My buddy is going to paint my car, and i need to buy the paint.. please help with prices..?

i am going to paint my bmw 318i pearl white, so i am looking for prices of paint, does anyone know anything about this.. i was told that to do pearl you have to buy the white and then the pearl paints. about how much should this cost? all i need is enough to cover my car.. and we have the primer. thanks for any helpMy buddy is going to paint my car, and i need to buy the paint.. please help with prices..?
Yeah - in a way I agree with the first answer. If he has never laid on a three-stage paint, please save your money.





I painted for several years - including that white-diamond that you are referring to. It goes by several names depending on mfg, but it is a three-stage paint.





There is a white basecoat, followed by a pearl midcoat, then the clear topcoat. You have to cure each layer before applying the next. Also, applying that pearl coat is damn near an art. You can't see your flaws until the clear is on, so you have to almost instinctively know where you are and what you are doing as you shoot it. It may look great to the naked eye - but when the clear goes on and those mica particles pick up that irridescence, you see all kinds of problems.





BUT thats not what you asked.





Call a few automotive paint suppliers. My favorite to use was Sherwin WIlliams automotive finishes. However Spies-Hecker and Standox are top shelf paints too. Do NOT use House of Kolor. Their paint delaminates too quickly. Its fine if you want a show car finish that you repaint every couple years. But if you want durability, avoid it.





Be preapred to pay. The white basecoat is not that expensive. But the mica midcoat is pricy as hell. I paid $54 *PER OUNCE* for the powder mica. That ounce of mica would mix down and might cover about 1/4 of your car after mixed.





Another word of caution - if your friend has never done a color change on a car, this can be disastrous. Youhave to paint EVERYthin. Door jambs, under hood, under trunk, every place there was one the original color.





Just dont want to see you throw away your hard earned money if this is not his profession.





Cheers - Good Luck