[rollinstone157]

Hello All,

Well, I think I may have found the perfect system to refinish our interior pieces to like new condition. What gets me so excited is that this company has a picture of an E39 dashboard as an example of its application.

I own two Lenovo ThinkPad workstations right now, and one of them is exhibiting wear on the exterior surfaces (especially the corners, from sliding it in and out of the bag. As I was looking for solutions to repaint the machine in an OEM-like fashion, I was struck by how similar the exterior of the Lenovo felt to the interior pieces on our BMW.

UPDATE:

After talking with several reps, I finally have found the proper paint!!

I have confirmed with a sales rep that the paint we are interested in is the Alexit Comfort line of interior pants. And I was able to have the rep independently confirm that this paint is CURRENTLY being used by BMW for its interior peices. So that is exciting!

FYI, the current colors available are black and beige.

This is the first pricing quote I've been given:

342-44 Comfortlack $87.70 per gallon
345-77 Hardener $84.60 per gallon


Now that's an obscenely large amount of paint! So I'm going to inquire about possibly purchasing a smaller quantity of paint.

If I can order a smaller amount, I'm gonna do that, and try and refinish a decade-old ThinkPad and see how it compares to my factory matte black pieces.

If the results are good, I'll update with mixing instructions, painting instructions, drying, etc.

Let's put it like this--if you have an air gun, and your dealer wants more than $150 for the new part/installation, this is worth it. Heck, you can arrange a group of owners and order a gallon and have it sprayed.

[Eric335]

Rollinstone, being helpful as always Thanks for the information. It seems like the most cost-effective refinishing we have right now.

[rollinstone157]

UPDATE:

I have received a brochure from Mankiewicz, and it does seem that the dark black color is the black color in our vehicles.

Mankiewicz will sell in increments as low as one quart, and I am now enquiring about the pricing for the product plus shipping (note that as a dangerous substance, shipping via air will be extremely expensive. Shipping via oceanliner will take longer, but will be significantly cheaper. If you're in Europe, this isn't a problem.)

[rollinstone157]

UPDATE 2:
I was able to confirm that they supply paint for "some" BMW interiors.

I also have a little more information about the product used--this Nextel Coating is a solvent-based system, while the factory BMW paint is water-based.

I have inquired about the water-based BMW paint uses, but I'm not sure Mankiewicz will be able to give me that information. Fingers crossed!


A little more info about the Nextel Coating:
It seems to be much more fingerprint and oil resistant than the factory BMW paint, so if you're up for repainting all of your soft-touch pieces, this could be a "better" solution.

But just a heads up, this paint isn't cheap! The smallest shipment of the Nextel possible is the "Quart Kit"--which comes to:
Nextel Primer (includes primer and primer hardner) - $60 (makes 1 quart).

• Item code is Primer 5523, and there are sub-codes for different primer colors. The appropriate primer color to use will depend on the base color you are looking to apply. Nextel clearly explains which to pair with which.
• 7525 - anthracite
• 7425 - light grey
• 9125 - white

Nextel Suede (includes suede paint and suede hardener) - $110 (makes 1 quart)

• There are many colors that I will not list here, but the "base" part number for the suede coating is 3101.

Nextel Reducer (used in both primer/suede) - $16 (1 quart - used in both primer and suede).

I think this would likely be enough to refinish an entire interior!
*REMINDER: this is NOT the OEM paint--similar though. I'm working on getting the OEM paint*

[XYR03]

thank you

[rollinstone157]

UPDATE 3:

I was transferred to one of the managers in the automotive department, and we have a call set up for later this week to discuss prices/paints/colors/what have you.

[rollinstone157]

UPDATE 4:

PAINT HAS BEEN FOUND!! And the representative confirmed that this is currently used by BMW!! Woohoo!

[NiVeDh]

Originally Posted by rollinstone157

UPDATE 4:

PAINT HAS BEEN FOUND!! And the representative confirmed that this is currently used by BMW!! Woohoo!

Great!

[ringo34]

rollinstone157 - please send me private message.
I am so new here and can not send it probably to you.

I would like to discuss about Alexit 342 soft touch.

[rollinstone157]

Originally Posted by ringo34

rollinstone157 - please send me private message.
I am so new here and can not send it probably to you.

I would like to discuss about Alexit 342 soft touch.

Greetings ringo34!

I did not end up purchasing the paint product - I just did the due diligence to attempt and help the forum. I might recommend reaching out to Mankiewicz and letting them know you are looking to purchase items from the Alexit Comfort Line. They may be able to sell it to you, or perhaps they can direct you to a vendor with stock.

If you have trouble getting the Alexit product, I would encourage you to consider the Nextel product I mentioned. It seems very similar in nature, is available in smaller quantities, they have a wide variety of colors available, and they will provide color cards.