Metallic Paint Scratch Repair??

Well, I had some bad luck. I started the wet sand process with 1500 to smooth out the touchup paint, and went through on 2 spots. :clap: I am so happy. Lucky for me it does not look terrible yet. If it was a white car, I'd be crying. Anyway. I am kind of back to square one. This scratch was very deep, just a nanometer of primer left and it was fairly wide but not long.



My 3 issues are, the fact that I need to fill more, the color does not match and I sanded though the clear in 2 spots, a ridge in the fender.



So here is my idea. Mask off the two spots I went through and add paint. What other choice do I have?



Do the same for the scratch that needs more fill.



As for the color, did yours lighten up when you put clear? I don't see a need for the clear shine wise.



Honestly it looks better now than it did with the ugly primer grey scracth, so even though I learned a tough lesson, I think I am still ahead of the game.



In pain,

Steve :furious:
 
SHICKS said:
My 3 issues are, the fact that I need to fill more, the color does not match and I sanded though the clear in 2 spots, a ridge in the fender.
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Well don’t feel bad, not only did I go through the clear coat, I also went through the base coat in one spot. This was easily fixed by just building the paint back up.



SHICKS said:
So here is my idea. Mask off the two spots I went through and add paint. What other choice do I have?
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One of the posters here told me once that it’s only paint, so do get too worried about it. Just fill the areas back up again, I would suggest using some painter’s tape and mask your repair area as close as you can to the scratches. The tape will act as a barrier and keep you from sanding trough the surrounding clear/base coat.



SHICKS said:
Do the same for the scratch that needs more fill.
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Just keep working at it, you get it right.



SHICKS said:
As for the color, did yours lighten up when you put clear? I don't see a need for the clear shine wise.
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Yes, my color did light up a little, plus that fact that it’s metallic there is a noticeable difference if you look REALLY hard at it. As for the clear coat, once I had just the base coat buffed out I could see where the repair didn’t have deep look like the rest of the paint, that is the only reason I spayed the clear.
 
Thanks for making me feel better. I too think I went through the base coat. I attempted to repair and the paint did not stick very well, so now I am trying again. This time I will not wet sand, but rather just polish as the touch up paint seems soft. After I get it looking resonable, I am going to stop while I am ahead.



Steve



bmwbear said:
Well don’t feel bad, not only did I go through the clear coat, I also went through the base coat in one spot. This was easily fixed by just building the paint back up.





One of the posters here told me once that it’s only paint, so do get too worried about it. Just fill the areas back up again, I would suggest using some painter’s tape and mask your repair area as close as you can to the scratches. The tape will act as a barrier and keep you from sanding trough the surrounding clear/base coat.





Just keep working at it, you get it right.





Yes, my color did light up a little, plus that fact that it’s metallic there is a noticeable difference if you look REALLY hard at it. As for the clear coat, once I had just the base coat buffed out I could see where the repair didn’t have deep look like the rest of the paint, that is the only reason I spayed the clear.
Click to expand...
 
Yeah, I'd give it more drying time too. And I generally steer people towards finer paper; I never use anything coarser than 2K and I almost always just use 3K and spend more time (and use more paper). Inspect after every stroke ;)
 
Dunno...ask me in a few weeks ;) I plan to use it on some previous-owner touch-ups on the M3 (he must've used his elbow or something :rolleyes: ). I'd say it's great if it works for you but it doesn't always work for everybody. I hear it's easy to simply remove the touch-up instead of just leveling it- sounds like you're using the correct technique since it's working OK for you.
 
I have one question, bmwbear:



You've said: The next step after you have it leveled out is to buff out the wet sanding marks with your favorite cutting pad/polish and then switch to a finishing pad/polish until you have the clear coat back to its regular gloss.



So this means in order:

- level up touch paint with wet sanding

- polish

- apply clearcoat

- repolish?
 
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