BMWNA advises not to use polymer sealants on new cars

[vdubrick]

"BMW of North America advises against the use of

any and all paint sealants. Many of those available may be

detrimental to the OEM finish in the future.

Sealants may not allow the finish to absorb the oxygen,

or “breathe.� Breathing is necessary to completely

and thoroughly cure.

If by chance the finish was not fully cured,

that inability to breathe can cause cracking, checking,

crazing and possible gloss failure. Actually, there is no

benefit to applying a sealant to today’s OEM high solids

basecoat and clear coat finishes. They do not enhance

the clear coat shine, and, in some manufacturer’s UV

tests, have proven to diminish the factory achieved gloss

level. To protect the finish on BMW Group vehicles,

we suggest the use of an approved pure carnauba

wax from Meguiar’s (“Gold Class� #26 or #27)."







This bulletin was sent to BMW dealers by BMWNA recently



Can our gurus comment on this ?



:confused:

[Lowejackson]

RonK used to speak a lot about such things, he said that it was utter rubbish, paint cannot breathe. Also the lack of paint failure on Autopia due to using sealents seems to be zero.



Autoglym, are a approved supplier to BMW in the UK, and they dont make any wax.



Steven

[Jngrbrdman]

To protect the finish on BMW Group vehicles,

we suggest the use of an approved pure carnauba

wax from Meguiar’s (“Gold Class� #26 or #27).



Gee... I wonder how much that little blub cost Meguiar`s....

[F1Crazy]

Originally posted by Deckard

This bulletin was sent to BMW dealers by BMWNA recently



Can our gurus comment on this ?



:confused:



Alex,

You didn`t buy that, did you?

[imported_memnuts]

quote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To protect the finish on BMW Group vehicles,

we suggest the use of an approved pure carnauba

wax from Meguiar’s (“Gold Class� #26 or #27).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------





I was extremely interested with this statement until this portion was read. It was not the company mentioned but the fact that a company`s product line was suggested with so many fine carnauba products out there. :confused:

[F 355]

Actually, I was told the same thing. Around 1997 Ferrari started to paint their cars with Glasurit paint (German) instead of PPG.



If, in fact, it were a problem I`m sure many Autopians here would have reported the problem long ago.

:nixweiss

[vdubrick]

Originally posted by F1Crazy

Alex,

You didn`t buy that, did you?



I don`t know what to think about it, especially a comment like this from BMWNA is something serious and IMHO it`s unfair (if it`s illegal too, I don`t know. Unfortunately I am not familiar how the competition laws are working in the USA) against the competitor detailing product manufacturers.



I am a long time Zaino user and have never noticed a loss of gloss or anything for that matter.



BTW, my car is 3 years old and the paint is still glowing.

[shaf]

If by chance the finish was not fully cured, that inability to breathe can cause cracking, checking, crazing and possible gloss failure.... Are they trying to tell us their quality control and standards have fallen lax lately? :confused:

[imported_Intermezzo]

The way I understand it, Klasse AIO and Zaino polish are both body-shop safe and can be applied on freshly applied paint or paint that still has undried solvent. They both allow paint to "breathe", unlike waxes.



BTW, what is "crazing"?

[captkirk2]

It sounds like they are referring to paint solvents that may have not have completely evaporated and would be trapped by the sealant causing damage to the paint. I would think that is a very slim possibility.

[Chuckmotor]

I wonder what this means for their dealerships. Whenever they sell a new car, they try to get people to buy their "extra protection" package (ie Scotchguard sprayed carelessly in the interior and a gallon-bought sealant wiped around the car). I wonder if this will change anything...



...for the hundreds of dollars they charge, probably not.

[F1Crazy]

AFAIK Gold Class is polymer based, not carnauba.



Alex, why don`t you try checking with your dealership?

I wonder if they can comment on that?

[ScrampaTeg03]

Breathing is necessary to completely and thoroughly cure.



Curing time is usually around 1-2 months so maybe they meant brand spanking new vehicles. Anyways, I`m sure it`s fine to use a sealant.



-Brian

[BradE]

This is a non-issue, "cover your a$$" type statement by BMW. They are saying IF the paint is not fully cured problems can occur if a sealant is applied. That is correct. They fail to tell you the same problems can occur if you use a caranuba also. Caranubas can actually cause problems faster because you have the issue of oils penetrating the uncured film build. So their theory of "Sealants are bad" is a bunch of BS.



There whole "what if" scenario is pretty far fetched. 99.9% of all auto makers bake their finishes, so no curing time is required. The baking process removes any solvents and cures the film build within minutes. The probability of you purchasing a car where there is some type of finish curing problem is slim to none. If by some slim margin you do somehow get a vehicle with curing problems the finish with fail with or without use of any sealant.



See, it`s just a bunch of BS. This is probably nothing more than a legal loophole that gets BMW out of paying finish warranty claims.



:down

[vdubrick]

Originally posted by F1Crazy

Alex, why don`t you try checking with your dealership?

I wonder if they can comment on that?



Yes, I`ll check it with BMW AG, Munich.



I`ll post it here if I get an answer.