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2010 2011 BMW 5 Series Forum F10 BMW 5-Series (F10) Forums General 5-Series Sedan and Wagon (F10 / F11) Forum Is the bumper a different paint shade?
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      03-22-2011, 04:37 PM   #1
tallshorty
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Is the bumper a different paint shade?

I had a rear collision and had to get my rear bumper replaced. A few days ago while washing my car in the sun, I noticed that the bumper shade is noticeably darker than the rest of the body. It is not very noticeable in the shade or on a cloudy day. I called the body shop and they told me that all cars are like this because the bumper is plastic so the shade will never be 100% matched to the body even in a new car. I never noticed this before can anyone else take a look at their car and confirm? My city is raining this whole week so I can't verify this with the front bumper. My car is Sophisto Grey aka Dark Graphite.

Last edited by tallshorty; 03-22-2011 at 04:44 PM..
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      03-22-2011, 05:30 PM   #2
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The body shop is full of crap. The color of the car is 100% uniform. Metallic paint is much harder to match, but that's still no excuse. Did you use a BMW certified body shop, or just some place that was recommended to you?
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      03-22-2011, 06:36 PM   #3
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OK, so here is how cars get made in the factory.

Your body shell and bumpers are painted in two different localities, not in the same paint booth (if anyone knows of a manufacturer that does, let me know). BMW and others strive their hardest to have the colours match 100%, but in reality, they won't. They can't. They'll be darn close, but no cigar. The first reason is obvious (not painted together), the second reason I believe is that the bumper is not painted in the same way/pattern/direction as the body shell. With metallics, this is critical.

Re what gatoman said, he is right also. It has little to do with the fact that the bumper is plastic (although static charge can alter flakes), and a good panel shop should be able to return you a car that is matched better than the factory, as they will blend the bumper paint back to the panel. I had this done to my car and as mentioned it was better than new.

If you drive around and look at ANY modern metallic car, you will notice that the bumper is a slightly different shade to the body from some angles. I'd go back and request he do it again. Doesn't he have a satisfaction guarantee?
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      03-22-2011, 06:43 PM   #4
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Dark grays show this the worst. Previous poster nailed it all in the way the flakes lay down. Your car is sprayed with electrostatic bells this causes flakes to stand up if you will. Spraying with a typical spray gun will not do this especially on plastic. The factory will use stuff like conductive primer but it isn't the same as painting on metal (when electrostatics are involved)
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      03-22-2011, 11:59 PM   #5
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I took the car to a BMW certified body shop. I don't really notice the shade difference unless the sun hits the car directly. Even on a cloudy day it is not noticeable. But from the sound of everyones comment, this shouldnt be right?
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      03-23-2011, 12:31 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tallshorty View Post
I took the car to a BMW certified body shop. I don't really notice the shade difference unless the sun hits the car directly. Even on a cloudy day it is not noticeable. But from the sound of everyones comment, this shouldnt be right?
No, I'd say from everyones comment, this is what you should expect.

But.. my point was, and you confirmed, it's not a 100% match. You won't get it unless they do a good job of blending through from the bumper fascia to the bodywork.
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      03-23-2011, 12:50 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tallshorty View Post
I took the car to a BMW certified body shop. I don't really notice the shade difference unless the sun hits the car directly. Even on a cloudy day it is not noticeable. But from the sound of everyones comment, this shouldnt be right?
certified by the dealer or by the factory, big difference. There are 19 dealers within 100 miles of me but only 3 certified factory collision centers and one of those just opened. I attached the Canadian list for you.
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File Type: pdf BMW_Group_Canada_Certified_Collision_Centres.pdf (131.9 KB, 479 views)
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      03-23-2011, 03:06 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 5er_luvver View Post
OK, so here is how cars get made in the factory.

Your body shell and bumpers are painted in two different localities, not in the same paint booth (if anyone knows of a manufacturer that does, let me know). BMW and others strive their hardest to have the colours match 100%, but in reality, they won't. They can't. They'll be darn close, but no cigar. The first reason is obvious (not painted together), the second reason I believe is that the bumper is not painted in the same way/pattern/direction as the body shell. With metallics, this is critical.

Re what gatoman said, he is right also. It has little to do with the fact that the bumper is plastic (although static charge can alter flakes), and a good panel shop should be able to return you a car that is matched better than the factory, as they will blend the bumper paint back to the panel. I had this done to my car and as mentioned it was better than new.

If you drive around and look at ANY modern metallic car, you will notice that the bumper is a slightly different shade to the body from some angles. I'd go back and request he do it again. Doesn't he have a satisfaction guarantee?
More or less correct apart from the plastic bit.

It has everything with the fact that bumper is plastic. Because it is plastic and the body is metal, the paint itself is different. Meaning different "ingredients" in the paint. Often even the paint suppliers are different. To colour-match the same body or bumper paint is a task in itself and even the best suppliers can get it wrong from batch to batch but less noticeable unless you compare cars side by side from different batches. Metallics are harder for sure but they can cock up even solids.

Having said that, every one has different levels of acceptance and if you are not happy, go back on a sunny day. Perhaps ask a few friends for opinions before deciding.
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      03-23-2011, 09:43 PM   #9
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I think that is life when owning a dark gray car. Check out other cars on the road. My Smoky Granite (dark gray) Lexus GS had the same issue with the rear bumper from the factory. Harder to see the front bumper difference because the mating part to the fender was much smaller than at the rear of the car.

Todays newer cars are much more difficult because now most rear bumpers flow into the body of the car on the same plane with very tight panel gaps. Any difference in shade will be very apparent.
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      03-23-2011, 10:16 PM   #10
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I don't buy the factory bumper is a different color from the body argument. To the OP, take a good hard look at all these photos. If you can tell a difference between the bumpers and the body, then more power to you.
Official SOPHISTO GRAY (Dark Graphite Metallic) F10 / F11 5-series Photo Thread
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      03-23-2011, 10:36 PM   #11
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This is exactly what comes of washing your own car. You see too much. Use a car wash.
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      03-23-2011, 10:44 PM   #12
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tallshorty, I too had someone hit the rear bumper of my car. I took it to a BMW Certified collision repair facility. I am very particular about my car as are most of the people on this forum and cannot tell the difference since it's been repainted. The repair facility did an excellent job on it and I'm very happy. When I expressed my concerns about the paint matching, they assured me that it would be as good and new, if not better. They did mention, in general, something about the paint on a bumper could be slightly different than that on the body due to different surfaces. I certainly agree with the poster who stated that if you're not happy, make them do it again. The repair facility I used offers such guarantees. My F10 is Deep Sea Blue, so it would be noticeable I think if the color was off, even a little bit.
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      03-24-2011, 01:07 AM   #13
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From the file on BMW Certified Collision repair facility, the body shop that I took my car into is one. I will try to argue my point again with the body shop but not sure what else I can say if they insist this is the way it is. I guess I probably would have to take photo of another factory painted Dark Graphite F10 in order to convince them?
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      03-24-2011, 03:16 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gatoman39 View Post
I don't buy the factory bumper is a different color from the body argument. To the OP, take a good hard look at all these photos. If you can tell a difference between the bumpers and the body, then more power to you.
Official SOPHISTO GRAY (Dark Graphite Metallic) F10 / F11 5-series Photo Thread
That's pretty good match. Almost exhibition standard. Wait a min. It IS exhibition!!!

For exhibitions, the cars are give more attention to detail, especially coatings. Not just colour matching but also the clearcoat is often polished to smooth-out the surface, giving it almost mirror-like finish.

Bumper colour is not different from body. It should be the same and usually so. OEMs try hard to acheive this. However it is not easy and they can, and do, get it wrong sometimes. I could bore you to death with what goes on in an OEM on this issue, but let me spare you your lives.

["on this issue" added]

Last edited by SpawneyGet; 03-24-2011 at 04:47 AM..
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      03-24-2011, 06:59 PM   #15
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tallshorty,

what a coincidence..
I'm in the GTA and just got my dark graphite metallic car back from the body shop a few hours ago.
I also had my back bumper repainted and noticed that the bumper didn't have the same shine and metallic look that the rest of the car had.
I made this comment to the shop owner and he gave me the exact same response you got.
Problem is, when I picked up the car it was spotless and the sun was very bright, so it's hard to remember how it looked prior to taking it in because our winter has been so messy and gloomy.
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      03-24-2011, 07:56 PM   #16
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[QUOTE=gatoman39;9200192]I don't buy the factory bumper is a different color from the body argument. To the OP, take a good hard look at all these photos. If you can tell a difference between the bumpers and the body, then more power to you.
[URL="http://f10.5post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=329658
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      03-25-2011, 05:14 PM   #17
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Thats BS

For those of you that have not been hit, when you do, do what I did and take the estimator back outside and show him there is no color difference now and you expect the color to match when they are done. And if they say they can't. Take it somewhere else.

These guys are playing with you. A good shop will make sure it blends one way or another. Check you paint inside the shop under florescent lights too. You'll see true color. Sun works but must be directly on the panel You'll see bad bodywork in the sun.
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      03-26-2011, 12:44 AM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gatoman39 View Post
certified by the dealer or by the factory, big difference. There are 19 dealers within 100 miles of me but only 3 certified factory collision centers and one of those just opened. I attached the Canadian list for you.
Wow, the odds are great an uneducated person to this could easily have work done that is not factory certified. Good info.

Quote:
Originally Posted by raleedy View Post
This is exactly what comes of washing your own car. You see too much. Use a car wash.
Awesome!
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      03-30-2015, 03:25 PM   #19
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I just got my front bumper repainted and rear bumper replaced/painted by a "certified" shop, but the metallic flakes look a bit off. Can anyone check out these photos and tell me if this would be normal from factory too? I never bothered to check before I got them repainted.
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      03-30-2015, 06:18 PM   #20
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If the collision center did properly, then it shouldn't have a problem with color matching in direct sunlight or not. The plastic vs metal part will tend to make the color difference but it shouldn't if done properly.

If the color don't match in direct sunlight, I would guess they didn't use enough coats or didn't have the correct/enough primer/basement. I would complain and take it back especially if they claim to be "certified". And if they are really certified by BMW, then they will not argue with you or they BMW will pull their certification. If they do argue, feel free to file a claim up higher. This has been my experience so far. BMW isn't going to risk their luxury market leadership because of a shady body shop.
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      03-30-2015, 06:24 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by speedracerlo View Post
I just got my front bumper repainted and rear bumper replaced/painted by a "certified" shop, but the metallic flakes look a bit off. Can anyone check out these photos and tell me if this would be normal from factory too? I never bothered to check before I got them repainted.
It's very, very difficult to get a perfect match on most metalflake paints; ESPECIALLY silver!! It's all in how the paint was laid. Paint also takes differently to plastic than metal so you might see a slight variation there. That said, that looks pretty good on my laptop. My old '06 Lincoln LS was silver and in certain lights and from certain angles the paint didn't match at all!! Even on the same panel, mostly due to the panel shape, it looked like it different match! Your eye is going to be hyper-critical as you know the history.
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