[jetblackcoupe]

mine fell off / was stolen.. ordered one through ecs but dealership is charging 80 to paint 2 square inches. how bad will touch up paint look? anyone know a cheap/good body shop in north nj area that would do this work? thanks

[chronos6]

Originally Posted by jetblackcoupe

mine fell off / was stolen.. ordered one through ecs but dealership is charging 80 to paint 2 square inches. how bad will touch up paint look? anyone know a cheap/good body shop in north nj area that would do this work? thanks

If I were you, just buy a spray paint can of your color from doctor scratch or any of those websites that paint match to oem. And see if they offer some sort of flex agent in their paint. One of them is bound to do it. Prep it yourself. So clean it and degrease it before you sand it. Rough it up with lets say 800 to 1000 grit sandpaper. then spray it with enamel adhesive (base layer which promotes color layer to stick better), make sure it can be used on plastics that twist and shit, then spray it with color and then clear coat it. Between each coat of the same color, wait until its dry to the touch so like 10-15 minutes in like 75 degree weather, and in between layers like from base to color and color to clear you should do about 30 minutes. Then after you get the clear coat on, let it bake in the sun.

Low and behold you are done. And all for less than $30.

[RaceTruk]

my bodyshop charges me $100 for 2 front and 2 rear reflectors and both front and a rear tow hook.

your first issue is you went to a dealer.
the dealer is going to a bodyshop (some have their own but they are rip offs also)
go to a normal bodyshop

[Tommy-G]

You need to mix minimum of a pint just to paint a tow cover. Its really more of a hassle fee unfortunately. You have to tie up a spray gun, a spray booth and another job from getting done for a simple 2 inch square part.

Sucks....

[zanye08]

http://www.automotivetouchup.com/spray_paint.asp

buy a can of your body color..they will mix it and buy a can of clear
27.90 total. I painted my washer jet cover and it matched BETTER than the one BMW painted. The tow hook will take like only a few passes..15 mins between coats. I did two coats of clear..really hard to mess up on something as small as the tow hook

[induscyka]

what color do you need some people might have one
i got one in silver

[Paulito]

check ebay to see if there is one already painted and ready to go...

[freon480]

Originally Posted by TommyG@***************

You need to mix minimum of a pint just to paint a tow cover. Its really more of a hassle fee unfortunately. You have to tie up a spray gun, a spray booth and another job from getting done for a simple 2 inch square part.

Sucks....

this is false info. have you ever mixed paint? please don't spread false information. i do all paint work for my local bmw dealer including all the tow covers washer covers etc for the parts dept. i haven't mixed a pint of paint to paint a tow cover ever that's the dumbest thing i ever heard lol. all paint systems have designations down to a quarter of a pint which is more than enough to do an entire bumper. if you gotta mix a pint of paint to get a correct color match either you have monkeys mixing your paint,giraffes painting your cars or a fisher price paint system. bmw is making a mark up that's all it boils down to and based on what i charge my local dealer for painting tow hook covers its quite a mark up.

[jetblackcoupe]

Originally Posted by chronos6

If I were you, just buy a spray paint can of your color from doctor scratch or any of those websites that paint match to oem. And see if they offer some sort of flex agent in their paint. One of them is bound to do it. Prep it yourself. So clean it and degrease it before you sand it. Rough it up with lets say 800 to 1000 grit sandpaper. then spray it with enamel adhesive (base layer which promotes color layer to stick better), make sure it can be used on plastics that twist and shit, then spray it with color and then clear coat it. Between each coat of the same color, wait until its dry to the touch so like 10-15 minutes in like 75 degree weather, and in between layers like from base to color and color to clear you should do about 30 minutes. Then after you get the clear coat on, let it bake in the sun.

Low and behold you are done. And all for less than $30.

Just ordered adhesion promoter, jet black paint, and high gloss clear coat. Also 1000 grit sandpaper. Anything else I should know before doing this?