Paint Issue: Is it just my car?

[homesite]

If you run your finger across the paint lightly, it leaves a light scratch seen in florescent lights. Is it just my car that the clear coat is so soft? How do you remove these scratches safely and easily? Will 3m finesse-it II remove them safely with a foam pad with a cordless drill.

Is there any paint treatment that will prevent this?


Maybe I should of gotten a white car.

[Bad Rival]

Funny, I thought it was just me. My car is Black Sapphire and the number of fine micro-scratches really shocked me. I have owned black cars before but none were this bad. I talked to my dealer about it while I was in for the 1200 mile service last week and they are going to detail the car for me next week to see if that remedies the problem.

The dealer ran it through a machine wash prior to delivery and it has only been hand washed by me since then.

To answer your question I would not use a direct drive drill to try to fix problem. After always being scared of using a machine to polish/wax, I bought the Griot's garage random orbital machine last year and have been very happy with the results. I did my mom's Honda which was covered in fine scratches and it looked new in about 6 hours.

good luck

[TCM]

The Saphire black is very soft. A decent polish with a random orbital should produce great results on such soft paint. But you have to know that the scratches will reappear in time. Hope this helps.

[monaco1]

Hows this for frustrating paint swirls.... so when my car arrived on an enclosed truck (I purchased the car new from out of state) the car above mine was a 68 mustang which dripped antifreeze all over the hood (my car was covered but it leaked through the cover) So when I arrive where the driver had just unloaded my car I pull up to find him wiping off the antifreeze with paper towels...YIKES!! I couldn't believe it! He could tell I was upset and he said "at least its just antifreeze...the last m5 I delivered I accidently raised the car with the roof still up and shattered the windshield...I had to pull it off and find a replacement before I dropped it off later that week. I couldn't believe he was telling me this. I definitely voiced my opinion to my dealer...

[12Special]

Somewhere on this forum is a link to a discussion of paints and the BMW clearcoat. What I recall from reading it is that they have avoided a really hard clearcoat because that is subject to chips; the softer cleacoat BMW used is much more chip resistent - but vulnerable to swirls if not washed / polished correctly.

Like everything - a tradeoff.

[CASEY1]

I have had 4 BMW's. Worst cars for rock chips I have ever had. To keep the finish nice, invest in a Porter Cable DA polisher, #7424. Then spend some time at www.autopia.com Rock chips were pretty much solved with a clear bra.

[NobleM400]

Wash with a CRSpotless filter, so you don't need to dry. You'll avoid a lot of the scratches that way.

[gh342000]

Originally Posted by 12Special

Somewhere on this forum is a link to a discussion of paints and the BMW clearcoat. What I recall from reading it is that they have avoided a really hard clearcoat because that is subject to chips; the softer cleacoat BMW used is much more chip resistent - but vulnerable to swirls if not washed / polished correctly.

Like everything - a tradeoff.

No car chips like a BMW. My E39 M5 (2003) looks like it has had the front end sandblasted after 40,000 miles.

I believe I read somewhere the reason they don't use the real hard clear coat is the fact that the hard clear coats are environmentally unfriendly. Mercedes uses a nano particle clear coat which is much more resistant to chips and scratches so why can't BMW do the same?

[EM5PWR]

Originally Posted by gh342000

No car chips like a BMW. My E39 M5 (2003) looks like it has had the front end sandblasted after 40,000 miles.

I believe I read somewhere the reason they don't use the real hard clear coat is the fact that the hard clear coats are environmentally unfriendly. Mercedes uses a nano particle clear coat which is much more resistant to chips and scratches so why can't BMW do the same?

you know at some point the rocks always win anyway , so what do you ? you get it repainted ... a clear bra helps for a while ... but when that gets hammered , what do you do ? you get it repainted .

[NobleM400]

Armor Coat is another option.

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=42714

http://www.armorauto.com/product/vie...sion_eurothane

[kaninja99]

Originally Posted by homesite

If you run your finger across the paint lightly, it leaves a light scratch seen in florescent lights. Is it just my car that the clear coat is so soft? How do you remove these scratches safely and easily? Will 3m finesse-it II remove them safely with a foam pad with a cordless drill.

Is there any paint treatment that will prevent this?


Maybe I should of gotten a white car.

Try Diamond Gloss.

[spatterso]

My E39 was easily sandblasted looking after 20k on the odo. I'm worried about that happening on this car, especially given the smooth front . I think the clear bra will be the answer. BTW www.autopia.com leads to a dental care website!

[spatterso]

www.autopia.org is the correct website!