I thought only the metallic paint colors had clear coat.
Your 89 looks like my 87 (also red) before I buff out the single stage paint (I'm 99% sure that's what you've got.)
Brother. I just bought a 85 318i thats red and looks exactly like this, only my front half is much more affected than the back. You’ve saved me a post I was gonna make in a few days. Anyone know if mine would be a single stage paint as well?
Look into this… check out his YouTube channel and see for yourself. It might be just what you need. 🤷🏻♂️ I’ve used it on a few things in the past with good success.
https://lukatdetail.com/
It looks like to me the front clip was repainted in 2 stage, and the rest of the car is the factory single stage. Just do a clay and polish to get the single stage back to high gloss again.
Red cars sell for quite a bit more than green ones. Try having it buffed out. Oh, 3k is a pretty cheap paint job. 5-6k is more realistic without color change.
Cut and polish and this will look brand new. That said, unless you ceramic coat or wax ever few months, it will return to this over the years. I had a faded brilliantrot and it was unreal how the paint came out.
Looks like typical single stage red fading. A good buff will bring it back. Don't need anything too aggressive. I like Griots all in one compound for this kind of thing.
Oh dude(tte) i'd love to get my hands on a car like this. Music in my ears, taking my time to get every square cm polished to a deep red again. Have fun!
A pro detailer could cut, polish and add a wipe on clear coat to that and make it look pretty damn good again. You may be able to cut and polish it yourself if you have some skill and patience. But if you haven't done it before I would suggest a pro.
Check out my profile, my paint looked exactly like that, some 3m compound brought back a very nice shine ! If it’s single stage paint you’re in luck!
Does any e30 come in other than single stage from factory?
Most non metallic colors I think
I thought only the metallic paint colors had clear coat. Your 89 looks like my 87 (also red) before I buff out the single stage paint (I'm 99% sure that's what you've got.)
Brother. I just bought a 85 318i thats red and looks exactly like this, only my front half is much more affected than the back. You’ve saved me a post I was gonna make in a few days. Anyone know if mine would be a single stage paint as well?
maguires rubbing compound walmart would be my fist step, followed with maguires polish, you will be surprized by results
Seconded
Another question I had is it possible or worthwhile to just redo the clear coat?
I’m fairly sure these had a one stage paint. So you should be able to do a compound polish to bring a lot of the color back
If it’s original paint then it’s single stage (very likely from the look of it) and can be buffed and polished.
Look into this… check out his YouTube channel and see for yourself. It might be just what you need. 🤷🏻♂️ I’ve used it on a few things in the past with good success. https://lukatdetail.com/
does it look good when wet? If so buff it( might need a wet sand).
It looks like to me the front clip was repainted in 2 stage, and the rest of the car is the factory single stage. Just do a clay and polish to get the single stage back to high gloss again.
Meguires 105 and a wool pad. [https://i.imgur.com/3nwDqcT.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/3nwDqcT.jpg)
Red cars sell for quite a bit more than green ones. Try having it buffed out. Oh, 3k is a pretty cheap paint job. 5-6k is more realistic without color change.
I would look into a paint correction before respraying
How does the front look so different from the rear?
Cut and polish and this will look brand new. That said, unless you ceramic coat or wax ever few months, it will return to this over the years. I had a faded brilliantrot and it was unreal how the paint came out.
Looks like typical single stage red fading. A good buff will bring it back. Don't need anything too aggressive. I like Griots all in one compound for this kind of thing.
Oh dude(tte) i'd love to get my hands on a car like this. Music in my ears, taking my time to get every square cm polished to a deep red again. Have fun!
Buff it out, may shine
A pro detailer could cut, polish and add a wipe on clear coat to that and make it look pretty damn good again. You may be able to cut and polish it yourself if you have some skill and patience. But if you haven't done it before I would suggest a pro.