Repainting Entire Car

What would be a fair price to have my 325i sedan completely repainted? I know with various demographics its hard to say for sure, but I'd like some input to develop a ball park estimate.

If you plan on keeping your car for more than 6 months, do not put a cheapie paint job on it. A *good* paint job can (and usually DOES) cost thousands of dollars because the finished product is directly proportional to the amount of prep work that went into it (which is where the *serious* money adds up).

Originally Posted by Fast Bob

A *good* paint job can (and usually DOES) cost thousands.

You might get a zip-code specific answer here:
- Generic repairpal labor/job/shop rates by zip code (1)

Originally Posted by Fast Bob

If you plan on keeping your car for more than 6 months, do not put a cheapie paint job on it. A *good* paint job can (and usually DOES) cost thousands of dollars because the finished product is directly proportional to the amount of prep work that went into it (which is where the *serious* money adds up).

Honestly, I may keep this car for the rest of my life. Some people want a Corvette or Ferrari, I always wanted an E46. Of course I have two bimmers, but this one will always be my first.

I'm trying to talk my insurance into repainting the whole car. We had a bad storm a few days ago; the wind blew down a dartboard that was hanging up in the car port onto the car leaving a small dent, and some branches scratched up the left side of the car. All in all, its nothing major, you can't even really tell unless you get right up on the car, but maybe I'll get lucky. So far they have had their own appraiser come and and have offered me $1400.00; however, it was raining when the appraiser came out and he made note of additional damage that could exist and that the estimate might need revisions. I'm thinking, once I get some appraisals from third parties, I might be able to get about $3500 total which could completely go for a paint job.

I plan to keep the original color: titanium silver.

Same color or different color? It can make a big difference. If different color that means many other areas (door jams, under hood, trunk, etc.) must also be painted.

If you DIY at all and don't mind working hard, you can opt to do lots of prep yourself. Saves tons of money, which translates to a much better spray quality you can afford.