I am in the same boat with my own car. The hood, rear door and fender on the driver's side and the trunk lid were repainted by the original owner (got to be at least 5 years ago) and there are some areas that show absolutely no improvement, leading me to the same conclusion as you reached on the BMW-the defects are under the respray. Honestly, though, us Autopians are the only ones who would notice anyway so I stopped stressing over them.
Definite improvement in the overall depth and gloss of the car in the before and afters, looks absolutely soaking wet now!
