Hey all, my ‘83 K100 tank and plastics are at the paint shop and ready for topcoat however the painter can’t find the ‘recipe’ for BMW Red. The colour code is 031 but he’s having no luck. This is NOT the colour scheme letters which are 575.
Any suggestions as to which paint manufacturing company would have the answer? I’m based eastern coast Australia.
Thanks for your help

I think the original paint was made by Glasurit.
Regards Martin.

If he wants the Pantone number, he could try talking to RS Bike Paints in the UK https://www.rsbikepaint.com + 44 1707 273219. There's also a Contact Us form on the web page. Perfect match guaranteed (satisfied customer here).

BASF Glasurit was the factory paint system BMW used on the K bikes.  BASF paint dealers should have the formulas.  I know the local BASF guy here has them.

Barring that, a lot of modern automotive paint distributors will have a paint color computer that can scan a sample of the original paint and generate a very close match with their paint system.  I know this because my local paint supplier has matched BMW Mystic Red and Pearlmut for me by scanning the battery covers.  This technology has been around for over 10 years now and works pretty well.

Thank you for all the informative replies. I’ll pass them all along to the painter and see where he goes with it.

Kiwi100 - I can give you definitive information about this BMW colour. Back in 2008 I downloaded from the Glasgurit website their formula's for "BMW 031 ROT MET (Glasurit Line 90 produced by them from 1976 - 1990).
They use 2 different paint's in sequence to get the red metallic - and they have 4 options each for the first and second coat.
The following formula's are to produce 1 litre of paint.
Option 1 Bottom Coat - all units are in grams 
Base: M4.        Amount: 610.4.       Cumulative: 610.4                                     
Base: A031      Amount: 447.2.       Cumulative: 1057.7  
Base: A926.     Amount: 107.5.       Cumulative: 1165.2  

Option 1 Top (2nd) Coat - all units are in grams                                   
Base: M4         Amount: 650.4.       Cumulative: 650.4    
Base: E830      Amount: 43.5.         Cumulative: 693.8
Base: M99/02  Amount: 11.5.         Cumulative: 705.3                                   
Base: A352      Amount: 208.4.       Cumulative: 913.7
Base: A329      Amount: 63.9.         Cumulative: 977.7
Base: A927      Amount: 39.6          Cumulative: 1017.3
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Option 2 Bottom Coat - all units are in grams
Base: 285-550  Amount: 889.4.       Cumulative: 889.4
Base: 285-650  Amount: 727.7.       Cumulative: 1617.1

Option 2 Top (2nd) Coat: The identical Formula to Option 1 - Top (2nd) Coat listed above
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Option 3 Bottom Coat - All units are in grams
Base: 285-38    Amount: 911.5.      Cumulative: 911.5
Base: 285-49    Amount: 535.3.      Cumulative: 1446.8

Option 3 Top (2nd) Coat: The identical Formula to Option 1 - Top (2nd) Coat listed above
____________________________________________________________________________________

Option 4 Bottom Coat - all units are in grams 
Base: 285-65.     Amount: 857.6.    Cumulative: 857.6.     
Base: 285-55.     Amount: 760.5.    Cumulative: 1618.1

Option 4 Top (2nd) Coat: The identical Formula to Option 1 - Top (2nd) Coat listed above

____________________________________________________________________________________

I hope this helps. A pro auto paint shop should be able to make this up using one of these formulae, especially if they sell or can access BASF paints. Galsurit made the factory paints for BMW.

Hey redrock that’s awesome information that I’ll send to the painter. It’s amazing the knowledge and specific info members have and willing to pass along.