I have a 2007 BMW 335i that was the victim of a “flying deer”. A few years ago, deer leaped off the “cliff” next to the road, and, literally, fell out of the sky onto the hood of the 335i, denting the hood, and cracking one of the headlights. It was actually quite remarkable there was so little damage. The car came out of it far better than the deer.
Any way, it’s time to do some repairs. I’m going to try pulling out the dents. If that is not successful, I will get another hood. In either case, I am left with painting the hood, and clear-coating the hood and roof. Can anyone take a stab at what that is likely to cost, both in materials and supplies, if I choose to do it myself, and if I simply take it to a shop to be done? I do live in California which I suspect will make both more expensive than in some other locations.
It’s not a particularly valuable car at this point, so I’m certainly not even considering taking it to a high-end body shop. I’d like to get it looking presentable, and remaining so for at least the next 5 years or so.
Ray
When my XK8 was hit by a truck my insurance company recommended a local shop. Trucking co. did not want to go through insurance co. and would write me a check. Local big shops quoted anywhere from 5K to 8K. Submitted $5K estimate and was paid. Found a small repair shop down an alley with good reviews and work was done for 3K. On top of the repair work they also repainted one fender and trunk lid. Shop around and find a small shop, may take the E type to them for paint and body work?
Glenn
My body guy would do that for probably less than $1,000. He repainted the front fascia and hood on my Mazda 6 for $600; he also threw in the front fenders for no charge. So the whole front clip for $600. You live in CA so I’d think maybe double.
The last time I sprayed anything, 5 years ago, I did it in single stage urethane, middle of the road quality, and paid about $225 for the supplies to spray a quart.
For do-it-yourself, the main piece of gear needed would be a sizable air compressor - one that can deliver at least 8-10 cfm @~20 psi. This is needed for a effective HVLP gun, which is the other major piece of gear needed. Unless you’re spraying a fancy metallic or candy paint, a mid-range Harbor Freight gun would suffice - not the cheapest one, but one of their guns around the $70-100 range. I’ve got one and it is more than capable of spraying solids and clears well.
If you’re in California as I recall, then weren’t organic-solvent paints banned? (or were they banned only for professional shop use?) If you have to use water-based solvent paints, that might complicate things. I believe those require a special gun, and I’m not sure if they’ve reached the stage where home refinishing is feasible with water-borne paint. In the past, you needed to have special drying equipment for these paints.
Paint costs have soared in the last 10 years - a pint of color is around ~$130, a quart of clear about the same, and then you need the activators and reducers. You might be looking at $4-500 in material costs.
On the other hand, if you just bang out the dents and do the bondo-leveling work to get a perfect panel, then having it painted by a shop may not be that expensive. As many know, it’s the prep that costs the most $$$ - the actual job of shooting the paint is pretty quick and not that much labor.
You might even go to a Maaco to have the hood painted, if you’ve prepped it. You can ask them if they’re OK with you priming it - if so, you can prime and primer-surface the panel yourself and make sure it’s perfect, then all they’ll need to do is wipe it down, maybe scuff and seal it, then shoot the paint. Epoxy primer + activator and a good urethane primer-surfacer + activator in quart size I think would be around $150-200, but you’d have way more left over than you actually need for the job.
Many of the budget shops are perfectly capable of spraying smooth paint jobs, the cost-cutting is in the prep labor and quality of paint/materials they use. It might be the best combination of economy and quality if water-borne paints are required by law.
Totally useless information but I have just had my ‘99 XJR painted after my off on targa last year. Drive in drive out, doors shut except for the left had passenger door which was silver, and the bonnet was painted inside as well $NZ4000.00
And that also included them tidying up all the little dings in the replacement bonnet, scrapes along the roof where the fencing wires went over, I don’t think there was one panel that they didn’t have to touch one way or another.
And they had to spend time lining up the front of the car as the panels were ‘close’ but not exactly in the correct position.
Not when I was getting quotes of $8k and they were with me stripping everything off and then replacing it all afterwards, if you think that was high what would you have expected to pay?
Spraying water based paint (California) at home is extremely dangerous. You must have a booth and supplied air. Fix the panels, prime it, and take it to a shop for the re-spray.
BrianM
I have experience only with the ppg and DuPont urethane stuff and lacquer, however I have experience with alcohol “cannons” which I demonstrated to my physics classes. Alcohol is explosive at saturation. I’d fill cans with alky and swish it around, seal it and blow the lids and such across the room. This was a quick demo because you didn’t need to be careful (?!) with the air/fuel mix. I’d blow it up with an old Delco ignition points set I had on a board and a spark plug in the tube.
If alky fumes would reach saturation they may very well blow up based on what I did. In fact some students in another building were actually burned - with a lawsuit no less, when some quack instructors messed around with an alky demonstration. Since I came from a Chevy dealer for years before going into the teaching world I knew you can get hurt if you’re an idiot.
I have seen nothing in my research that suggests spraying water-based paint is significantly different from spraying solvent-based paint, other than you should use a stainless steel gun to prevent rust.
But, in my case, ALL I’m talking about spraying is the clear-coat, and clear coats and primers are always solvent-based, even when using water-based color coats. That makes me lean more towards shooting it myself, since clear coat should be pretty hard to screw up too badly.
That’s a different concern. Health rather than safety. Clears, I stand to be corrected, are isocyanate formulations. No problem when an air supplied respirator is used, and maybe the exposure shooting a relatively small area would be minimal, but the risk remains.
So it was raining deer, almost sounds like an act of god. Did you not have comprehensive? Even if I drop collision I always keep comp for deer and hail storms. It’s quite inexpensive.
I’d probably opt for a wrecker hood if you can find one in fine shape. I would not be happy beating a panel. You can certainly DIY the paint, if you can find a paint store willing to sell it to you. Here in TX I can walk up to any paint store counter and purchase paint. CA seems like the kind of place that might require a license for that transaction.
Nowadays it’s so much easier to just order the color in a bomb can. They make it custom. They have two kinds of sandable clears in cans, a one pack and a 2 pack, generally called 2K clear. It has a big button on the bottom that pierces a catalyst pack inside and you shake well and use withing a few hours.
You’d also need a pro grade degreaser/cleaner. A gallon of PPG is about $80. You’ll be able to use it for years for other auto needs. And you’ll need primer, probably $25 and some tack cloths. All in I’d say $250. You’ll likely need two cans of color and clear.
I needed a wrecker bonnet on Beetle 6 months back after my own deer strike. Between that and painting to the bumper, bonnet, and blend into the wings. It was $2800. They almost totaled my car.
Have some prices for factory 330Ci hood, etc. Our daughter backed into our very super 330Ci on her very first trip out with the new grandson (she was diverted by the obvious). The hood list was $602, $579 ‘discount’. Headlamp $592. $34 for the spray nozzle.
Now I know you have a 335, but the 330 should be more, as it has a more complex front end (they simplified the 3 series quite a bit). Most 335’s I see don’t have the retractable washers and even lack a sound panel under the hood (also coupe quarter windows don’t open, etc.).
We insisted on original parts except for the headlamp (I think the factory lamp was ~1 000,.)
Had it done at the Porsche / Maseratti shop, which the insurance agreed to!
The sheet metal damage is really not bad, and only along the front 10-12" right in the center. I’m confident I can do a DIY paintless-repair and get it back to a respectable condition, and just touch-up the two very small places where the color is cracked. If I’m wrong, then I’ll find a used hood, but they are up around $400-500 with shipping. I don’t need perfection - it’s an old car. But the clear-coat on the hood and roof is badly sun-damaged, so that all needs to be re-sprayed. The rest of the car is fine.
I suspect the path of least resistance will be to do the body work, paint prep, and de-trimming myself, then take it to a Maaco shop or something similar to JUST mask it, wipe it down, and shoot the clear. Looks like that should be no more than $1K.
Or when Rudolf the Russian and his wife were arguing whether it was raining, or snowing. Rudolf finally put his foot down and exclaimed. “Rudolf the Red, knows rain dear” heh, heh, heh
When my son’s car got tagged in a parking lot the insurance covered a used door and respray of the side of the car. We found a great used one with the same color inside and out and he bought a new laptop with the rest.
No used ones the correct color anywhere near where I live. Shipping cost is typically unreasonable. And even a clean used hood the correct color does not solve the bad clear coat on the roof.
