[fortythirtyfive]

Ever since owning my car (second owner) it began to develop these little chippings/white spots all over my bits of carbon fiber.

I have tried panel wiping them and using a very light polish just in case they were badly worn in water spots, but nothing seemed to budge them.

One or two definitely have a slightly ridge feel on them when I run my nail across the affected area.. so this has got me thinking, am I best wet sanding them? If I do will I need to use my DA to remove all of the scratches applied?

[Billfitz]

Those are pits in the top coat. They might come out with a paint correction technique, if not you'd have to wet sand as well.

[instalher]

wet sand with 1000 grit sandpaper, then rebuff with a dual action polisher, hit it with mild polish, then use your synthetic wax of choice, and should be good to go... once its back to oem, spray it with a 3m clear bra coating, it will stop this from happening again and it will last about 2 yrs.. one step further, after applying the 3m spray coating, apply a layer or two of c quartz uk, ceramic sealer, this will be your ultimate defence against chips, marks, and stains.

[Billfitz]

1000g is too coarse to rub out, it will triple the rub out time. 3000g 3M Trizact should be the last paper used. If you can get the pits out with the 3000g don't use the 1000g at all. I wouldn't use c quartz over a spray or vinyl coating, use one or the other.

[fortythirtyfive]

So I worked with the 3000 which took a LONG while. Problem is the pits were all the way through the lacquer.. so I now have two spots which have burnt through the lacquer.

There's the odd other pit that I have left alone now which you can definitely tell is down to the weave.

I'm assuming I now need to wet sand the whole cap and relacquer from scratch

[Billfitz]

Originally Posted by producerlawson

I'm assuming I now need to wet sand the whole cap and relacquer from scratch

Wet sand with 800g, clear coat with at least four coats, then wet sand with 1000g followed by 3000g, but don't overdo it. When you wet sand use a spray mister to occasionally wet the surface, add a few drops of detergent to the water as a lubricant. Then rub it out and seal it.

[fortythirtyfive]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

Wet sand with 800g, clear coat with at least four coats, then wet sand with 1000g followed by 3000g, but don't overdo it. When you wet sand use a spray mister to occasionally wet the surface, add a few drops of detergent to the water as a lubricant. Then rub it out and seal it.

Is it likely that the oem clear coat has a slight tint to it? It just seems that even when I place water on top of the sanded area it appears to be lighter still (I have sealed the raw area for now to stop any water ingress) which is surely how it's going to look if I use ordinary clear coat?

Thanks for the advice by the way, once I have fixed this cap I'm going to forget the idea of doing the same to the whole splitter and just see if I can claim it on my warranty (that has hundreds of pinholes under the clear coat).

[Billfitz]

Originally Posted by producerlawson

Is it likely that the oem clear coat has a slight tint to it?

I suppose it might, though it shouldn't.

see if I can claim it on my warranty (that has hundreds of pinholes under the clear coat).

Warranty? I doubt that what you have there is OEM, especially with those pinholes, which usually indicate inexpensive Asian after market.

[fortythirtyfive]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

I suppose it might, though it shouldn't.
Warranty? I doubt that what you have there is OEM, especially with those pinholes, which usually indicate inexpensive Asian after market.

The car was an ex showroom vehicle that was showcasing the m performance extras, so I would hope the dealer hadn't bought any cheap aftermarket kits. Presumably BMW manufacture the kit in Asian countries though right? On the rear/inside of the mirror caps they have "made in china" written on the BMW product stickers.

[Billfitz]

If there are BMW product labels then it's probably BMW OEM, though with the Chinese you never know.

[fortythirtyfive]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

If there are BMW product labels then it's probably BMW OEM, though with the Chinese you never know.

So I'm almost done sanding (huge effort to strip it all back, I've spent around 15 hours on it now).



To match the thick glossy OEM finish do you think epoxy resin might be a better solution with a thin coat of clear on top? Or will multiple layers of clear do the job?

[Billfitz]

Epoxy isn't easy to work with. Since the mirror cover is so small I'd use it as a test bed with just clear coat. It takes some practice with clear coat as to pressure and volume, but the good news is that you can lay on ten coats in a matter of a couple of hours. The base coats are put on rather 'dry', but the last couple of coats are put on 'wet', which allows it to flow and self-level. Clear coat self levels very well, epoxy gel coat doesn't. Once you're satisfied let it cure at least a full day before sanding and rubbing it out.

[fortythirtyfive]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

Epoxy isn't easy to work with. Since the mirror cover is so small I'd use it as a test bed with just clear coat. It takes some practice with clear coat as to pressure and volume, but the good news is that you can lay on ten coats in a matter of a couple of hours. The base coats are put on rather 'dry', but the last couple of coats are put on 'wet', which allows it to flow and self-level. Clear coat self levels very well, epoxy gel coat doesn't. Once you're satisfied let it cure at least a full day before sanding and rubbing it out.

Thanks man, you've been a huge help. I'll get hunting for some good clear coat ready for the weekend.

[fortythirtyfive]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

Epoxy isn't easy to work with. Since the mirror cover is so small I'd use it as a test bed with just clear coat. It takes some practice with clear coat as to pressure and volume, but the good news is that you can lay on ten coats in a matter of a couple of hours. The base coats are put on rather 'dry', but the last couple of coats are put on 'wet', which allows it to flow and self-level. Clear coat self levels very well, epoxy gel coat doesn't. Once you're satisfied let it cure at least a full day before sanding and rubbing it out.

One of my friends who works in a spray shop managed to re-clear it for me, I flat polished until I was happy it was flawless and then worked my way through polishing it up. Ended up sealing it with a nano coating, then later I buffed a liquid wax into it and then finally hand waxed it.. a bit over kill I agree but it's protected

From two weeks of driving around like this:


To this:

[Billfitz]

Nice. Getting a perfect finish isn't hard, it just takes a while. Imagine French polish hand finishing a grand piano.

[DrifterX]

Awesome restoration - now apply some high end paint protection film (PPF) like 3M Pro Series or XPEL Ultimate. It'll save the clear coat from 99.9% of the rocks (and people) that it gets hit with.

It should be a must for any CF lip let alone front bumper... I have my entire front end covered with 3M Pro Series and I have yet to have a rock chip with all the highway KMs I do. *knocks on wood*

[fortythirtyfive]

Originally Posted by DrifterX

Awesome restoration - now apply some high end paint protection film (PPF) like 3M Pro Series or XPEL Ultimate. It'll save the clear coat from 99.9% of the rocks (and people) that it gets hit with.

It should be a must for any CF lip let alone front bumper... I have my entire front end covered with 3M Pro Series and I have yet to have a rock chip with all the highway KMs I do. *knocks on wood*

That's the plan hopefully I'm just waiting on an appointment at my local dealership to see if they'll replace the two wings on the splitter and middle bar under warranty as those have some pretty awful pitting going on too. Granted I could just do the same procedure as I did for the wing mirror cover but the labour involved was very long, plus they've been stuck on with betalink so there's no chance of me safely removing it from the car.

Once I've resolved this I'll probably cover most of the front end.

Last weekend I was in another dealership and they had an X5M in fully loaded with cf gear. It did make me wonder how long these winglets would last unprotected seen as they had spacers on the back wheels: