[assuck]

i was thinking about giving my month old 325i a new paint job since i love the le mans blue exterior and it doesnt look like were going to get it standard in the states. would this lower the value of the car later if i tried to sell it or trade in for the new m3 after a few years? maybe 3 or 4? im happy with the current sparkling graphite that i have but i would be even happier with the blue. has anyone else considered this an option or gone through with it? sorry if this is in the wrong section. ive only been browsing around these forums for a few days. thanks in advance.

[JOYRIIDE1113]

It would cost way too much money and effor to find a good shop that will make it come out oem. You will also lose money as the trade in will be lower. Look to spend atleast 7k for a quailty repaint on the whole car.
too much money and loss for eye candy.

[assuck]

im going to the shop today to get an estimate for it. ive seen his work before and its amazing. its also a friend of a friend and were getting two cars done from him so i believe im going to get a good discount (ill have to see). is it still not worth it? he said he had to order the color directly from germany, but i'm not too sure about that. am i just getting my hopes up?

[Oz]

i would keep the SG and get the new M3 with Le Mans Blue exterior...I don't think it's worth the money to get a paintjob on a month old car

[h_curtis]

You would probably be better off selling that car and getting another. Yes your car will be worth less with a new paint job. You are taking two hits by doing what you are doing. If you are going to get a paint job, you should get something cool like a pearl underlay or something.

[E36_325i]

I would say yes, it will hurt your resale. Something about a fully repainted car makes it seem tainted, even if it was a pro job. Doesn't a really good paint job involve removing the engine and getting inside the bay? I wouldnt even want to go down that road w/ a 1 month old E90.

[Dukenole]

isn't mystic blue metallic (what I have) similar to le mans blue?

[thd13]

Yes, they are fairly similar.

[longtran]

go buy a salvage e90 and fix it up and repaint it that color.

Noooooooooooooooooooo! Painting a brand new car just to change the color is moronic, I'm sorry. I don't care who you get to paint it you will always be able to tell it was a re-paint and it will devalue the car drastically. I wouldn't do it to a used Honda that had a halfway decent paint job, much less a brand new BMW! If the color bothers you that much, sell it and buy another. I'm not calling you a moron for asking the question, I'm just answering your question and telling you, "don't do it".

[bily]

This is the way I would approach it. If you typically bang up your car, then it really does not matter, get the color you want, now knowing it will be painted again later anyway. I have a friend that had his G35 painted this matalic green 15 days after buying it. Three days later, boom, hood and bumper trashed. He gets into lots of accidents, most of them he causes, so he know his car will be painted again anyway. What really depreciates a car is bad body work.

[Artz 330]

if your going to spend 7-10K on a paint job, just trade in the car. And take the hit that way. Itll save you in the long run to just trade in the car. If you paint you will loose money now and later. So its not worth it.

[h_curtis]

You do know you could trade it in and buy a new one with whatever color you want?