Silver Audi owners need your help/opinion

[The Broker]

I have noticed that my rear bumper and my front bumper seem to be a shade darker than the rest of the car, especially the rear bumper. I know 100% that the paint is OEM but it really bothers me how it doesn't match the rest of the car.

I have recently been on the hunt for rear shots of any silver Audi particularly a B7 A4/S4/RS4 and have noticed this same trend. Do you silver Audi owners notice the same phenomenon with your cars?

Do you guys think I should try and get someone to re-paint the bumpers to try and match the rest of the car or would I be wasting my money/time?

It seems that painting plastic never comes out the same as metal but I wonder if a better match could be achieved. I also have a felling that the way Audi designed the bumper doesn't help the color to blend in with the rest of the car, again mostly in the rear.

Here is an example of what I am talking about:



Funny thing is in certain lighting the match is pretty close but in the example above it's really noticeable.

[supamannn99]

thats a bad picture. the shadows make it look darker.

in my honest opinion, you're wasting your money repainting the bumper if its barely noticeable.

[SilverB7FL]

mine looks fine to me

[gpxluke]

Same here...they look just fine

[The Broker]

Same here...they look just fine

Seriously you don't notice the difference? I was looking through one of your posts and found the same issue with mine. Hope you don't mind me posting a picture of your car here.



The rear seems darker in that picture, by the way nice car.

[A4addict]

I think it's a glitch in the matrix. It usually happens when they change something. Do you have deja vu also every time this happens?

[viperdsa]

Maybe they only did that on the cars that went to Canada.

[80sGuy]

I have noticed that my rear bumper and my front bumper seem to be a shade darker than the rest of the car, especially the rear bumper. I know 100% that the paint is OEM but it really bothers me how it doesn't match the rest of the car.

I have recently been on the hunt for rear shots of any silver Audi particularly a B7 A4/S4/RS4 and have noticed this same trend. Do you silver Audi owners notice the same phenomenon with your cars?

Do you guys think I should try and get someone to re-paint the bumpers to try and match the rest of the car or would I be wasting my money/time?

It seems that painting plastic never comes out the same as metal but I wonder if a better match could be achieved. I also have a felling that the way Audi designed the bumper doesn't help the color to blend in with the rest of the car, again mostly in the rear.

Here is an example of what I am talking about:



Funny thing is in certain lighting the match is pretty close but in the example above it's really noticeable.

Did you bought your car new or used?

[Erocko]

Mine is the same. It's minor and probably not worth trying to have it matched better.
*get some tints instead :)

[tribe]

My Audi's bumpers look the same as the rest of the body. My daughter's Civic came with the bumpers darker.

If it's factory paint I would leave them just like that. Shop paint jobs are crap regarding durability compared to factory

[scottns]

2006 plain old A4. Color is all the same on mine.

[IceMole]

It's the same on B6s in that color, it has to do with the primer they use on those parts which has a flex agent. I went through this whole thing when I got my b6, it's much harder to see on my QM b7.

[KMHPaladin]

You're painting a different material - metal versus urethane. A small degree of variation is not out of the ordinary.

[gpxluke]

Seriously you don't notice the difference? I was looking through one of your posts and found the same issue with mine. Hope you don't mind me posting a picture of your car here.



The rear seems darker in that picture, by the way nice car.

Actually...I think it's just the light or sunshine or shadow that makes the silver look a little big darker...they actually match pretty well in person...but that's in my situation, i don't know about urs...

[MOFSTEEL]

^ thats exactly what he is talking about.

[Sharkfin]

I think it's a glitch in the matrix. It usually happens when they change something. Do you have deja vu also every time this happens?

haha i love that movie

and my bumper is the same exact color

[autoverruckt]

same thing on my two previous B6's. Just have to live with it. It might turn out worse if you try and get it repainted.

[ringmaster2.0]

Its actually funny that I saw this post. I was at my body shop today and I was talking to my paint guy about how the silver loks like its different shades from different angles. He explained to me that the bumpers aren't painted on the car and since the even though the body panels may all be the same color, differences in temperature, humidity, hell even barometric pressure will cause the paint to look different. In other words, if it was all sprayed at the exact same time it wouldn't look the way it does. Sorry for the long a## post.

I have noticed that my rear bumper and my front bumper seem to be a shade darker than the rest of the car, especially the rear bumper. I know 100% that the paint is OEM but it really bothers me how it doesn't match the rest of the car.

I have recently been on the hunt for rear shots of any silver Audi particularly a B7 A4/S4/RS4 and have noticed this same trend. Do you silver Audi owners notice the same phenomenon with your cars?

Do you guys think I should try and get someone to re-paint the bumpers to try and match the rest of the car or would I be wasting my money/time?

It seems that painting plastic never comes out the same as metal but I wonder if a better match could be achieved. I also have a felling that the way Audi designed the bumper doesn't help the color to blend in with the rest of the car, again mostly in the rear.

Here is an example of what I am talking about:



Funny thing is in certain lighting the match is pretty close but in the example above it's really noticeable.

[Minoli]

Ughh thanks for pointing that out! now that all I see on my car.

[ringmaster2.0]

However, the paint guy also told me that in order to make it all look the same you would need to paint the bumpers and have them fade the color and clearcoat onto the body panels. Honestly, i wouldn't worry about it unless u can spend the cash to fade it in so there is no clear, distinct line of difference at the seams where the body panels meet the bumpers.

[OIFVet]

(New to the forum-stopped by to say hello).

I purchased my A4 in Germany and my rear bumper is the same color as the rest of the body. Not sure, but maybe the manufacture corrected this issue with the newer models.