# BMW M4 engine cover DIY spray job



## matt-rudd (Jan 4, 2015)

Perhaps be some use, after trawling through here and finding comments here and there regarding a DIY paint job on the engine cover I'll provide a bit of a novice guide to doing it yourself at home...

Please go easy I'm far from a painter and have no experience of it, I can't even stand glossing my own skirting boards 

After acquiring a used engine cover I set to work in purchasing the paint, C1H Sakhir orange to be precise. It came as a 3 pack, primer, base and clear lacquer (link will be provided of the supplier) https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/264651257602

First came the preparation of the cover which consisted of sanding it down with wet and dry sand paper of around 800 grit to ensure a smooth finish removing the texture and giving the primer something to bond to.



















Afterwards came the tedious task of masking the parts I didn't want to colour of which were the strips, m power and the M badge as shown.



















After an hour or so of masking came to the primer, I made myself a little DIY spray booth from a greenhouse, around £8 from wilko which was ideal to prevent overspray and dust from landing on the paint. Roughly 4 coats of primer later I hit the cover with 1500 grit wet and dry on a "denibber" (also from eBay) which was to give it a smooth finish ready for the colour to be applied.




























Once the cover was smooth to the appearance I applied 4 coats of colour allowing 15-30 minutes between coats.




























Roughly 3 hours later I could remove the masking ready to reverse the masking (if that makes sense) and then paint the silver emblems which I had previously masked. I was going for a black stripe, m power and M badge, for this I used sapphire black touch up, brushed in which was left over from my previous M140i.



















Once the black was then dry I could then apply the lacquer, 3 coats of it. One light mist, one medium coat and finally a heavy coat with 10 minutes between coats.



















This was then left to dry overnight where I could then asses the orange peel, this was dealt with again the same 1500 wet and dry used for the primer smoothing. Once the peel was removed it was machine polished to give it the depth and gloss.














































Any questions please ask and I'll add any info as I can remember


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## andy665 (Nov 1, 2005)

Very good job indeed, certainly changes the underbonnet appearance


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## nbray67 (Mar 22, 2012)

Cracking effort that is Matt.


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## slim_boy_fat (Jun 23, 2006)

Excellent work! :thumb:

Personally, I think I might have stopped with the silver stripes, letters and logo but that's just a personal preference and not to detract from your end result.


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## matt-rudd (Jan 4, 2015)

slim_boy_fat said:


> Excellent work! :thumb:
> 
> Personally, I think I might have stopped with the silver stripes, letters and logo but that's just a personal preference and not to detract from your end result.


I understand it looks clean but if you can see I caught the silver trims while prepping it, oops


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## streaky (Dec 2, 2006)

You should be rightly proud of your effort.


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## MDC250 (Jan 4, 2014)

Very nice change that, looks the business.


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## cole_scirocco (Mar 5, 2012)

Looks pretty epic that - saw it on Instagram and liked it.


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## Soul boy 68 (Sep 8, 2013)

I’m blown over by the work you did Matt, that’s come up amazingly well and it puts to shame BMW’s bland black plastic cover. You should be proud. :thumb:


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## muzzer (Feb 13, 2011)

That's mint is that


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## SamD (Oct 24, 2015)

That’s a really nice job!


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## ENDA (Apr 16, 2020)

That looks great. Mine is mineral grey so not sure if it would be worth all that effort!


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## packard (Jun 8, 2009)

A proper good job !


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## grunty-motor (Aug 11, 2016)

Good Job!


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## Andyblue (Jun 20, 2017)

That looks a fantastic job you’ve done and loving the use of the ‘greenhouse’


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## pina07 (Dec 13, 2009)

Hi, to say your no painter that’s a cracking job pal:thumb:
Cheers 
Paul


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## sunnydude959 (Jan 3, 2014)

That looks absolutely fantastic!!


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## James_R (Jun 28, 2007)

That looks really good Matt.

Not 'in-yer-face'

But a touch that really compliments your engine bay now.

Quality work mate


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## WristyManchego (Sep 9, 2018)

Top result.

Tip to save time in the future: Mask M stripes only, hit the front with black post primer, then mask raised areas and hit it with red base. No need to reverse mask.


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## toffee_pie (Jan 21, 2015)

That is a top result that.


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