Hi Enzo,
I agree with Peter, you will be much better off both financially and with a clear conscience to sell the existing one and buy the colour that you want unless of course the car has some special sentimental attachment then that may be different. It is not just that the car will lose some value, you will have to outlay a lot of dollars that added to a sell, could get an even better car than you already have in the colour that you want. It took me two years to get the colour car I wanted in a good state to start with and then sold my old car. I am glad I did take my time and now enjoy the fruits of my efforts.
I recently sold my Dark Olive 280SL and the new owner decided that he wanted it to be a dark blue. At this point I suspect he will be paying as much again as the purchase price to do it properly. Unless it is done by a full strip, the innards of such things as the dash, doors engine bay underside etc etc will always show the tell tale colour, especially if it is white.
A paint job in the same colour done cheaply is probably many thousands and most likely not cover the engine bay or dashboard, a decent paint job in a different colour, done correctly is in the tens of thousands up to what ever you can afford. That money added to what you can get for your car makes a lot of difference in the level of car you will be able to afford to get in the colour you want.
Garry
I will add one proviso, if the car is already ratty and in need of a total makeover, then I could understand why you would want to paint it as part of the restoration to a colour of your preference but by the sound of it it is starting off as a decent car.
