Paint Quality

[Grumpyjohn1957]

Lovely weather today and as Mrs Grumpy had decided to play 18 holes with the ladies who do lunch I seized the opportunity to set about prepping 336 (aka Brunhilda) for spring/ summer and some upcoming meets.
The last time she saw deep cleaning, polish and wax was back in late October as part of her winter prep. Since then, apart from a few quick blow overs with the jet wash and a couple or three trips to the local Albanians that’s been it.

The process kicked off with Grumpys special formula snow foam followed by jet wash, hose brush, wash mitt with a final rinse and leathering. Amazingly a shiny dark grey car slowly revealed itself from under the grime.
Sophisto grey is very dark, almost a pale black with metallic bits, unfortunately it’s one of those colours that shows water spots and streaks like you wouldn’t believe. An additional light rinse with deionised water quickly cleaned things up removing all the streaks spots and smears almost instantly. Water was still beading and sheeting well, (testimony to Autoglym rapid ceramic I guess) which surprised me after 5 months or so on the car. There are a few faint holograms, scratches and swirls visible that partially disappear after a gentle wipe with a microfiber and a good few stone chips all round. Generally, I thought she looked quite presentable afterwards.

Over the miserable months of winter, I’ve been studying the dark arts of detailing on YouTube. If I wore a hat, I’d take it off to some of the “influencers” on there, the number of magic potions and convoluted processes to enhance your cars aesthetic is mind boggling. When I was a kid Tcut, Carplan, Simonize and Autosol from Halfords was about your lot. Anyway, armed with new knowledge I began fingertipping the now clean paint to assess whether a “decontamination” and clay barring might be required.
It seems you must do this to remove specks of iron embedded into the clearcoat before doing anything else or you’ll scratch it when subsequently cutting or polishing. I already knew the front bumper and splitter would feel like a braille copy of Playboy from the previous detailing’s I’ve attempted, the leading edge of the bonnet is seriously micro chipped too. The good news was the roof and front wings seemed grit free and silky smooth as was the top section of the doors.

Examining the mid & lower sections of the door panels together with the side skirts was akin to stroking the proverbial nether regions of a badger. I.E. Rough. From the vent outlets in the front wings back across both doors, spreading out in a fan shape below the level of the decko ‘s was awful. Close visual inspection didn’t reveal anything obvious but there was definitely something there.
As said before the wisdom is that this is likely iron deposition from hot brake dust (highly improbable in my opinion but what do I know) I reasoned that BH Autowheels should remove it in the same manner it cleans wheels. It’s a paint safe product, I’ve used it for all sorts in addition to the car, so I thought I’d try it instead of a dedicated product like Korrosol.
Using a soft pastry brush and applying it sparingly to the affected area of one door I watched and waited. Apart from me finishing a cigarette and cup of tea not a lot happened. I gently agitated it with the brush and eventually the faintest hint of pinkiness appeared in a couple of very localised areas. This did indicate traces of iron but suggested not very much of it. I rinsed the door off thoroughly with the jet wash and wiped down with a microfiber.

Running my hand across the treated area revealed much the same gritty texture as before. Dropping to hands and knees then closely inspecting the surface didn’t show a lot. I dug out an extremely powerful eye glass (used for examining textile structures) which immediately revealed all.
It’s not stuff stuck in the paint, it’s actually that clearcoat and paint have gone missing! The chips are tiny, many are the size of the metallic flakes in the paint with a smattering of mm sized ones. Crap infills these tiny chips in keeping with black paint and its only when you intensively clean and remove it can you see the undercoat beneath.

Basically, the road rash that affects the front bumper, bonnet and side skirts now also extends down the sides, however the chipping is very much finer. I do wonder whether this is due to grit and fines flying out the vent or it’s some other process at work like jet wash damage. Whatever the reason I conclude BMW paint isn’t the best, in fact I’d go so far to say it’s crap. The wife’s 10-year-old high mileage Focus gets washed with fairy liquid, gritty sponges and dirty water, receiving a biannual wash and wax if it’s lucky. The paint is in way better condition and will still clean up like factory.
Bottom line of course is I should have PPF’d the car when I got her. Thanks to covid & all that rubbish it never happened. I guess if I want a pristine car a full respray at very great expense is the only way. I had actually resigned myself to this fact last year, but the speed of deterioration is remarkable.

[Metrics]

Hi John

Modern BMW does indeed seem to chip easily and I suspect the wide tyres and wheels kick up a fair amount of grit, to essentially sand blast the lower areas.
As you say all this makes for a good advert for PPF on a new car.

On the post winter detailing front, I do the following:

Snow foam on dry car, jet wash off
Contact wash with 2 buckets
Korrosol, leave for 5 mins, gentle wipe with a microfibre, rinse.
(Auto wheel is this same stuff, but gel based to cling better, K is a liquid and you’ll see the ‘bleed’ as it reacts with iron fall out)
Tar remover, microfibres wipe, rinse.
If paint is still rough, clay, then machine polish, then seal with a sealer of your choice.

A well sealed car means that few particles stick and the car avoid the clay/polish steps.

Hope you’re still enjoying your car!