paint not looking so hot....
 

bought a 93 325is (red) recently and the paint is in decent shape on one side, but the whole top is dull and faded. the previous owner had kept it parked outside in the sun, I tried using diamond shield which helped a little. should I try using wax or is the paint beyond hope? I'll get a pic up in a little bit.

going off your description I would:
clay bar it, then use a good pre wax polish (3m Imperial Glaze or p21s Paintwork Cleansor) then wax it (I use Blitz)

I agree with C1. Just put some time and effort into it and it should look much better, let me guess right now its a little more pink then red.

this should give you hope: http://www.unitedbimmer.com/forums/c...ash-wax-d.html

yeah, just take the time to wax it really well and it will good as new. trust me :D

Actually.... the same thing happened to me. I got the top and the trunk looking great but depending on how long it's been out in the sun uncared for you'll end up with a shiny sheet metal hood.

Granted it has to be pretty far along to get like that and even with that it only looked bad from above it. At street level it appears normal.

Also I've already gotten the hood painted. So guys don't have a heart attack.

http://files.unitedbimmer.com/ub.c/Exilion/IMG_0842.jpg

what does the new hood look like?

Well... When I get leave in october I'll take a picture of it. But just to describe it it looks like the rest of the car looks. Real dark and shiny.

oh how about this you see how my bumper reflects light from the grill. It's like that.