What is this nasty damage on my hood?

avalys · 06-02-08, 04:10

I have a 2003 BMW 325Ci. It sits outside for most of the year, and gets washed rarely, but once a year I go over it with my PC and put a zillion layers of Zaino on it. It ends up looking pretty good.

I am preparing for this year's detailing, and I noticed a very nasty looking spot on the hood. See the attached picture. Most of the stuff in the outside of that picture is just dirt or tiny rock chips, but what the hell are those hundreds of tiny, deep scratches inside what looks like a water spot?

The scratches themselves are mostly invisible except with the right lighting, as in that picture - but the entire spot is clearly visible even from a distance, because it's a dull spot on the otherwise-shiny hood. It's about the size of the nail on my pinky finger, and is rough to the touch.

What do I need to do to lessen the visibility of this thing? I don't really care if I get it all gone, as long as I can get it not to marr the reflection on the hood.

The paint is red - the scratches are only visible like that in the reflection of a fluorescent lamp.

Thanks guys,

Alex

BigJimZ28 · 06-02-08, 04:23

if I had to guess
it was bad body work/prep
and the paint in that spot is gone

just a guess

gamby · 06-02-08, 05:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigJimZ28

if I had to guess
it was bad body work/prep
and the paint in that spot is gone

just a guess

Yeah--I was thinking chunked/flaked bondo

avalys · 06-02-08, 05:44

The hood has never been damaged, unless it happened at the dealer before I bought the car.

Here is a link to a larger view of the area, for context. Like I said, the spot is about the size of the nail on my pinky - quite small. It's the only spot like it on the car. The other stuff in the picture is just dirt, or waterspots.

http://avalys.net/wtfuncrop.jpg

advs1 · 06-02-08, 09:59

check to see if the car was ever in an accident. it looks like sanding marks left by a sanding block when it was primed and or bondo added. open the hood and check for signs of repaint. wrinkled metal, different color sealer, over spray. did you buy the new or used?

jshillin · 06-03-08, 08:08

It's hard to tell how big/small it is from the pic. The pics to me looks like it's small, if so, it could be a bird bomb...

abbeysdad · 06-03-08, 08:27

If it's only the size of a pinky nail and it's only visible under florescent light ... does it really matter?

ej8tunerman · 06-03-08, 08:46

That is definately a bird bomb. In the first pic, you zoomed so much that it seemed much bigger than it really is, but then when you described the spot being the size of your pinky nail and and zoomed out, its obvious that its a bird bomb etching.

langridge · 06-03-08, 08:58

A break-dancing cat?

abbeysdad · 06-03-08, 01:07

yep - a bomb from the legendary Foo bird.

avalys · 06-03-08, 01:19

Okay - so a mild-to-moderately aggressive polish should reduce its visibility somewhat?

gto78 · 06-03-08, 05:19

I think it's a combination of two things. First the bird crap stripped the paint, but secondly it exposed a previous repair job. I doubt the factory left sanding scratches like that in your primer. Those look like they were done by hand, not a machine, and I don't think the factory primes and then sands before painting as it's mostly automated now. The scratches aren't uniform, there kind of randomly deeper and shallower. Most likely the hood had a scratch or some minor imperfection that the dealer had touched up prior to selling.