Paint crack/imperfection on a new M3

[dont_Mistak3]

Hi all,

Yesterday I was in the process of detailing my f80 getting it ready for winter (polish, seal, wax) and I noticed this towards the bottom of the a pillar on the left.

The car is brand new (only 3 months old) and it looks like a crack or paint imperfection? Tried to take a couple pictures. I have a feeling it might have been that way since I picked it up.

I've only washed it a couple times and this is the first time I did a thorough check as I was polishing it.

Any ideas what it might be and if the dealer would fix it or will I have to take it somewhere else?

[tebbnsx]

To me it looks like a scratch in those pics.

[Poiseuille]

does that look to you like a crack or a scratch? hard to tell in the pictures. if you think it's a crack, take it to a good body shop, they can check for paint thickness and whether there might be filler under there. do this before you take it to the Dealer, could have been repaired at the pier in which case BMW owns the repair. good luck!

[Poiseuille]

ummmm, any chance the Dealer washed your car? they do that sort of thing (scratches) alla time in NJ. ask me how I know.....

[LOW4LYF]

Originally Posted by Poiseuille

ummmm, any chance the Dealer washed your car? they do that sort of thing (scratches) alla time in NJ. ask me how I know.....

Nah, not a car wash damage ...

[Poiseuille]

Originally Posted by LOW4LYF

Nah, not a car wash damage ...

you can tell that from those pictures?

[jdgamble]

Can you feel it with your fingernail? If so, it’s probably just a scratch. Actually, if not it could still just be a scratch. I’d take it to a good detailer and see if they can polish it out. Better yet, buy yourself a DA polisher and do it yourself.

If that doesn’t work, then go the dealer route. But honestly, I have had dealers fix their own mistakes a couple times, and it has never gone well. The people they pay to correct paint generally don’t do a good job.

[dont_Mistak3]

Originally Posted by jdgamble

Can you feel it with your fingernail? If so, it’s probably just a scratch. Actually, if not it could still just be a scratch. I’d take it to a good detailer and see if they can polish it out. Better yet, buy yourself a DA polisher and do it yourself.

If that doesn’t work, then go the dealer route. But honestly, I have had dealers fix their own mistakes a couple times, and it has never gone well. The people they pay to correct paint generally don’t do a good job.

Yes I can feel it with my nail. It might actually be a scratch now that I think of it. Such an odd spot for a scratch IMO.

I just purchased a swirl killer from Adams polishes I will try applying some correcting compound and polish. Just wish I had a heated garage since temps here are the mid 30s.

Thanks for the input

[Eric S]

Not a crack, thats a scratch. A crack you wouldn't feel like that, and you would be able to separate it more with applied pressure. Also, it wouldn't be on the adjacent separate panel in a flowing line across the two panels.

A scratch that bad is going to require repaint. Sanding that down, you will have paint problems in the future because you jeopardize the integrity of the clearcoat. All the UV protection is in the top 20% of the clear, which is why you don't do heavy corrections monthly. If you take that down to paint layer, you might be able spray clear only (best bet if you can get away with not spraying color)

IMO, take that to a body shop and have them blend the Arch as needed (probably to the window line), spot paint the fender in the scratched area, then clear the whole fender. This will be the best repair. Sucks its on white though, harder to blend/match.

Good luck.

[LOW4LYF]

Originally Posted by Poiseuille

you can tell that from those pictures?

Sure

[jdgamble]

Originally Posted by mpower95

Yes I can feel it with my nail. It might actually be a scratch now that I think of it. Such an odd spot for a scratch IMO.

I just purchased a swirl killer from Adams polishes I will try applying some correcting compound and polish. Just wish I had a heated garage since temps here are the mid 30s.

Thanks for the input

Do you have a tool? I wouldn’t try to compound or polish something like that by hand. You will probably just damage the surrouning paint.

You probably won’t even be able to remove it with a DA, but you can make it a lot better. I had something like that on my 911, and I polished it to the point you could barely see it.

And no worries. I heart paint correction.

[Ghosn]

Looks like a manufacturing fault to me. It's definitely a scratch, but it has been painted over.

Being nearly a new car I would say most likely something or someone has scratched the panel before the car has entered the painting stage.

I'd be taking it for testing to see if that's factory paint on and around the scratch. That way you have a better idea if it's a factory fault or someone has painted over the scratch recently as a quick repair.

[dont_Mistak3]

Originally Posted by jdgamble

Do you have a tool? I wouldn’t try to compound or polish something like that by hand. You will probably just damage the surrouning paint.

You probably won’t even be able to remove it with a DA, but you can make it a lot better. I had something like that on my 911, and I polished it to the point you could barely see it.

And no worries. I heart paint correction.

Yup! Swirl killer is the name of the DA polisher. I will try to buff it out this weekend. It bothers me when I look at it....but not to the point where it drives me crazy since its not noticeable until you walk up to that particular spot.

Should I use a microfiber pad or foam pad?

[dont_Mistak3]

Originally Posted by Ghosn

Looks like a manufacturing fault to me. It's definitely a scratch, but it has been painted over.

Being nearly a new car I would say most likely something or someone has scratched the panel before the car has entered the painting stage.

I'd be taking it for testing to see if that's factory paint on and around the scratch. That way you have a better idea if it's a factory fault or someone has painted over the scratch recently as a quick repair.

Should I take it to be checked somewhere before attempting to polish it out? I am almost certain its a manufacturing fault but idk if there is anything I can do to get the dealer to repair on their expense since I've had the car for three months.

[Eric S]

Originally Posted by mpower95

Yup! Swirl killer is the name of the DA polisher. I will try to buff it out this weekend. It bothers me when I look at it....but not to the point where it drives me crazy since its not noticeable until you walk up to that particular spot.

Should I use a microfiber pad or foam pad?

MF pad with a compound. Tape off surrounding edges you don't want to hit with the pad.

Wash area, clay area
MF pad with compound
foampad with polish

More than likely you will not be able to remove it completely. Miniizing it will be your best bet. What you are doing is leveling the paint (reducing the thickness) around the scratch to the base of the valley (the scratch is a valley, and cut in the paint). I highly doubt you have enough material there to fully level it. The clear on your car is about the thickness of a piece of paper...that scratch looks pretty thick in the picture, and if you can fee it with your fingernail, its deep.

[G35POPPEDMYCHERRY]

blame it on the dealer. cause a storm, scream for injustice and restitution. expose them on social media for their crimes, and they will be at your mercy.

[Ghosn]

Originally Posted by mpower95

Should I take it to be checked somewhere before attempting to polish it out? I am almost certain its a manufacturing fault but idk if there is anything I can do to get the dealer to repair on their expense since I've had the car for three months.

A good detailer will have the equipment to check it out for u and give u answers.

[jdgamble]

I would start with least aggressive first, so polish and a foam pad, and then work your way up.

If you really think this a manufacturing issue, you might want to try the dealer first. But then again, my dealer damaged the bumper on my last (white) car, so they sent it to the bodyshop, and it came back with a frickin different color bumper. It was terrible. They ended up buying it. So I don’t really know if I would trust the dealer to do any paint repair.

[Eric S]

Originally Posted by G35POPPEDMYCHERRY

blame it on the dealer. cause a storm, scream for injustice and restitution. expose them on social media for their crimes, and they will be at your mercy.

Should your employer do the same to you and prevent you from getting a future job? Fair?

[G35POPPEDMYCHERRY]

Originally Posted by Eric S

Should your employer do the same to you and prevent you from getting a future job? Fair?

ugh no, an eye for eye leaves the whole world blind

[KevinM]

Honestly, it looks like someone keyed the car and then it was repaired using Dr. Color Chip or Langka. GL!

[gabriel.psd]

That looks like a scratch thats been filled in to cover up.