[Bakeme521]

I just had some stuff painted on my car and the color is ever so slightly lighter than the color on my car(alpine white). You can't tell in the sun too much, but in dimmer light it's all I notice. To my understand there are different variations of alpine white, and I know the newer ones have alpine white III. But are there variations of that?? Anyway to tell what the exact paint code of 2007 335i with build date 12/26/06?

[Speed_Addict]

Look under your hood - the bottom side of your hood near the release/catch - you will see likely 3 sticker. Look at the one on the drivers side of the three - it will list the paint color name "BMW - "Paint Color Name"" and on the bottome of that sticker you will see a 3 or 4 character code like A61/3 - this is your paint code.

[Bakeme521]

Originally Posted by Speed_Addict

Look under your hood - the bottom side of your hood near the release/catch - you will see likely 3 sticker. Look at the one on the drivers side of the three - it will list the paint color name "BMW - "Paint Color Name"" and on the bottome of that sticker you will see a 3 or 4 character code like A61/3 - this is your paint code.

Ok I got the code and its alpinweiss 3 code 300 which is the exact paint I used. I read somewhere that even though you have the right color, it may be a different shade. If you do not prime the stuff the same way the factory did with the color primer they used, it will show up a shade lighter. Majority of the time you receive a factory part for a car that will need to be painted it is a dark grey or black. I primed this stuff with a white primer. Do you think that could be the reason the color doesn't match perfectly? Can someone shed some light on this for me? I'm thinking I'm going to have to paint it all with a black primer then repaint white.

[napauto]

The correct paint code will not necessarily create a perfect match.

Many paint formulas have variations due to re-batching of the paint at the factory, or slight variations from different assembly plants.

A quality body shop will have variation charts, which are paint strips of the color variations. Some whites have five or more variations.

These strips will be placed against your existing body panels, and enable a color matching expert to provide the painter with the correct formula for your vehicle. The paint is usually mixed at the auto body shop.

I am quite sure that this is the reason that your white does not match.

Good Luck!

[Bakeme521]

Originally Posted by napauto

The correct paint code will not necessarily create a perfect match.

Many paint formulas have variations due to re-batching of the paint at the factory, or slight variations from different assembly plants.

A quality body shop will have variation charts, which are paint strips of the color variations. Some whites have five or more variations.

These strips will be placed against your existing body panels, and enable a color matching expert to provide the painter with the correct formula for your vehicle. The paint is usually mixed at the auto body shop.

I am quite sure that this is the reason that your white does not match.

Good Luck!

I painted it myself at the body shop I used to work at and I mixed the paint myself on their standox paint mixing machine. The computer showed 6 dif variations of the color alpineweiss 3. They only had the color chips for mercedes b/c it was a mercedes body shop. I mixed a small amount of the one I thought was the closest and I held it up to the orginal color and it appeared to be a perfect match but once everything was painted...not so much. This is what is making me think it has something to do with the primer color.

[1QuikWS6]

Primer does affect final color - some mfg. (Porsche comes to mind) actually prime their cars in either black or grey depending on what color was ordered.

Plus, over almost 4 years, don't you think your factory paint has faded/weathered? In addition to all variable factors such as mentioned above, this will also help mismatch.

The shop I use has some sort of spectrum analyzer gun thingy that they use to get readings from existing paint - and then it tells them how to alter the mix from paint code to match best. Gun sends readings back to the computer that is mixing the paint.

[Bakeme521]

Originally Posted by 1QuikWS6

Primer does affect final color - some mfg. (Porsche comes to mind) actually prime their cars in either black or grey depending on what color was ordered.

Plus, over almost 4 years, don't you think your factory paint has faded/weathered? In addition to all variable factors such as mentioned above, this will also help mismatch.

The shop I use has some sort of spectrum analyzer gun thingy that they use to get readings from existing paint - and then it tells them how to alter the mix from paint code to match best. Gun sends readings back to the computer that is mixing the paint.

Well that's pretty legit our shop doesn't have that, i may try to find find a place that does to mix it for me or try priming in black to see if helps. Thanks for all the input guys.