2007 black BMW 330 xi - worst experience so far

T

Thomas Dekany

New member
I thought what a pc of cake this will be, especially after the vette (although I was told that it has some light swirls.) Plain enough no? look what I find.



However this is only half of the story



Picture1318.jpg




Picture1314.jpg




Picture1316.jpg




Picture1317.jpg
 
Dayum, that's some nasty marring . . .



goggles.gif




I hope new BMW paint is nothing like what was on the '95 M3 I worked on; that stuff was hard. I swear, it giggled at me in German until I finally broke out the rotary (Hi-Temp Extreme Cut with a yellow cutting pads on my Cyclo was getting me nowhere fast).



Good luck on the restoration,

Tort
 
I have seen it before on the exact same paint--it's like polishing butter.



Can't wait to hear the process. I know some Menzerna polishes were required. :D
 
TortoiseAWD said:
Dayum, that's some nasty marring . . .







I hope new BMW paint is nothing like what was on the '95 M3 I worked on; that stuff was hard. I swear, it giggled at me in German until I finally broke out the rotary (Hi-Temp Extreme Cut with a yellow cutting pads on my Cyclo was getting me nowhere fast).



Good luck on the restoration,

Tort
Click to expand...



I don't think it will be. Every '06/'07 BMW I've done has been on the soft side of average.



As for those halograms... :grrr
 
Since the hood measures much higher, I thought it was repainted - you can see that the hood picture shows swirls/holograms. No big deal :scared:



BUT​



I have to assume that the car was not baked at the factory. Here is why:



1 - no matter what I tried it created it's own damage instead of correcting. How about poli seal on a finishing pad and the pc? Distroyed the paint. All I could use was the rotary.



BUT only the white pad on about 40 % of the car. How about the rest you ask?



Nothing but a blue finishing 7.5 lc pad and only Optimum Polish . That combo actually removed alot of those scretches, but it took many many tries.



If any of you know what is going on, please let me know. The car had only 600miles. So new that it didn't even sit at the dealer.



Luckily



EXTREME TOP-COAT PAINT SEALANT+ 3X CARNAUBA



&



EXTREME DEPTH LIQUID CARNAUBA CREME WAX + X-Seal



didn't seem to damage the paint with the pc.



I know the pictures are not the best.





Picture1319.jpg




Picture1321.jpg




Picture1324.jpg




Picture1327.jpg




Picture1329.jpg
 
jsatek said:
Wow those are some deep scratches, was it to risky to hit with the rotary and Optimum Hyper?



Did the owner tell you how it got so abused in such a short time?
Click to expand...



I am sorry, I forgot to say that on white I used OHC (new formula) and EC, but couldn't get rid of all the scretches. It needed and orange pad, but that combo did more damage. :(



The owner wasn't aware of all the damage. The halogen light show everything.



I can see how just washing that paint can cause that kind of damage. The paint was very weird.
 
You may correct in saying it's not factory baked. When the cars come into port, if they are damaged, which I guess is common, the port or whatever it's called repairs them. Then they do not have to disclose the damges and can sell it as new. I have seen some pics of extensive damage that has been repaired.



Steve
 
Thats just insane that paint on a car that is built for the Autobahn would be so fragile. Wow! I own a Benz so I'm kind of stunned by BMW.
 
jsatek said:
Yup- they paint damage at the ports. Very common.
Click to expand...
I happen to work on software for Union Pacific that tracks vehicles from the manufacturing plant to the dealership. One of the valid location types is, indeed, "Bodyshop". :(



Tort
 
I'd be willing to bet those were dealer installed swirls curteousy of BMW of Sterling. They are butchers.
 
Yal said:
Thats just insane that paint on a car that is built for the Autobahn would be so fragile. Wow! I own a Benz so I'm kind of stunned by BMW.
Click to expand...



From what I've been told, BMW used to use really hard clear, but switched to this soft crap to reduce rock chips. Correct me if this is wrong...
 
I have experienced the exact same thing. Both cars were 06's and both were black. On one, even using the softest MF that I have the paint would mar when I removed any product(even when misted with a QD). I advised the owner to trade it. :D
 
Yal said:
Thats just insane that paint on a car that is built for the Autobahn would be so fragile. Wow! I own a Benz so I'm kind of stunned by BMW.
Click to expand...



It's not the BMW, I am willing to bet that these guys are right and the car was damaged at the port and re-painted without the owners knowledge. It's not uncommon. My 335i has softer than average paint, but nowhere near as bad as what's described here. I've also worked on 4 328's and 3 more 335s and they were all similar.



I actually had a similar car to this, it was a white SC430 and in the end the owner determined the rear end had been repainted after shipping damage.
 
tdekany: Boy, some of those pics look similar to a 540i that I recently did as a "do-over".



Here's a pic of a previously detailed 540i

MetallicBlack_540i_Swirls.jpg




I ended up using Optimum compound on a rotary with a 3M pad at 1200, followed by AIO on a Festool with a Meg's 8006 pad. Final coat was #26 with a finish pad on the Festool.



Here's another shot of the swirls. The car didn't appear too bad unless you looked at the paint from a certain angle.



MetallicBlack_540i_Before.jpg




Finished:

MetallicBlack_540i_After.jpg




The 1st pic you posted has some serious scratches (which don't appear to be buffer caused)...it almost looks like cracked paint.



Totoland Mach
 
Someone must be using Brillo pads. The new 3 is not that soft a clearcoat. My friend's 06 is doing better than that even after several trips to the auto wash.



You did a terrific job bringing it back in any event. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top