I have acquired an 'is' rear spoiler for my E30 over the weekend at a killer price. The bad news is 1) it's already painted, and 2) the paint is in worse than fair condition (flaking off, bits of paint missing). Most of you have already seen pictures of my car and know that there's a red and flat/matte black theme going on: red car, flat black mirrors, black window trim, bumper covers are black (diving boards), and the black plastic valence that goes under the front bumper. I want to continue this theme by having a black spoiler (a real one, not the cheap eBay one I have on there now). My plan is to get rid of all the paint. I see that under the paint is a flat black surface, just the kind of surface that I want. A few questions: * If I get rid of the paint, will it be OK to rock the spoiler like that, or does it have to be painted because of it deteriorating in some way if left unpainted? What material is it? -- I have seen some cars with this spoiler, for example, an E30 Alpinweiß 318is with the spoiler on as black. Is a painted black or is it the same spoiler I have just without the paint? * IF I could just scrape the paint off (it's easy to do as it's really flaking), how would I smooth out the surface of the "matte" spoiler and make it look like it never had paint on? I know that if I start lightly scraping the paint off, it will look like it was scraped off. I want to make it look like it was never touched. Doesn't have to look new, but want to smooth it out. Sandpaper, perhaps? * What size nut(s) (please, no comment ) do I need to attach the spoiler? I know I need to drill holes in my trunk, but I have a guide for that. I'm just missing the nuts that go on the bottom. Thanks in advance.
I have uploaded pictures so that the paint condition can be seen. Perhaps the state it's in now will make it much easier to remove the paint than it would otherwise be. http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/...987 BMW 325e/Projects/is Spoiler/CIMG0003.jpg http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/...987 BMW 325e/Projects/is Spoiler/CIMG0004.jpg http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/...987 BMW 325e/Projects/is Spoiler/CIMG0005.jpg http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/...987 BMW 325e/Projects/is Spoiler/CIMG0006.jpg http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/...987 BMW 325e/Projects/is Spoiler/CIMG0007.jpg
I am thinking the black under the paint is a primer. You may want to clean the loose paint off, wet sand and then respray with a flat black.
IF it were me and I had a few extra bucks, I would take it to a good shop and have them strip it prep it and but a flat black on it and I think they can even put a flat clear coat on it BUT Im not sure Im not a painter just a detailer
Well I could do that... I don't want to take it to a shop because I think it would be completely unnecessary. The only reason I would take it would be to paint it Brilliantrot, the color of my car, but I want it to stay black. Bavarian Auto sells these brand new and they come unpainted. Perhaps the unpainted version is the same thing as this when I have scraped off the paint? If I put clear on it, will it make it glossy-like? I don't want gloss, and nor do I want to repaint it, because then a scratch will make it obvious that it was painted. That's why I ask if the spoiler underneath the paint could be installed as is without painting; it would be ideal. As far as my trim goes, that I had no choice; that had to be sprayed as there is no other alternative to blacking it out. If the spoiler is a black underneath and could be used as-is without paint, then I'd rather use that. Has anyone any experience installing the spoiler without it being painted? Anyone have an E30 with this spoiler (mostly is and es owners!) and is it painted? If not, how is it holding up? Doesn't feel like primer; it kind of feels like a very soft plastic or rubber surface... is there a primer that feels like that? It doesn't look like it's primer either; a sprayed black primer would look, well, black, right? This isn't as dark as a sprayed primer would look.
They are all black under the paint. Strip off the remaining pain the safest way possible (maybe 3M safest stripper? test it on the underside) and clean it well. Get a flat or matte or satin bumper paint and go to town. BTW, putting the spray can in hot water hepls atomization. You will not need clear, but if you clear over flat, it gives a satin finish. You need bumper paint because the material is flexible, sort of a rubbery plastic (not sure what though.)
I was going to sit tonight and manually peel the paint off as it seems easy enough to do, just tedious and will take a long time. So your recommendation is to paint it, regardless of the condition of the material under the paint? Perhaps peeling it will scuff it a bit? I have bumper trim paint that I could use, so that's no problem. If clear isn't necessarily recommended, then I would like to skip that if possible. If it makes any difference for opinions, I used acrylic enamel to paint my window trim. This is what it looks like, and would like the spoiler to look the same: http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/...87 BMW 325e/Projects/Window Trim/CIMG0549.jpg http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/...87 BMW 325e/Projects/Window Trim/CIMG0554.jpg
You must use proper prep of the surface. Remove paint, very fine grit paper (plastic gouges easily) and strong degreasing.
I like how that looks I want to paint all the crome on the mini the same I just dont want to fugde it up taking it off and all that.
Well the technique I used to paint the trim was to sand off the existing spraypaint (I sprayed before with bumper trim black but it flaked off)), but I used a very rough sandpaper. It gave it a cool texture that I really like, but some would call it too scratched up. I like it though. I used water with the sandpaper. Then I used some kind of liquid my brother has in his garage. It doesn't have a label, but we used it previously on something before we painted it. It has an interesting odor... Then sprayed a light coat, let it dry, sprayed a second coat, this time covering the entire trim, let it dry, and sprayed the final coat. Can I used a fine grit sandpaper to scrape off the paint from the spoiler as well? It doesn't seem like that would work as it's actual car paint as opposed to the trim spraypaint I used on my window trim, but I'd take your word over it. Didn't have time to do it tonight but want to try tomorrow. Was thinking of using a window scraper (the thing you use to remove paint specs from a window) to remove the paint, but I think that would seriously scratch the spoiler material. What do you suggest to use to remove this flaky paint?
I wouldn't sand it all off. The problem with those spoilers is that I think they are some kind of foamy dense rubber stuff, and when you get past the dense smooth surface layer, you get voids. I'd try a chemical stripper, as I suggested in an earlier post but try it on the underside first to see if it is safe. Or maybe you can flex it off.
Ah, that is what I was afraid of. I think that chemical I mentioned was paint stripper. I'll give that stuff a try.
Ditto's on Paul's suggestion - test any paint stripper on the bottom side of the spoiler material to make sure it won't eat it alive.
