[F30AM]

Have you noticed that your rear bumper is a slightly darker shade than the rear metal panel?

Mine certainly is. Probably because it is sprayed plastic and the way it catches the light.

Here are some pictures. What do you think? Looks worse in reality.

Car booked in for 3rd January for the driver's seat and rear bumper. They'll assess both. They need the car for most of the day.

UK thread: http://www.f30post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=785764

[bnekic]

Same color

[F30AM]

Originally Posted by bnekic

Same color

Picture possible?

[unintelligible]

Mine has a slight variation as well but it's harder to tell with MG. I have seen this on many other cars, in fact most cars, if you look hard enough.

The most you're going to get is a respray of your bumper and a blend into the rear quarter panels which just creates a myriad of other issues; paint texture differences, masking marks, mismatches in the metallic flake, overspray... trust me, I've been there. A word of advice: just leave it alone...

[F30AM]

Originally Posted by unintelligible

Mine has a slight variation as well but it's harder to tell with MG. I have seen this on many other cars, in fact most cars, if you look hard enough.

The most you're going to get is a respray of your bumper and a blend into the rear quarter panels which just creates a myriad of other issues; paint texture differences, masking marks, mismatches in the metallic flake, overspray... trust me, I've been there. A word of advice: just leave it alone...

Don't I know! Was a veritable 'mare with my Golf GTI.

[godfather87]

Its prob cuz the bumper gets painted elsewhere, and not along with the body. i can't think of a automotive company that doesn't have this issue. its very common, U just don't hear about it cuz avg person doesn't look.

[F30AM]

Someone else's car .....
Looks a bit worse than mine, I think.

[Who?]

think its the shadow?

[F30AM]

Originally Posted by newbmwuser

think its the shadow?

I really don't think so.

[Cyberdemon]

Certain colors are more likely to show differences when on plastic and metal.

I wouldn't touch it...if you think some goon with a spray gun is going to do a better job at matching the paint than the factory you're going to be disappointed. At best they'll try to blend it (like mentioned above) and then you'll start to notice other issues.

The eye sees what it wants...if you stare at the transition between the two you'll notice a difference in almost every picture you look at. If you look at the car in real life you'll never notice that transition.

Don't try and fix it, you're asking for a world of headaches.

[unintelligible]

Case in point, Rolls Royce Ghost, starts at $256,650 (a few bucks more than a 3 series). Same thing going on here, look at how the front bumper is darker as it transitions into the fender (probably differences in the orientation of the metallic flakes).

[bnekic]

Umm the sun is hitting the fender, it's the same color.

[ƒ°]

Metallic and pearl paint will be impossible to match when painted at different times and location. That being said, when your car was built, the factory would have been the best time and place to have it match because... the environment is sterile, the paint is applied around the same time, and its from the same batch of computer mixed paint. After the car has been out in the wild, not even the same batch of paint from the factory will match. The best way to "trick" yourself into seeing no seams is to blend into the adjacent panel. But for a new car, this is a terrible idea because over time the paint will degrade in different ways and you'll see even bigger issues.

In a perfect world you will never have to repaint the car. But in real life there will be dings and accidents that will require repainting at some point... unless you're lucky. So it's probably best to just leave it alone.

The other thing that could've happened is that it was damaged in transport and the port body shop repainted it.

[F30AM]

Thanks for all your replies and advice. Much appreciated.

Do your F30s have this paint mismatch issue?

I never noticed this on my car for the first 5 days of ownership. It was only yesterday when it was dull and dismal that I saw it. Anyway, I'll try my damndest to live with it. However, I've already mentioned it to my dealer who'll assess it. But as you've all advised, best left alone.

It was a challenging experience getting my Golf's rear bumper re-painted and matched. It took them 5-6 attempts. But it is now perfect. In fact, I had to go through this process 4 separate times during the last 2.75 years, which means it was repainted nearly 24 times and was off the road for nearly 3 months! I neither have the time nor the patience to go through this again.

Strange, it's always my rear bumpers that are the problem parts!

[CE750Jockey]

It doesn't match exactly. But like others have said, it's not exclusive to BMW. This is not the hill you want to die on. Leave it alone or you'll be sorry.

[F30AM]

Originally Posted by CE750Jockey

It doesn't match exactly. But like others have said, it's not exclusive to BMW. This is not the hill you want to die on. Leave it alone or you'll be sorry.

Does your's match?

[SamS]

Bumpers will NEVER be a perfect match, because they are a different material than the rest of the car, and "take" the paint differently than metal.

Don't waste your time taking it to the dealer. A respray will make it worse.

[roadcarver]

I have an estoril blue 335i that is the same. You can see it more above the kidney grills where the bumper meets the hood. It does not bother me in the least. Every car that I have had this is noticeable. Some colors show more than others. My word of advice is do not mess with it. It is no big deal and as others have said any respray will show this also but you will have devalued your car.

[wayman519]

I got mineral grey, the colour matches everywhere perfectly. The brighter the paint, the more noticeable the plastic metal mismatch there is.

[NateDog07V]

Which color is darker below ??


In case you didn't know... it's a trick, they're the same color... think i'm crazy? it's actually the way the human brain perceives shadows... put a finger over the middle of the image, voila

[BTT 335i]

The paint color always looks diferent on the plastic.

[clarence]

Originally Posted by Number

Metallic and pearl paint will be impossible to match when painted at different times and location.

The front & rear bumpers are supplied in painted & completed modules by an outside supplier. In the factory they're just bolted onto the painted shell.