sparky3

I have a silver 04 LS. I got the car for a great price because of the high miles and it had a few rock chips and a couple of areas that needed addressed as far as the paint.
I went around and got estimates that ranged from $1300 to $2300. I had a hood with quite a few rock chips, a passenger door with some deep scratches and a small chip in the rear quarter panel near the rear passenger door.
Well, I look it to the low dollar guy and boy what a mistake that was. I had been driving around on temp tags since December and finally put my plates on and washed the car today. Let's just say the passenger side doors don't match the front (untouched) passenger fender. The hood is much closer paint wise but I'm very unhappy with the results. I called the paint guy and he stated he'd do whatever he could to make me happy; apparently he admits he should've blended the right passenger door with the fender to make it look better. I've been p-o'd all night to say the least.
The guy had attempted to drop the car off as "finished" earlier and I noticed a spot he'd made worse near the front driver's side headlight. He claims that the front and rear bumper had recently been repainted and when he peeled the tape off some paint came with it. I told him this was unacceptable and he'd need to get it right.
So basically I made a huge mistake going with this 22 year (small town)veteran painter.

I think I'm either going to need to get the entire car repainted OR take it to a place that can basically undo what my good friend did to the car.

When I spoke to him on the phone tonight, he said he'd just blend in the passenger doors with the front fender. Now, since the front fender's never been touched, my thinking is it'll always be "off" and drive me nuts.

So my questions are:
1. Anyone know a GOOD paint person in the Columbus, Ohio area?
2. Wouldn't I be better off trying to find someone that can match the original color and just fix the doors? After all, the new "paint" doesn't seem anywhere near as shiny at all - it almost looks two shades darker than the original!

I plan on keeping this car for several years. What would you guys do? Please help!

Shawn

notBMW

One of the best in Columbus is Achbach Auto Industries. They are not cheap, but they are very good. BMW Financial services uses them for their cars.

Achbach Auto Industries
3262 E Dublin Granville Rd
Columbus, OH 43231
(614) 890-5099

350g

Simply go to your closest luxury dealer (BMW, Lexus, Mercedes, etc) and find out what company they use to do all the touch ups on their trade ins. I've experienced two of the companies here locally and both do an excellent job (can't tell that its not factory). On the plus side, they're extremely affordable. Just show them all the areas and they will shoot you a price. I had a 1/2" strip (no joke) that went down the entire passenger door fixed for less than $100.