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E28 M5 paint chips

	I'm sending this to the M list as many of us often wonder how to 
rid ourselves of nasty paint chips (which stick out like sore thumbs on 
black cars). If your car is nice enough, you drive with the constant 
concern of further ruining your car.

	The past week, I've been repairing chips with great success. I've 
repainted the front spoiler completely (I have a fair bit of automotive 
paint background) and was moving on to the little details. Without a 
doubt, the average paint novice can repair chips. Here's what I recommend.

[WHAT YOU WILL NEED]
- - Touch paint from BMW (no one else).
- - Clearcoat touch up, if your car is multi-stage paint
	(NOTE: Of course all E28 M5's are single stage Schwartz black. If
	you own an E34 M5 or M6/635/M535, you may have a two stage paint
	with clearcoat)
- - toothpicks
- - several clean rags
- - 1000 and 1500 grit wetdry
- - a pencil with fresh erasure head
- - a "cleaner". Make sure it's organic - such as a citrus-based cleanser.
- - some contact spray (ie. 3M spray adhesive)
- - Meguiars #3 (medium cut) or Dupont's product or whatever, so long as
	it's **NOT** rubbing compound AND it's a medium cut POLISH. FYI,
	Meguiars #9 (or any swirl remover) is not quite up to the job.
- - Zymol HD-Cleanse (highly recommended). If not, Meguiars #7
- - Zymol Carbon wax. If not, a good carnauba wax.
- - Of course, several clean, soft cotton rags.

** NOTE: Choose a spot easy to work on but hard to see, so practise can
	make perfect for when you decide to tackle the hood ;-)

Prepping the area:
==================

0.	First we want to sand any high spots from the chip flush with
	the paint. This will possibly take a dozen back and forth motions.
	If you look with good light, you can sand one or two swipes and
	see a shiny area surrounded by matte sanded paint. This indicates
	a high spot. If the area around the chip is immediately dull from
	a couple swipes, there is no high spot.

	Go to the sanding section below and set up a 1000 grit sanding
	block. Follow sanding instructions below. Once the area is matte,
	move on. NOTE WITH CLEARCOAT it is more difficult to tell. Just
	do a half dozen swipes with 1000 grit and move on.

1.	Clean chip areas thoroughly. This can be done with the cleanser of
	choice combined with a blotting rag, Q-tip, etc. You may want to
	run a toothpick along the edges to remove grime built up in the chip.
	Remember, we basically need to strip the wax out of the area.

Painting:

2.	Dab paint on a palette (cardboard works) and dip toothpick in paint.
	Get enough that it transfers to the chip - this takes a few trys.
	Put a THIN COAT of paint in the chip, covering the chip completely.
	If a little paint gets on the outside of the chip, fear not - we'll
	be sanding soon. THE IDEA HERE IS TO PUT A THIN "CONTACT" COAT THAT
	ADHERES TO THE SURFACE AND PROVIDES GOOD GRIP FOR FURTHER COATS.

3.	Let dry recommended time. Most touchups can dry in 4 hours before
	applying more.

4.	From here, we want to work on filling the chip so that it is 
	eventually higher than the paint. One can use successive blots
	with the toothpick, waiting 1/2 hour or so between intervals.

	(NOTE - If you have a CLEARCOAT finish, just fill the chip with
	enough paint to give a solid color. Let paint dry.Then proceed to
	fill the chip with CLEARCOAT as described in step 4.)

5.	Once the chip is filled higher than the original paint, let dry
	for a day or so. Note the chip only needs to be slighty higher
	than the original paint. An more than necessary just means more
	time sanding the chip down, which takes time.

Sanding:
	[Steps 6 - 13 take approximately 15 minutes per chip]

6.	Take the 1000 grit wetdry and spray adhesive on the back. Let sit
	for a few minutes. Spray adhesive on the rubber tip of the pencil.

7.	Cut a centimeter square of wetdry (enough to cover pencil rubber)
	and stick to pencil. This is your sanding tool.

8.	Wet area (water dab) to be sanded. Apply light pressure (don't put
	twenty pounds of pressure - let the wetdry "cut" like it's suppose
	to) and stroke the wetdry back and forth over the paint chip. Keep
	the pencil perpendicular to the surface (flat) and always be on top
	of the chip (don't swipe completely by the chip). You will sand some
	of the original paint. Don't fret - this is why we are using 1000 
	grit. After two or three complete swipes, look closely at the paint.
	You'll notice the paint mound in the chip is being to dull, as is
	the paint surrounding the chip. Also, periodically alternate sanding
	directions. I like to do 0 degree (left to right), 45 deg, and 90 deg.
	This alleviates several problems, the largest is that you want to
	sand the chip evenly and your strokes (and area) do not perform this
	if you only go in one direction.

9.	Keep the area damp/wet and change sanding squares after 20 or 30
	sanding swipes (when the wetdry dulls). Every 10 swipes or so,
	check your progress. The idea is to sand the area until it is
	smooth. Use your fingers to feel the area. Look for a shiny lowspot
	surround the chip (where the wetdry is not touching the original paint
	around the chip since the chip is the high spot). I run through
	approximately a half dozen squares per chip.

10.	Once the chip area is fairly smooth, set up some 1500 grit wetdry in
	the same way as steps #6 and #7. Wet area and sand 15 or 20 swipes
	perpendicular to direction of the small scratches caused by the
	1000 grit.

11.	Clean area with water. Take the medium cut (i.e. Meguiars #3) and
	place a dime dab on your fingers. Wipe back and forth with medium
	pressure, covering several inches around and including chip. Wipe
	area dry. Look closely. If it is dull or scratches still exist,
	do again. Note, do this with your fingers since 1) you can feel the
	area and know what is going on and 2) it cuts much less paint.

12.	Once the area is polished, use Zymol HD-Cleanse to remove microscopic
	scratches and rejuvenate oils in the paint. Again, wipe back and
	forth, but this time with LIGHT pressure. 15 or 20 swipes should do
	it. Wipe dry with cloth. Turn over to clean area of cloth and buff.

	** At this point, the area should look good. If you are satified,
	move ahead. If you feel the chip area is still high, go back to
	step #6 and work ahead.

13.	Apply Zymol wax (or good carnauba wax). Wipe area dry with a different
	cloth (not the one with the polish!). Turn cloth over to dry area and
	buff.

Look at your results, Improve on the next one, and enjoy driving that black
M5!

Any questions, feel free to contact me...

Filippo Morelli
bilge@domain.elided
E28 M5 (sadly for sale - but soon with no road chips!)