Paint Back of i3 Black?

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Fisher99

Well-known member
Joined
May 12, 2019
Messages
424
My i3 is white with the black hood, roof, and hatch, with a white section on the back just below the black hatch. Standard i3 2 tone color arrangement. The white beneath the black hatch just looks odd to me and I am wondering it if would look better if I had that section painted black. But then I wonder if that would make the rear end look even taller and skinnier than it already does (in my opinion, one of the worst optics of the i3).

If any of you who have 2 tone i3's have painted this lower section black to match the hatch, I'd be interested in seeing pictures.
 
Hmmm... I just did a bit of (crude) Photoshop and changed the white to black on a pic of the i3. I think I like it! I was concerned that it might make the back look taller and skinnier but I think it actually has the opposite effect. I would post the pic but I don't see a way to do that on this forum.

In any case I think I'm going to have to get an estimate for having this done to my car. Or maybe this would be a good time to buy a can of Plasti Dip and do it myself, since it can be peeled off if I decide that I don't like it...
 
Yeah, vinyl wrap is definitely an option. Turns out that getting a high gloss shine with Plasti Dip is problematic. But the more I look at the pics the more I am convinced that black is the way to go. Think I will get a quote for having it painted. But now I'm thinking that black wheels would complete the look so maybe I'll Plasti Dip the wheels...
 
I'm curious to know if the black paint on the hood is the same black paint on the bumpers and what color you might specify to paint the white portion of the rear bumper. BMW's Jet Black?
 
Note that when painting any less than rigid surface, BMW (and others) call for using an additive in the paint to make it more flexible. The materials costs can get fairly high as you'd probably have to buy more than what's needed, so having someone do it that can share that cost with another project is useful.
 
Interesting note about flexibility in the paint. I'll be sure to mention that when I get a quote.

As for color, I'm guessing that a body shop can look that up.
 
This was done a while ago but a quite google search will reveal a lot:

https://insideevs.com/photo/3953481/bmw-i3-bumper-modification-out-with-the-two-tone/

Mine is darker grey so the rear doesn't look so contrasty!
 
Nice! Exactly the same color and wheels as mine. I like it! Now to get a quote and see what it will cost. Small area, but as was point out, may need special "flexible" paint so may drive the price up.
 
OFten the paint itself is the same, it's an additive to it. You'd get the same situation if you were painting a bumper cover, but in the i3's situation, almost all of the panels are flexible as none of the exterior ones are metal and the rigid ones aren't body color like the hatch, which is glass, or the roof which only has a clear-coat on it).
 
I've been doing some searching and found (on this forum) a reference saying that the BMW paint code is "668 Jet Black".
 
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