8** · 04-22-2009, 08:00 PM

Originally Posted by zarbat007

I sanded it off.
Why? Because its 1k primer, it was chipping off from corners and I didn't want to take a chance. Many dealer/aftermarket parts are coated with 1k primers that its best to remove them. But its good enough, you can paint over it.
I have a gallon of Epoxy primer/sealer around, its 2k (activated) and shrinkage is less.
I sanded off the primer using P400 wetsanding down to bare plastic. Then I sprayed adhesion promoter and after 30 mins sprayed primer over it. This is a "wet-on-wet" process so no need to sand.

In your case, use 800 grit sand paper and use grey scuff pad for those tight/vent areas, do it gently, you just want to scratch the primer so the paint can stick to it. Do not sand through the bare plastic!
If you did, you need to spray adhesion promoter over it.

Are you using spray cans?

So you suggest sanding off all the primer DDM used? Right now Im just sanding the bumper, havent gotten paint yet. I still cant decide if I should just paint my bumper and nose panel or the whole car which is why I havent bought paint yet. I sanded through some of the primer(1000 grit paper), its only four spots about a sq. in. big. Do you think I should sand through the whole primer now and put adhesion promoter all over and then primer?
Thanks

**bimmerlifestyle** · 04-22-2009, 08:42 PM

Originally Posted by zarbat007

Not a fan of drop,don't like the harsh ride and I'll be shovelling snow during winter.

Thanks!

wow really

**vtmless** · 04-22-2009, 08:52 PM

looks good bro, thanks for the body tips

**zarbat007** · 04-22-2009, 09:44 PM

Originally Posted by romoguy8

So you suggest sanding off all the primer DDM used? Right now Im just sanding the bumper, havent gotten paint yet. I still cant decide if I should just paint my bumper and nose panel or the whole car which is why I havent bought paint yet. I sanded through some of the primer(1000 grit paper), its only four spots about a sq. in. big. Do you think I should sand through the whole primer now and put adhesion promoter all over and then primer?
Thanks

Paint wont stick to bare plastic, especially polypropylene. It will either bead up or peel off later.
You don't really need to sand off the primer, but it will make for a better quality job only if you use a 2K primer. If you are going with rattle can stuff, no need to sand off the primer since they are both 1K products.

And for those sanded through spots, sand the bare spots with 400, spray an adhesion promoter like SEM 39863 adhesion promoter ( http://sem.ws/Catalog.asp?prod=146 ), after 30 mins, spray a rattle can primer (example: http://sem.ws/Catalog.asp?prod=137 ) over it.
Wait till dry and wetsand it nice and smooth.

What color is your car?

Originally Posted by bimmerlifestyle

wow really

Really.

Originally Posted by vtmless

looks good bro, thanks for the body tips

Thanks!

**BeastinM3** · 04-22-2009, 09:48 PM

Nice work

**jhstealth** · 04-22-2009, 09:52 PM

nice, i wish i had the abilities to do that, looks great.

**otherE36s** · 04-22-2009, 10:24 PM

Maybe throw some DS1's on that..?

**chickentoe82** · 04-22-2009, 10:36 PM

ah this is great i'm planning on getting the ddm bumper in the summer time, i had some of the same questions. but now i know. thanks. you did a awesome job.

**dcskate102** · 04-22-2009, 10:39 PM

Looks great. Ok maybe you dont want a drop but please get some wheels for that.

**zarbat007** · 04-22-2009, 10:41 PM

Thanks guys!

Originally Posted by otherE36s

Maybe throw some DS1's on that..?

Those are kinda rare and $$$ around here.

Hope to find this at a decent price, they are from E46:
http://www.speedshack.co.uk/images/B...0OEM%20big.jpg

**ZLUJ** · 04-22-2009, 10:59 PM

Wow looks great man, always like someone that does there own work if they have the necessary tools to do so. Good job, and I'm just it feels nice knowing that you painted it yourself too.

**///mfizzle** · 04-22-2009, 11:08 PM

Originally Posted by zarbat007

Thanks guys!

Those are kinda rare and $$$ around here.

Hope to find this at a decent price, they are from E46:
http://www.speedshack.co.uk/images/B...0OEM%20big.jpg

I had those on my car for about a week. They look better on an e36 then they do on an e46 haha there good rims. Great job on the bumper by the way

**zarbat007** · 04-22-2009, 11:46 PM

Originally Posted by ethirty6kid

I had those on my car for about a week. They look better on an e36 then they do on an e46 haha there good rims. Great job on the bumper by the way

Thanks!
Did you use any spacer/etc to fit those rims? Or I can just install them without doing anything?

**ducky328i** · 04-23-2009, 12:00 AM

pretty sure those wheels will fit perfectly on your car with not even the first fitment issue..

great job on the bodywork...wish you were a local friend of mine

**soulrebel** · 04-23-2009, 12:38 AM

Silver 4 doors are always WIN.

**gripracer** · 04-23-2009, 02:01 AM

woooow nice work!! I wish you were closer, i would pay you to paint my bumper.

PS, about the wheels you need. I have a set of kind of beat up 16x7 E46 OEM BBS-style wheels. pm me if you are interested. they are cheap and would look 10x better than steelies!