Individual Paint: Is the engine bay and underside of your hood cleared and polished?

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by RowanBuds

For what we pay, especially the $5.5k+ customers, I'd expect some consistency for those buyers. The fact it's not one or two done differently, it's across the board inconsistency - sometimes they're matched underhood, sometimes they're cleared - certainly no acknowledgement that there will be any deviation to the ordering party.

Seems to me you ordered exterior color [blah], and you got it. I ordered moonstone and Tanz and that's what I got. I didn't order any underhood options and it sounds like you didn't either, so it's not reasonable to expect something BMW didn't promise to provide.

If you haven't been to the factory you should go, but in the meantime watch the official online videos of the assembly from beginning to end - watching the whole thing is important IMO because building these cars is really fucking complicated and the robotics is batshit. They go from flat blank metal (or CF) to a fully functional car in one automated line. The $5,000 is paying for disrupting that enormous feat of engineering. Once I saw it live, $5k seems pretty fucking cheap, but just my opinion of course.

As for the engine bay, the hood is not cleared, but the bay is the same color / process as every other engine bay. I just watched a bunch of them come down the line and they're all the same.

I'll go check my moonstone ... I've never actually opened the hood!

[RowanBuds]

Originally Posted by GrussGott

As for the engine bay, the hood is not cleared, but the bay is the same color / process as every other engine bay. I just watched a bunch of them come down the line and they're all the same.

This is the point I'm getting at - WHAT color/process is "the same as every other engine bay"? Your hood underside is Tanzanite, right? And it is not clear-coated, that's about all I've gotten from you. Aside that, there's not any answer the questions I initially asked setting us off down this meandering path. What it boils down to is there's no standard.

And, for those paying money for a painted car, possibly/probably due to seeing another one done that way, why should their cost be the same yet final delivered product different. I really can't believe that concept, or curiosity as to why it happens, is difficult to understand.

I fully appreciate both automated large scale automotive manufacturing as well as small scale or coach/hand-built factories. The process is the process at the former. If I ordered (demanded?) the car today, it went into production tomorrow and came out next Monday - yes interruption is likely incurred., but that only is the case at the second type of plant.

With these orders at large scale automated facilities, all necessary parts will be injected into the stream as they are needed for JIT manufacturing - we order 12 - 18 or more weeks ahead of time, have to have paint approved; it's no surprise to BMW, their line managers, their automated conveyors/sprayers/or staff. Our paint is in the supply stream and put into the rotation as the shell destined to become the individual car is stamped out/assembled, if not ahead of time for quality testing.

They don't stop lines to pull each of these BMW painted individual cars; I'd wager 98.5%+ of the individual cars don't incur any line stoppages or interruptions. Individual interiors however - now that is a horse of a different color.

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by RowanBuds

First - can you answer my inquiry on your car's finishing. Is the underhood color matched Tanzanite? It doesn't look to be clear coated. Is the engine bay (shock towers, etc.) color matched Tanzanite, or is it black? And again, this doesn't look to be clear coated. Looking to know what is accurate.

You magnificent BASTARD! I had an interesting discovery ....

our cars appear to have a base coat and a top coat ... Tanz appears to have 2 different base coats and a top coat.

On my moonstone, the under-hood and engine bay are painted "Fueller Titan Silver" (fueller probably refers to the base coat):

No clear


No clear, and some bolt on parts are Fueller Schwartz, but the bay is Titan


Notice no over spray of moonstone onto the titan silver - moonstone may have been hand painted (I do know my particular car was pulled off the line to be painted)



Now on the Tanz the under-hood is an unknown blue base coat



The engine bay and bolt on parts all appear to be Fueller Black or similar



The Tanz is over Fueller Black and the addition of "Technik / Ausstattung" on the tag - fairly sloppy overspray compared to my Moonstone so probably robot painted

[RowanBuds]

Originally Posted by GrussGott

You magnificent BASTARD! I had an interesting discovery ....

our cars appear to have a base coat and a top coat ... Tanz appears to have 2 different base coats and a top coat.

On my moonstone, the under-hood and engine bay are painted "Fueller Titan Silver" (fueller probably refers to the base coat):

No clear


No clear, and some bolt on parts are Fueller Schwartz, but the bay is Titan


Notice no over spray of moonstone onto the titan silver - moonstone may have been hand painted (I do know my particular car was pulled off the line to be painted)



Now on the Tanz the under-hood is an unknown blue base coat



The engine bay and bolt on parts all appear to be Fueller Black or similar



The Tanz is over Fueller Black and the addition of "Technik / Ausstattung" on the tag - fairly sloppy overspray compared to my Moonstone so probably robot painted

Again hoping to understand the method of there is one. Maybe moving in a direction. You sure the hood is silver not white? Yes moonstone is a multi stage and wouldn't surprise me if it gets out of the norm treatment or possibly different clearcoat process.


Ok. Stupid question. What inferior is specced on the moonstone and what on the tanzanite?

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by RowanBuds

Again hoping to understand the method of there is one. Maybe moving in a direction. You sure the hood is silver not white? Yes moonstone is a multi stage and wouldn't surprise me if it gets out of the norm treatment or possibly different clearcoat process.


Ok. Stupid question. What inferior is specced on the moonstone and what on the tanzanite?

Not white, and the undercoat ("Fueller") colors are on the Individual labels: "Titan Silver" for moonstone and Black for tanz, however the Tanz hood is a blue color that isn't labeled.

Given we have multiple people who've heard from (separate) factory staff (and mine was custom and she was specific), I have little doubt my moonstone was hand sprayed; in large part because it was one of the first 44 available allocations and second because it had production delays and BMWAG told me it was being "hand painted" as part of the update/status process (I was getting daily updates). And it looks like it or else the robots are a lot less exact / the process Regensburg is different now. I would also guess there's gradients of what "hand painted" means. Older robots maybe require more hand work / set up, newer robots and paint stations might be more automated.

One example is on the tour, the quarter panels came in by robot on an overhead conveyor and dropped them off onto a giant 4-sided turnstile. On the opposite side was a worker who was hand assembling parts onto each quarter-panel and there was sign that said "F30" or "F80" as the parts rotated towards him. Is that "hand assembled"? I dunno.

The Tanz looks clearly like sloppy robots and I saw a ton of frames in fueller schwartz so I'm guessing Tanz is line color like alpine or sakhir.

As for the method, I can't see BMW publishing anything other than, "what is most efficient at the time of painting"

[RowanBuds]

Originally Posted by GrussGott

Not white, and the undercoat ("Fueller") colors are on the Individual labels: "Titan Silver" for moonstone and Black for tanz, however the Tanz hood is a blue color that isn't labeled.

Given we have multiple people who've heard from (separate) factory staff (and mine was custom and she was specific), I have little doubt my moonstone was hand sprayed; in large part because it was one of the first 44 available allocations and second because it had production delays and BMWAG told me it was being "hand painted" as part of the update/status process (I was getting daily updates). And it looks like it or else the robots are a lot less exact / the process Regensburg is different now. I would also guess there's gradients of what "hand painted" means. Older robots maybe require more hand work / set up, newer robots and paint stations might be more automated.

One example is on the tour, the quarter panels came in by robot on an overhead conveyor and dropped them off onto a giant 4-sided turnstile. On the opposite side was a worker who was hand assembling parts onto each quarter-panel and there was sign that said "F30" or "F80" as the parts rotated towards him. Is that "hand assembled"? I dunno.

The Tanz looks clearly like sloppy robots and I saw a ton of frames in fueller schwartz so I'm guessing Tanz is line color like alpine or sakhir.

As for the method, I can't see BMW publishing anything other than, "what is most efficient at the time of painting"

What are the interiors in your two cars? It seems pretty consistent in the individual products that the second color is the interior. Mine for ex shows full black. An avus blue car that's entirely avus underhood and engine bay also shows full black--which matches his interior spec as well.

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by RowanBuds

What are the interiors in your two cars? It seems pretty consistent in the individual products that the second color is the interior. Mine for ex shows full black. An avus blue car that's entirely avus underhood and engine bay also shows full black--which matches his interior spec as well.

nope, "fueller" is base coat - was told that by our guide (she was pretty knowledgable and knew every detail you can think of but ... you never know...)

My moonstone interior is sakhir orange and my Tanz interior is opal white with IM changes

Plus I got an ///M car. Just so you know. ///M. If you didn't notice. FYI.

[RowanBuds]

Awesome to know that:
"nope, "fueller" is base coat - was told that by our guide (she was pretty knowledgable and knew every detail you can think of but ... you never know...)"

Great Guts, there! I'm sure top dropped she's a stunner. Did you do CCB's? Aesthetically, they rock on Tanzanite/Opal!

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by RowanBuds

Great Guts, there! I'm sure top dropped she's a stunner. Did you do CCB's? Aesthetically, they rock on Tanzanite/Opal!

hey thanks! No CCBs ... I beat the shit out of these and don't want to worry about damage or replacing them. If you haven't seen, it's interesting to watch the ///M axels with CCBs come down the line mixed in with the rest - the CCBs are rubber covered discs and calipers, whereas the ///M steel just have the discs covered.

[Arcades]

It's funny to think that some people believe your paint should hold up to rock chips at 70+ MPH on the track.

Unless your car is made of solid gold paint, I highly doubt it. If you think BMW paints are soft, go be a detailer for Lexus cars. Stop BSing.

P.S. My underhood isn't polished. It's painted but not clear at all. I think it's a base paint for BMW's version of Grigio Medio.

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by Arcades

P.S. My underhood isn't polished. It's painted but not clear at all. I think it's a base paint for BMW's version of Grigio Medio.

'cades would you mind posting pics of your underhood and the driver side? Specifically the tag, engine frame, and hood crease?

I find it interesting that on my moonstone there is zero overspray whereas on my Tanz the overspray is significant. I think the moonstone was hand sprayed.

i'm curious if you have overspray or not and would love to see your individual tag and what your Fueller is.

[Arcades]

Originally Posted by GrussGott

'cades would you mind posting pics of your underhood and the driver side? Specifically the tag, engine frame, and hood crease?

I find it interesting that on my moonstone there is zero overspray whereas on my Tanz the overspray is significant. I think the moonstone was hand sprayed.

i'm curious if you have overspray or not and would love to see your individual tag and what your Fueller is.

I'll get around do it.

I don't like having to slam my hood shut though~

[Arcades]

Originally Posted by GrussGott

'cades would you mind posting pics of your underhood and the driver side? Specifically the tag, engine frame, and hood crease?

I find it interesting that on my moonstone there is zero overspray whereas on my Tanz the overspray is significant. I think the moonstone was hand sprayed.

i'm curious if you have overspray or not and would love to see your individual tag and what your Fueller is.

Here. Taken at night sry~

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by Arcades

Here. Taken at night sry~

Interesting ... Now I'd love to see an M4 IM exterior color engine bay and tag ...

I'm forming a theory that munich cars get pulled off the line and (some way) fully painted versus other factories the use partial methods ...

[GrussGott]

Here's the thing I'm wondering about ... Arcades's IM grigio clearly has the full frame painted, so it would be great to get this same photo but of, say, a Sakhir car to see it has the same sloppy paint line over Schwarz (i.e., black). That would help confirm the theory that the sloppy overspray indicates a normal line painted car ...



Arcades' car:

[G1n Mast3r]

I know if won't be much of a contributing post, but I am curious nonetheless. If this thread is still around in a few months I'll get a picture of my car when it comes it. Although I would think it would follow the same guidelines at GrussGott's Moonstone, as I mine will most likely have to be pulled from the line. Ordered Atlantis Metallic. At least from what I have gathered reading this thread more common IM cars are line panted Tanz being a good example vs something like Moonstone or Atlantis. Someone remind me to take photos of my engine bay when my car comes in lol.

[SO17]

When I ordered my Tanzanite M4 ( M4 are built in Munich, M3 & M4 Convertible at Regensburg) it had an original estimated delivery date of mid August. There was then a 10 week delay because - dealer quote - "the individual paint line robots are being upgraded". So it seems that at the Munich factory at least, the regular 'Individual' paints are applied by robot. No pictures of the underhood because my car hasn't arrived yet.

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by SO17

When I ordered my Tanzanite M4 ( M4 are built in Munich, M3 & M4 Convertible at Regensburg) it had an original estimated delivery date of mid August. There was then a 10 week delay because - dealer quote - "the individual paint line robots are being upgraded". So it seems that at the Munich factory at least, the regular 'Individual' paints are applied by robot. No pictures of the underhood because my car hasn't arrived yet.

That aligns with what I saw when I was there at the Munich Plant 3 weeks ago - they were upgrading the painting robots ... and it could make sense that they'd have the exact same painting robots, just for different paint along the line. That is, the main line would keep cooking to keep up speed, but you'd have a second mirror line of individual robots that may require color set up, etc and you'd put the individuals into that queue which takes longer.

As I understand it, post painting, the painted frames sit in a storage building (3 weeks?) to cure. It's right across the (internal) street from the main factory.

In another bit of news, Wah finally decided to make a useful contribution to the forum and posted this, which shows Sakhir and a fully painted engine frame unlike my Regensburg convertible individual cars, and his underhood is also fully painted and fully clear-coated unlike mine.

In other words, Wah's standard M4 Sakhir, and Arcades's individual M3 Grigio Medio were painted with the exact same technique, but possibly on different lines with robots ... but technique-wise no difference between individual and standard: full frame painting, full hood painting ... so either Munich and Regensburg always paint different due to different robots or convertibles always get painted different.

Originally Posted by Wah

GrussGott Mine doesn't have a paint tag there... but there doesn't seem to be an obvious paint line like on your cars.



It is also clearcoated under the hood.



Edit: I'll also mention since we're on the topic... they did a really shitty job painting my front driver and passenger fenders. There are areas where the paint is so thin you can see through the sakhir to the base coat. It almost looks like my clear coat is filled with dust, but if you look really closely, you can tell its just that the paint is really thin. I never bothered complaining to BMW about it since the answer would be to repaint it, and I don't want to do that either. Fucking morons took a month to build my car, and they couldn't even get the paint job right.

[JcLusso]

I sure got a lot of people all wound up about this haha! This kinda makes me wonder if anyone has an underside of their trunk painted fully. I remember there was a thread about that.

[Arcades]

Originally Posted by JcLusso

I sure got a lot of people all wound up about this haha! This kinda makes me wonder if anyone has an underside of their trunk painted fully. I remember there was a thread about that.

My M3 is painted but not clear coated. Wah is apparently both painted and clear coated. I can take a photo of my M4 and see as well since I won't be parting with that car until January (currently).

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by JcLusso

I sure got a lot of people all wound up about this haha! This kinda makes me wonder if anyone has an underside of their trunk painted fully. I remember there was a thread about that.

Welp, we might as well figure this shit out while there's a lull in the taillight posts.

[smithf80]

Originally Posted by G1n Mast3r

I know if won't be much of a contributing post, but I am curious nonetheless. If this thread is still around in a few months I'll get a picture of my car when it comes it. Although I would think it would follow the same guidelines at GrussGott's Moonstone, as I mine will most likely have to be pulled from the line. Ordered Atlantis Metallic. At least from what I have gathered reading this thread more common IM cars are line panted Tanz being a good example vs something like Moonstone or Atlantis. Someone remind me to take photos of my engine bay when my car comes in lol.

Trust me this thread will still be around.

JcLusso started this shit a while ago and this thread does not ever die.