Bird poop vs Ceramic coating

[Taco_Bueno]

Hey all, first of all, this is my buddies car but I'm curious to see what everyone on here thinks.

He got his M235i paint corrected and ceramic coated by a reputable shop. They did a great job and it looks beautiful.

Recently, a bird decided to leave him a gift on his fender. Apparently, he didn't have time to wash it off for 3 days. : and when he got around to washing it, he went with the pressure washer route.

He says he kept an acceptable distance away from the car with the wand but noticed something was flaking off as he was rinsing. Upon further inspection, it appears it was his clear coat flaking off in the area surrounding the droppings.

So I have 3 questions:
1. Is this common for bird turd to eat through ceramic coating and clear coat? Seems to somewhat defeat the purpose of ceramic coating (Yes I understand it's not meant to eliminate proper paint maintenance).

2. Is this an indication of poor ceramic coating?

3. He got his ceramic coating done about 3 months ago, the installer offered a 1 year warranty, would it be unreasonable to expect them to fully respray and blend the affected panels?

Pic attached

[arashir]

subscribed, very good questions I would also be curious to know the answers to.

I keep a spray bottle of distilled water in my trunk to shoot away bird droppings asap, but I didn't think they were capable of doing that much damage in that short a time

[bmwmdistrict]

I don't know the answer but in speaking with some body shops over the years on other questions regarding paint, that looks more to me as a poor paint and ceramic coating job magnified by the power washer damage vs. just bird crap alone being the culprit.

The power washers you definitely need to be careful and keep a safe distance on. The PSI can be aggressive for soft paints. It'll do like this picture shows, "wash" it right off... if it's sustained, direct on a location on the car and too close.

Again, not saying this is "the" definitive explanation but it's my gut.

[White340]

By any chance has that fender been painted before?

[icegrill]

I'm going to also say this is the byproduct of previous shitty paint work. Nothing to do with bird shit or ceramic coating😭

[clutchdj]

1. Yes. Depends on what they eat. 3 days is the problem. Bird shit can damage clean film too.

2. Uh. What degree pressure washer adapter did your friend use on that spot.
should be a 40deg head.

Next time he should rest/put a sponge soaked w/water on the spot but I think the damage was already done.

That happened to my CF roof but the factory clear was only heavily etched. Had to wet 3k grit then machine polish it out. Some bird shit will burn through factory clear in 30min in direct sunlight.

[Andrae26]

Nothing to do with bird poop. I had my brand new M3CS in frozen blue paint shitted on while I was at work and it sat outside for about 8 hours that day. Nothing happened to my paint and I didn't have PPF or ceramic coating on it.

[BigHunk]

That fender was painted before,also gap between headlight doesn't look like from factory.

[horsepower_and_hounds]

Even if you have the best ceramic coating and a bird takes a good shit on your car, if it sits all afternoon it will etch. No way to stop it. I think then you can lightly polish the nano coating and get rid of it but good luck.

Does someone know of a product that claims to resist etching?

[rjd598]

Originally Posted by icegrill

I'm going to also say this is the byproduct of previous shitty paint work. Nothing to do with bird shit or ceramic coating😭

This. I also love how everyone starts off with "it was done at a reputable shop".

If they knew what they were doing they would have caught this and informed your friend of the paint condition. Taking paint measurement readings isn't done by all shops, but it's exactly why it's done so they know how to proceed with detailing the paint if it's too thin. If a pressure washer took it off that easily then I am again surprised the detailer couldn't identify this area while he was working on it even without taking a reading. Shitty paint job is not hard to notice especially when your job is to deal with paintwork...

[Megabass]

You have to clean bird shit and bug juice off. Ceramic and film is a form of protection for the paint but still requires maintenance. Waterless detailer any spots like that before they etch the product on your paint or paint. Let it soak in so it comes off easy and you don't scratch the car. Good luck 👍

[LOW4LYF]

My daily E46 is sitting for weeks under California sun with birds drops, all gone after a car wash!

They can leave a mark in the clear coat, yes but never anything like in the picture.

[papasmurf_m3]

Good gawd that looks terrible. I get bird poops almost every time I drive the car. It's unavoidable. My car is PPF/Ceramic I blast it off with pressure washer at wash or take some ceramic detail spray and new microfiber cloth to wipe it off.

Never had issues like that.