blade29

OOPS guess thats what you car looks like if you crash into Halfords. :shutit:

have you any experience of the ceramiclear,i only ask as i need some paintwork doing and want the most durable product for resisting stone chipping.

Its a PPG product, I have used PPG products in the past, and seem to recall their basecoat system is quite good, We soley use Sikkens products as they approved buy most manufacturers so we have to use it to maintain warranties etc.

But worth bearing in mind the products are only as good as the guy painting them. and clearcoats are only as good as the basecoat and primers beneath them

blade 29,while you are on the subject of paint,is there any one clearcoat that will give increased stone chip protection

We are finding the compliant ulta high solid clearcoat from Sikkens to be one of the best on the market. And is the lacquer I prefer.

Now thats quite an update mate, you've really got on with this project and I think have progressed with it loads in a very short space of time. Cant wait to see the finished project. I like the sound of the perlescent blue paint, will be something different. Seeing as its a 220d are you going to remap it as well?

Thanks friend, have you got anymore info on remapping the 220d I wasnt aware they remapped them? but wll have it done id it can be?

Also in reference to the colour here is a Cobra I painted a few weeks back in the blue im doing the Lexus in, it is actually more purpley blue than it looks in the photo, but my god its a gorgous color with so must impact and zerillc pearl. what do you think guys, also this colour change will by far exceed Lexus's acceptable standard or indeed any quality manufacturer, so it will be totally undetectible that its been done[[ and will infact beat the paint standard of Lexus which is damn high anyway]], other than the lexus computer system and dvla formely having it down as silver which will be changed once ive certified the job

also good to see some interest in the project, wasnt sure what kind of reception i would get, and thought it would have hardly any replies...so thanks guys :winky:

update**

well ive been fairly busy wiith it the past few days althought the pics dont tell the whole story as lots has been done under the skin, chassis jigged straight, its now within tolerance of the factory, or maybe even tighter as our tolerances on alignment is tighter than when they leave the factory.

Eibach suspension fitted, new steering rack fitted and calibrated, new steering column fitted and set. Here are a few pics although the suspension,hubs ,brakes etc are all now fitted back although not pictured as yet.

Ive now really got into this project, and have decided to do a total show winning repaint in a pearlescent Blue with a purple tint to it, what do you think?

Cool, thanks very much for your comments mate. Its really good to hear something from someone who deals with this everyday and espcially does insurance work. Have you had a look at my other thread mate with the initial pics of the car before it went to the bodyshop? Seeing as the car has been straightened is there anything else that you could recommend tho that should be checked?... Where are you located btw mate? When I bought the car it was stated as light damage which I could tell it was anyway but stupidly I didnt notice the kink in the chassis legs but glad it was repairable tho as when I first found out I was thinking of getting rid of it.

Just out of curisosity, how much should I be paying for the work mate? I've supplied all the required parts so its just the straightening and bodywork/ labour which is needed really

Well apart from the obvious, you wanna be checking slight swages in the roof, engine mounts, exhaust mounts etc basically anything that could have secondary damage due to the initial impact..But the main thing is to get a 4 wheel alignment check done, not a cheap tracking kob at one of these kwik fit places, but a thorough 4 wheel alignment by a specialist or a reputable bodyshop we do them before the repair and after to make a comparison I take you didint have 1 to start with but make sure you get one done after, you want to ask for the computer printout of all the results ,its quite hard to understand but fax me over a copy amd I will soon tell you if the cars straight or not...

Im located in Norwich Norfolk

Hard for me to say without seeing the job and different bodyshops charge different amounts depending on what standard of repair you want, I personally dont allow any 2nd hand parts to be fitted to any of our customers cars but then differenfor us as we have to maintain manufactures warranties and gurantee the work pretty much for the life of the car.

Basically a dozer works by a hydraulic arm that pulls out damage by attaching clamps fixings to the car it then pulls againt itself by attaching sill clamps to the car with a bar through the middle, very simple design but dam affective.

Hope that is of some help.

Just out of interest I take it you got the car stupidly cheap, as surely if yu have to pay a decent bodyshop to carry out all the repairs and painting ,you may aswell have bought a straight one?

They've used a dozer if I'm correct. They said its very similar to using a jig but for something like this a dozer would be used anyway. I think they're doing a good job but am I wrong?? The car is apparently all straight and the measurements have been double checked. As for the leg, it was kinked quite a bit and not all of the kink was coming out even with the leg now straight so they had to open it up and sort it. I got a bit scared when the replacement of chassis leg ends came up in the past as when I was looking for parts one garage asked if the front panel from the scrappy came with chassis leg ends and I didnt really fancy my car being chopped up for a quick/easy fix. I may be wrong so please feel free to correct me if u wish.

Hi Regal, dont worry nothing looks wrong to me.

Jigging is far superior to just dozing, dozing is ok for light damage which believe it or not yours is classed as light damage [mine is light/medium]...jigging is used for when the chassis rails etc are bent in such a way that it effects the suspension set up of a car..Jigging is also the only way you know for 100% that car is straight, it is a very complex procedure to carry out, I have just put mine on the jig today just to make sure things are ok which they all are and like yours all mine needed is a simple pull by the dozer you can actually see in my thread the car on the dozer.

Also I refer to replacing the chassis leg ends, as thats the true way of doing it properly with all new parts and welded in , in exactly the same place and method as the manufacturer did, its the only way of doing it properly.. i mean properly as, back to manufacturers standard, as all the repairs we carry out [50-70 a week] have to be repaired to factory standards as we are approved by most manufacturers..

Thats not to say yours isnt being repaired correctly because from what I can see it is.

Regan , have they jigged it or have they just used a body dozer?

If they have jigged it , I would be intrested to hear what Jig system they used? As that o/s leg looks abit messy, but could be just the camera angle, im surprised they didnt just replace the chassis leg ends and joined them in whilst on the jig...I could be wrong though just from what I see from the pics :)

what about 19"? what size tyres will i need to keep the speedo reading correct? also will the arches need rolling as well?

Regards

Maz

Bump^^^

which brand and will you be using them.

Not sure of the brand will check tommorow, but will obviously only be selling them with the wheels

So did they steal it with the keys and did you get all the keys back? If not ......... well I expect you already know ;)

Are you going to keep it? If so you have a bargain there.

Hi Steve, yes got all the fobs [keyless entry], they stole the fobs out of his house then took the car.

I will be keeping it but it will be for my wife,meaning she wont have to drive my M3 anymore :winky:

will you be using the tyres again,if not i could be interested,how many miles on them?

They have done about 5k, theres only 3 as the 4th one was damaged in the crash.

Looking good mate, good to see :)

Hi guys, im new to this forum, my names Lee and I own an accident repair centre, I drive an M3, but thought I'd share this with you as Ive just bought it for my Mrs, it was stolen recovered from the NHS, it should have been repaired by us for Norwich Union but the NHS didnt want it back and after several months Norwich Union Finally decided to write it off,as its been in my bodyshop for the past few months anyway, I got offered it at silly money £2500 its a 2007 IS220d SE-L with a very high spec and low mileage, the damage is reasonable but should never of been written off, heres a breif list of what required...

-o/s chassis realignment

-front bumper

-steering column

-steering rack

-lower suspension arm

-o/s/f wing

-o/s/f door

-o/s/r door [repair only]

-o/s/r quarter [repair only]

-rear bumper [repair only]

-n/s/f wing

-n/s/f door

-front screen

Here are some pics this will look like brand new when finished [we are approved by most prestige manufactures]

Extras im fitting will include

-different alloys

-spoiler

-front splitter

-Eibachs

any recomondations on the above or advice on modifying will be much appreciated, I will also add updates through out the project as it progresses ,completion date will hopefully be around mid Jan