Got some pics here... any paint experts in the house?

[AllanS]

I took these a few days ago (and tried to keep them small!); I'm basically trying to figure out the best way to go about getting this "fixed". The paint in the rear quarters and rear right door is really bad looking- I'm not sure what the official term for it is. It looks like very fine scratches or cracks, and is only affecting those particular parts. Could this be fixed by buffing/polishing, or am I looking at needed it repainted?

So basically, if anyone know what's going on... please help!

Thanks
AllanS

http://www.stewartperformance.com/images/paint1.jpg
http://www.stewartperformance.com/images/paint2.jpg

[bjl4776]

I would go with a good application of compound, you would be surprised how much that can make the paint look better. Depending on how bad it is you might not be satisfied with the compound, wet sanding with a very very fine grit, but that can be dangerous and my take your gelcoat off if your not careful. Other than that your only option is to get it repainted, but i would definately get it buffed out good first, since a complete paint job would be alot more expensive

[AllanS]

Yeah, I was quoted around 1500$ from a quality shop for a repaint of the rear, with original BMW paint, and around 3k$ for the entire car.

[AZ_Jason_S]

Agree, you could wet-sand but it is dangerous becuause you could go beyond the clear coat. Probably the first thing to try is a rotary buffer. Not one of those orbitals every Autozone sells. One that spins at between 1000 and 3000 RPM (harbor freight sells one cheap). Get 2 pads, one for cutting, one for polishing. Get some Meguiars 1(fine coarse) or 2(medium coarse, more aggressive). Use that with the cutting pad. Get some Meguiars 9(Swirl remover) use that with the polishing pad. Finally get some Meguiars 7(Show Car Glaze) use that by hand with diaper rags. You could burn through your paint so you may want to ask a professional detailer to do it. You really need to be careful at the edges and corners of panels. Paint is thin, and the buffer will concentrate their. Some people tape the edges off with masking tape. Also check out Meguiars website. They have some good tutorials, you could probably even mail them your pics and get suggestions.

[winfred]

it looks like the clearcoat is starting to bust, id clay bar it then buff with glasing compound and random orbit buffer and see where it is at that point

[AllanS]

Awesome advice, thanks Jason- my father knows a guy who claims to both own, and know how to operate, such a buffer... but we're not on speaking terms at the moment :P

[AZ_Jason_S]

X


it looks like the clearcoat is starting to bust, id clay bar it then buff with glasing compound and random orbit buffer and see where it is at that point

[bahnstormer]

my 91 doesn't have a clear coat. just get some
3M rubbing compound and then a generic meguiars
or turtle wax or mothers swirl remover... =]

[632 Regal]

AZ the problem you are seeing is from a previous repair, an improper repair to boot. Could be from a couple things but Winfreds about the closest here.

My first guess would be that who ever made the paint/repair never knocked down the previous clear coat, this result is very common a few years after. My second guess would be using an incompatable paint over the existing but more likely the first scenereo.

My recommendation would be glazing compound and a wheel but doubt it will help a lot. What your seeing is the clearcoat actually cracking. If you even get the car redone it should be totally knocked down to the original color or primer, no clearcoats!

[AllanS]

Do you think I'd be better off getting the whole car redone, as opposed to just the rear? At first I thought that maybe the front had been repainted, and what I was seeing in the rear was the original, time-faded paint, but based on what you said, it could either be the exact opposite, or that it was repainted 2 seperate times, front and rear apart, and the rear wasn't done properly.

The guy at the shop I went to seemed to know what he was talking about, and explained the difference between (what he said!) was a "Maaco paint job", vs. doing it like how you said (the right way), down to the original paint or primer. He had the same opinion that you did, that it wasn't done properly and that the paint was reacting with the clearcoat.

[ScottyWM]

I've got the same thing... Don't agree with jeff at all. My car has never been repainted, but I'm getting all those little scratches. Oddly enough they seem the worst in the same areas as yours, around door frames, front top of roof, etc. I also have three distinct round areas on my sunroofs that are about the size of a drink coaster that have straight line scratches like that (in different directions), the surrounding areas are fine. I've taken it to a bunch of professional detailers, with about five different explanations/recommendations. The only thing I've tried so far is a good pro wax job, that made it look better for about 2-3 months.

I think it's the clearcoat cracking. One guy said he could fix it by buffing it 'till it's hot enough to melt and reflow. Sounds risky to me. The others said there's no hope but to strip and redo the clearcoat.

Personally I thank my lucky stars that I have the car and that it drives/rides/operates perfectly - I've never been one too interested in the shiny look. It looks fine at 20-20 (20 ft, 20 mph). I'd rather save my money for the mechanicals...

Be nice if BMW said it would repaint them for us, eh? Let me know if you find out anything that works.

[AllanS]

Mine looks really bad on the right side... you can't really see it that well in the pics. Some spots are almost lighter than the surrounding paint, like a cloudiness. It's gotten worse since I've had the car, to the point where I'm sort of forced to think about it. It's not a top priority though- right now I'm replacing the headliner and rear shelf, and I just did the wheels, brakes, shocks, springs, etc., trying to get the car exactly where I want it mechanically. The motor and tranny are as nice as I could hope for, and that's one of the main reasons that I want to keep it for at least a good 4 years.

[AZ_Jason_S]

What we call here "Arizona Pinstriping", because its common to scratch your truck out in the desert. I thought someone was maybe parking it next to a bush or something. If it is the clear cracking, then yeah hes f'd.



AZ the problem you are seeing is from a previous repair, an improper repair to boot. Could be from a couple things but Winfreds about the closest here.

My first guess would be that who ever made the paint/repair never knocked down the previous clear coat, this result is very common a few years after. My second guess would be using an incompatable paint over the existing but more likely the first scenereo.

My recommendation would be glazing compound and a wheel but doubt it will help a lot. What your seeing is the clearcoat actually cracking. If you even get the car redone it should be totally knocked down to the original color or primer, no clearcoats!

[Brandon J]

I just did a car like that. Mike M, who is also going to the e34 Meet, had those type of scratches on his right side and on the sunroof. We used the Porter Cable machine with 3M swirl mark remover (yellow pad), then used the Meguires #3(?) Machine Glaze, and then waxed. Next time I would probably try the 3M Finesse It II with a yellow, maybe a wool pad and then the SMR and glaze. The Glaze does really well when worked in well and most of those scratches will disappear or reduce by 90% (my guestimate). He took some pics, but cannot post until tomorrow.

Good Luck.

[Russell]

These people are very good regarding paint and how to fix.

IMO, this looks almost like a car that that has seen a brush type car wash too many times. Or it looks as if the clear coat is breaking down as did the clearcoat on my old e28.

As several people have stated. A polish with random random orbit buffer or by hand to remove some/most scratches, glazing to fill many remaining scratches and quality carnuba or synthetic wax will go a long way to making ot look much better. However, if the clearcoat is dying. it will not stay "better" for a long period.

The roadfy detailing forum can offer you a lot of advice on your scratches. Some the posters love photos to examine.

Good luck




I took these a few days ago (and tried to keep them small!); I'm basically trying to figure out the best way to go about getting this "fixed". The paint in the rear quarters and rear right door is really bad looking- I'm not sure what the official term for it is. It looks like very fine scratches or cracks, and is only affecting those particular parts. Could this be fixed by buffing/polishing, or am I looking at needed it repainted?

So basically, if anyone know what's going on... please help!

Thanks
AllanS

http://www.stewartperformance.com/images/paint1.jpg
http://www.stewartperformance.com/images/paint2.jpg

[Jon K]

I had the VERY same issue with my Island Grun E34... it looks like crackling or something, almost like if the previous owner ran the car parallel to some sharp and edgy bushes...

i ended up repainting the whole car :)

Now you wouldn't even know!

I may have pictures somewhere. Also, my problem only occured on the FRONT two doors... no where else... very peculiar.

[Mike M]

I just did a car like that. Mike M, who is also going to the e34 Meet, had those type of scratches on his right side and on the sunroof. We used the Porter Cable machine with 3M swirl mark remover (yellow pad), then used the Meguires #3(?) Machine Glaze, and then waxed. Next time I would probably try the 3M Finesse It II with a yellow, maybe a wool pad and then the SMR and glaze. The Glaze does really well when worked in well and most of those scratches will disappear or reduce by 90% (my guestimate). He took some pics, but cannot post until tomorrow.

Good Luck.

yup. i'd definitely say the car turned out FAR better than any of my expectations. i tried e-mailing you the pics, but every time i did, it gave me "page cannot be displayed" since the internet has been REALLY slow here for some reason. so, i'll post them up here for now...600 x 450 :p

http://s87459559.onlinehome.us/detail1.jpg
http://s87459559.onlinehome.us/detail2.jpg
http://s87459559.onlinehome.us/detail3.jpg
http://s87459559.onlinehome.us/detail4.jpg
http://s87459559.onlinehome.us/detail5.jpg

enjoy!

[AllanS]

Do you know what kind of porter cable machine you guys used? They have about 30 :)

http://www.porter-cable.com/index.asp?e=329

[Scott H]

Wow! looks great Mike....maybe parts of my car CAN be salvaged.


yup. i'd definitely say the car turned out FAR better than any of my expectations. i tried e-mailing you the pics, but every time i did, it gave me "page cannot be displayed" since the internet has been REALLY slow here for some reason. so, i'll post them up here for now...600 x 450

[Mike M]

Wow! looks great Mike....maybe parts of my car CAN be salvaged.

haha, yeah...i was honestly at the point where i thought i needed a new paint job, but the paint just has a brand new feel to it now. brandon and i were even surprised to see that cashmere beige can change color in certain light. pretty cool effect.

btw scott, i lost your number/e-mail, but my fogs/angel eyes went out the other day. the error message was like F/FOG LIGHT, so...LKM issue? have any idea how to fix that w/out having to invest in a new one?

[AZ_Jason_S]

Have you had anyone professional look at it? Painter or detailer? If so, what did they say?


Also Check out these sites.


www.autobodydepot.com Look under detailing for supplies. Also a good place for general bodywork supplies and tools.

www.meguiars.com They have some good tutorials in the "How To Center" also the products you want are in the "Professional Store" I think they sell the Porter Cable polisher on their site. That thing runs about $190. You can get a Chinese one from Harbor Freight for about $40.

http://www.3m.com/US/auto_marine_aero/index.jhtml A tougher site to navigate but they have a good product selector somewhere.


If you just have scratches in the clear, it can definitely look better. If some of the others are right and your clear is splitting, you may not get great results.

[JR'Z 525]

has done the exact same thing. Car has the original paint. Even has the cloudy streaks in the roof and hood. The fine scratches look like it's been through the roller brush car wash about a zillion times! I've done the clay bar, hand and orbital buffing, waxing etc etc etc all with good temporary results. A few weeks ago I was pressure washing my boat and just for giggles washed the car down (holding the wand far enough away so not to take paint off.) I noticed for a few minutes after pressure washing most of the fine scratches and clouding disappeared. I'm no paint expert but that suggests to me that the clear coat needs some kind of moisture/rejuvinator to keep it looking good. I have some Zymol to try next time but I also want to try some of that new teflon impregnated wax from Dupont. You know that stuff in the stupid Jeff Gordon commercial where his MC gets splashed by a passing truck and his pit crew jumps out....
Anyway has any tried that wax?
John R :D

[kjbcpa]

[QUOTE=AllanS]I took these a few days ago (and tried to keep them small!); I'm basically trying to figure out the best way to go about getting this "fixed". The paint in the rear quarters and rear right door is really bad looking- I'm not sure what the official term for it is. It looks like very fine scratches or cracks, and is only affecting those particular parts. Could this be fixed by buffing/polishing, or am I looking at needed it repainted?

So basically, if anyone know what's going on... please help!

Excellent pictures of same paint problem I have on both my 1990 bronzit BMW and my 1985 silver VW Scirocco. I believe the scratches are your original paint. Someone explained it to me as microscopic cracks in the paint likekly caused by interaction of sunshine and the metallic flakes in the paint This explanation does not sound right to me, however, and I suspect it is more of either a paint defect or an original application error.

I bought my VW new off showroom floor in 1985 and it has never been in a body shop. I've been anal about keeping it clean and waxed (always by hand), even doing the three steps occasionally. Normal city and highway use, Atlanta GA, generally parked under cover (parking garage, carport). Despite my exceptional care, fine scratches began to appear at maybe 4 or 5 years old much like your pictures depict, and more on the side and back than on the roof and hood. The paint still shines and looks good, until the light hits it just right and the "patina" becomes apparent.

I've only owned the BMW for three years, but the fine scratches on it look just like the ones on my VW. Getting older and lazier, I had a detail shop work on my BMW last year and they were unable to remove the scratches. It looks considerably better after waxing, but only for a few weeks.

The flaw is in the paint, not on the surface and I don't believe anything but a respray will work. Various cleaners and wax will make it look much better, but only for a little while. They are never gone for good. Good luck.

[JR'Z 525]

all I need is $$$ to repaint! My less than perfect paint was the main reason I got my car at the price I paid for it 3-1/2 years ago.
In reality once it's cleaned, buffed waxed etc it looks pretty good for a 14 year old paint job (from 10 feet away). Even between wax jobs water beads up and runs off.
Right now I don't worry if one one kids gets to close with bicycle handle bars and kiddie toys. I would be anal (more anal if you asked the wifey) if it had a great paint job!
John R :D