# Pre-painted panel advice



## steviebabe0 (May 14, 2013)

Looking to replace front nearside wing on my bmw e46 in the near future, has anyone had any experience of buying and fitting non-genuine pre-painted wings. I understand colour match/fitment might not be as good as a genuine part but on a 52 plate its got to be better than rust bubbles for a fraction of the cost. I have tried sourcing good second hand ones but no real success so tempted to take a chance on a pre-painted one. Any advice appreciated.


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## jolls (Dec 25, 2012)

I have experience of fitting "pattern" part wings although from many years ago. I found generally that you had to bolt down one part of the wing then align the wing, using pressure by hand, to ensure the the gaps for the bonnet, door, bumper, lights etc was correct and then tighten the bolts as necessary. Having mole grips available to use helps although on pre painted panels this may present a problem. Having said this the presses now used for non genuine parts may be a lot better than years ago and you could find the wing to be a perfect fit. Hopefully someone with more recent experience will comment on the fit of the newer non genuine panels.


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## steveo3002 (Jan 30, 2006)

metalics need blending really ..you might be lucky and its good but dont count on it

fit can be a bit poor with wonky gaps but then like you say better than rusty rubbish


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## Andyb0127 (Jan 16, 2011)

Dependant on colour, it would ideally need blending into adjacent panels. As its doubtful it will be an exact edge to edge match.
These pattern parts actually fit alot better than they used to. So fitting wise it shouldn't be to bad. We've used a couple of pattern wings from eurocarparts and they've been quite good. 

I don't suppose your any where near Brentwood Essex. As I don't mind helping you fit it. :thumb:


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## Paintguy (Oct 31, 2005)

My first suggestion would be a good second hand part, but since you've had no luck with that then a pre painted replacement might be your next best option.

As Andy says some of these are getting to be a pretty good fit these days. Sure there's a chance you may have a slight colour difference, but then again you may get lucky.

I assume you've priced up a genuine wing? Sometimes you can be surprised by genuine prices, and not always in a bad way :lol:


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## robdcfc (Sep 17, 2012)

Pattern wings for e46 are £50 from ecp, they fit well.

I fitted about 4/5 sets of these last year and had no problems


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