[RxCritical]

I had my alpine white 328i for a little over a week and since it rained last week I decided to wash it. Maybe it was just the white paint but after washing I noticed massive amounts of what appears to be rail car contaminants in the paint (looked like rust spots). After about 3 hours of clay bar elbow grease I have the roof, hood and windows done. It was amazing how nasty it was. I thought that they put some plastic on the horizontal surfaces at least??? It looked like they had sent it by rail to Greece and back before putting it on the ship.
I bought mine right after it came off the car carrier so I know the dealer didn't have anything to do with it. And I asked them not to do the initial car wash and wax since it was raining when I bought it. Guess that was a good thing since they probably would have just waxed over the stuff.

Moral of the story, check your paint out closely and get it detailed if needed!

[EuroTunerz5]

Yikes!!

[JoeyO]

Personally, I wouldn't advise picking up a car that wasn't washed. A dirty exterior can often hide a lot of dings, imperfections, and flaws. Just my opinion.

[KneeDragr]

Originally Posted by JoeyO

Personally, I wouldn't advise picking up a car that wasn't washed. A dirty exterior can often hide a lot of dings, imperfections, and flaws. Just my opinion.

The dealer will likely ruin your paint job when they wash it. BMW paint is very soft, almost like a gel coat, and will swirl very easily if not cared for properly.

If you feel like spending a couple days with a machine polisher correcting the dealer's work, go ahead and let them wash it. Otherwise pick it up dirty and take care of it yourself.

[shoptb]

Originally Posted by KneeDragr

The dealer will likely ruin your paint job when they wash it. BMW paint is very soft, almost like a gel coat, and will swirl very easily if not cared for properly.

Amen to that. I would never advise having the dealer wash your car. For a brand new car, do yourself a favor and either spend the time/effort to wash/wax it yourself, or have it professionally done. Your car will thank ya

[KneeDragr]

I forgot to mention, there is a product called IronX that will dissolve all of that rail rust that is bonded to the paint.

If you used it first, the claying would be a lot easier.

Also, since clay bars can mar paint, Id suggest an 'ultra fine' clay for use after the IronX.

[jtuds]

Since BMW paint is so soft, what do you use to wash your car?

[KneeDragr]

Originally Posted by jtuds

Since BMW paint is so soft, what do you use to wash your car?

I would suggests what I use on my Corvette ( even though Corvette's are notorious for ultra hard clear ) and my current daily driver.

I use the 2 bucket method, where 1 bucked it for soap, and the other is filled with water to rinse off the microfiber wash mitt used to wash the car. The idea is to rinse off the mitt in the water before putting it into the soap bucket, so the soap bucket does not get dirty.

Then I blow dry the car with a leaf blower, and finish with a clean soft microfiber towel. In order to make that even more safe, I spray a spray wax onto the damp car before wiping it with the towel. The lubricants in the spray wax help minimize friction from the towel, and boost the protection to the paint.

Virtually nothing will eliminate light marring on BMW paint, with the exception of a paint coating like Opti-Coat or System-X. Unlike traditional waxes or sealants, these products form a ultra hard resin over the paint which is not degraded by chemicals, soaps, or UV. They are much harder than the factory clear coat on a BMW. I plan on applying one to my 328i when I purchase.

[jtuds]

I just got one of these:



And my father in law bought me this stuff

[Mrcarcrazy]

visit autopia.org for all your paint care questions. there are some insanely talented people over there.

[JoeyO]

Originally Posted by KneeDragr

Otherwise pick it up dirty and take care of it yourself.

Yea, good luck taking your car back to the dealership when you fine some scratches on the finish that was masked under the layer of dirt when you did your inspection at the dealership. If I found one scratch or imperfection, I simply wouldn't sign for the car. You have much more bargaining power before signing than after signing.

In the 10 years of ownership of my car, the only one time it was washed by somebody else was the time I purchased it. Nobody but me has touched my car since then.

[KneeDragr]

Originally Posted by JoeyO

Yea, good luck taking your car back to the dealership when you fine some scratches on the finish that was masked under the layer of dirt when you did your inspection at the dealership. If I found one scratch or imperfection, I simply wouldn't sign for the car. You have much more bargaining power before signing than after signing.

In the 10 years of ownership of my car, the only one time it was washed by somebody else was the time I purchased it. Nobody but me has touched my car since then.

Sounds a bit like wishful thinking to me, that you would be able to spot something that I couldent see with a bit of dirt. I am a very meticulous person when it comes to car paint.

Also, anything that a minor layer of dirt would cover, would easily come out with my polisher. Id rather buff out the odd marr or light scratch here and there then spend 2-3 days doing a 3-stage correction of a swirled mess.

But like I said, its your call. Spend a few hours on a detailing forum and see the absolutely destroyed paint jobs the dealership detailing monkeys have produced with their wool pads and rotaries. It seems the nicer the car, the more damage they do.

[JoeyO]

Yea, I understand it's taking a chance. I don't like it. But I am very meticulous too. The slightest of door dings can only really be spotted on an absolutely clean finish. It takes a clean surface for the light to reflect in a particular way so it can be noticed. On a dirty surface the very same door ding goes unnoticed. I've seen it happen. I won't pick up a new car at night or on an overcast day. I require natural bright sunlight for my walk-around which takes about 20 minutes and involves looking at each car panel from about 25 different visual angles with an eagle eye. I look for nasty fish scaling also (when their orbital buffer melts the finish).

I think for my next BMW vehicle I may pick it up at Spartenburg. I figure, if anything, their prep people might be better trained than the goons at my local dealership. Although there's no guarantee. They could be worst.

[RxCritical]

Originally Posted by KneeDragr

I forgot to mention, there is a product called IronX that will dissolve all of that rail rust that is bonded to the paint.

If you used it first, the claying would be a lot easier.

Also, since clay bars can mar paint, Id suggest an 'ultra fine' clay for use after the IronX.

Thanks for the info, Iron X seems to be just what I need. Unfortunately I am over half way done with the claybar. Maybe I will order some for the next time I clay.

[Grumpy514]

My car will be getting a full clay bar and professional detail the week I pick it up. It's truly amazing how much grit and grime come off a brand new car by clay barring.

[BMWrules7]

This made me laugh! You take super care to wash your car then you nail it with an unfiltered leaf blower that sand blasts your car with particulates in the unfiltered air intake of the leaf blower.

[jtuds]

Originally Posted by Grumpy514

My car will be getting a full clay bar and professional detail the week I pick it up. It's truly amazing how much grit and grime come off a brand new car by clay barring.

After you clay bar, isn;t it true that you need to apply a product to fill in the holes and gaps laft by the removed contaminants?

What products do this, and do they wear away, requiring you to re-fill those holes and gaps?

[KneeDragr]

Originally Posted by jtuds

After you clay bar, isn;t it true that you need to apply a product to fill in the holes and gaps laft by the removed contaminants?

What products do this, and do they wear away, requiring you to re-fill those holes and gaps?

Any quality wax or paint sealant will fill in the crevices the contaminants leave behind.

However you should always machine polish your paint after claying it, as the clay will drag these contaminants along the surface as it pulls them out, slightly marring the paint creating fine swirls. Many people do not notice this because the paint looks so much better after pulling all the crud out of it, but if examined under lights you can see the damage it causes.

[Feanor]

My car will be going into "soft" automated car washes or will be cleaned by cheap hand car washes.

I'll give it a polish myself once in a while but that's about it. Noone I know is going to inspect the paintwork so closely as to notice swirls or microscratches.

Life's too short - I doubt when I'm 80 I'll look back on my life and think "damn, I wish I washed my cars more often!"

[Reznick]

You did the right thing by using some elbow grease and claying the car. If you are looking for a good polish and wax try Menzerna or Wolfgang( made by Menzerna for distribution in the US. It originally made in Germany) Its a little more expensive then most of the stuff out there, but it is REALLY nice to work with. Easy on , easy off. They also offer a natural Carnuba wax or a synthetic sealer. I've used both and the both work awesome . I guess it just comes down to a matter of preference. I use a Flex polisher, but Porter Cable makes a polisher that is similar for about half the price.I've tried just about every polish and wax out there and this seems to be my favorite combo.
Everyone else telling you not to go to the dealer for anything involving washing your car is right.They have to kids with mops and buckets that they just washed 100 other cars with. Most likely the car will come back worse than when it went in. When any of my cars has to go to the dealer ,thats one thing I ALWAYS tell them. Do NOT wash the car. I had a brand new Black 97 WS6 TA that I had to take back to the dealer because they never put the security code in to unlock the stereo. They pulled it around front for me and as soon as I saw it I could have cried. It took a whole days worth of work to fix all the scratches they kindly gave me

[jtuds]

Originally Posted by KneeDragr

Any quality wax or paint sealant will fill in the crevices the contaminants leave behind.

However you should always machine polish your paint after claying it, as the clay will drag these contaminants along the surface as it pulls them out, slightly marring the paint creating fine swirls. Many people do not notice this because the paint looks so much better after pulling all the crud out of it, but if examined under lights you can see the damage it causes.

Machine polish with one of those motorized spinning disk things with the fluffy pad? like this http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brows...n#BVRRWidgetID

And what quality waxes and paint sealants are good?

[KneeDragr]

Originally Posted by jtuds

Machine polish with one of those motorized spinning disk things with the fluffy pad? like this http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brows...n#BVRRWidgetID

And what quality waxes and paint sealants are good?

No, more like this...

http://www.griotsgarage.com/product/...ortby=ourPicks

As far as waxes go, I like Chemical Guys stuff. Zaino seems to be as good as it gets sealant wise.