Sunday drive

[LJtii]

It was too nice a day in the San Diego area not to get "maroon 4" out for a drive. The photo I took is interesting to me because it shows clearly the painted areas of the car: the driver's door brake let go about 12 years ago and a gust of wind blew the door open, denting the front of it. The repaint shows up as darker Malaga. But while I know why that was painted, I do not know why both rear quarters have been partially repainted. There is no filler below the new paint (checked with a sensitive magnet, a.k.a a "spot-rot" gauge) and there is no evidence of any body damage. The repaint was done prior to my buying the car and I have been unable to figure out what prompted it. The balance of the car retains its factory finish.

[LJtii]

This shot shows the mis-matched paint more clearly.

[Mike Self]

it's entirely possible that your car was damaged in shipping and repaired by the BMW "make-ready" facility at the POE where it entered the US, or by the selling dealer. My '69 came equipped from the factory with a dinged in driver's door, but since I had been waiting four months for the car to be shipped (dock strike) I took it, ding and all with the understanding that I'd get a quart of factory paint (which I did) and Hoffman would pay for the repairs (which they did).

After a couple of years, though, the repainted Nevada door was slightly off colorwise from the rest of the car, and had to be waxed more often as the paint dulled more rapidly. I'm sure Malaga is more difficult to match than Nevada...

mike

[LJtii]

Mike, thanks, that makes sense, although the paint is so crummy in the same area on both rear quarters that it's hard to imagine BMW had anything to do with it. It's smooth, but it is checking badly.