[toxicnerve]

Guys (& gals),

I washed the car today after a couple of weeks of not doing so. After drying it off I noticed what looked like water marks all over the car. I tried to clean them off but they will not budge! The car is completely covered in these little marks and I don't know what to do!

I am 100% sure these marks are not water marks, is my paint developing some kind of defect? My car has never been parked under a tree or anything so it's not sap.

I have no idea what to do and the car is a bloody eyesore! Any ideas as to what I should do? My once beautiful car has developed a skin conditioned!

[bakili]

have you tried t-cut?

[Ads4]

Any pics?

[toxicnerve]

Not sure about T-Cut as the chaps at detailing world think it's naff. no pics as we had to go out. Will have to take some tomorrow. when I get a chance I will post at detailing world too. Will BMW do anything about it?

[Matt2008]

Don't T-cut it

Wash again, dry and use a clay bar which should get a lot of crap off you can't often see. A pre wax cleaner should also work - but use wax afterwards if you've gone to all that effort.

[Matt2008]

or... you could have washed it in the sun and its dried to quick before you dried it.

[wafik]

Hi mate....happened to my 335i before after the dealership were water testing it for roof leaks...it was very bad and visable, but its nothing to worry about....i think its calcium in the water as they used tap water - it will come out.

I wouldnt recomend T-cut, its quite harsh and is best to be used for removing paint/faint scratches.

I washed my car a few times, it gets less and less every time. Also, if you have a polisher then you can use a very light swirl free polish/compound and give it a quick going over. You can also do this by hand, myt take a bit of effort but it will remove it

Trust me - i very much doubt its paint defect. Mine was horrid - it looked like its from the lacquer, but it not. A swirl free polish will do the job mate..

[jjbirch]

what colour have you got, i have a friend who had his 3 series took back because it looked different on both sides his was bluewater

[matt@stratford]

Can you feel the spots when you run your fingers over them? Have you tried a clay bar?

It is unlikely that something has affected the laquer

[M3-FAST]

Hi Toxic, you haven't mentioned what colour it is? Is it a flat/solid paint or a metallic (would be lacquered) - my Crimson Red E93 had little spots all over the flat surfaces of the car (ie: bonnet, roof & bootlid) - I used metallic T-cut (less abrasive than the normal stuff) and then re-waxed it & this sorted the issue out. The marks could not be felt by hand so were more of a stain than a contaminant stuck to the surface. I live in a VERY hard water area so put it down to water marking.

You idealle need to start by trying the least abrasive option and then keep getting more severe until you find a product the shifts them. As others say, try claying the car and see if this helps - if not try something like Meguiars Paint Cleaner or even 3M Finnese-it lite. DoDo Juice Lime Prime may also fetch it off.

Either way, once clean and mark free, I would look at protecting the finished result with a few layers of good quality wax.

[toxicnerve]

Originally Posted by wafik

Hi mate....happened to my 335i before after the dealership were water testing it for roof leaks...it was very bad and visable, but its nothing to worry about....i think its calcium in the water as they used tap water - it will come out.

I wouldnt recomend T-cut, its quite harsh and is best to be used for removing paint/faint scratches.

I washed my car a few times, it gets less and less every time. Also, if you have a polisher then you can use a very light swirl free polish/compound and give it a quick going over. You can also do this by hand, myt take a bit of effort but it will remove it

Trust me - i very much doubt its paint defect. Mine was horrid - it looked like its from the lacquer, but it not. A swirl free polish will do the job mate..

These are comforting words...I hope to God it does come off.

Originally Posted by jjbirch

what colour have you got, i have a friend who had his 3 series took back because it looked different on both sides his was bluewater

Mine is Sapphire Black.

Originally Posted by matt@stratford

Can you feel the spots when you run your fingers over them? Have you tried a clay bar?

It is unlikely that something has affected the laquer

Hrm, that's tricky. My paint does not feel glassy smooth and no doubt there are some surface contaminants but I don't think you can feel the spots themselves. It's really weird and I'm not entirely sure what is going on.

To me it looks like the laqueur has been etched or something, much like if bird poo had been allowed to dwell for too long on the paint or something.

The other weird thing is this, it appears to be more pronounced on the horizontal surfaces of the car, so the boot lid, roof and bonnet. The front wings are badly affected as are the top parts of the doors (above the crease/line of the car if you know what I mean).

Do you have any further advice? Should I wash the car again and then give it a going over with some clay? I have CarLack NSC which is a pre-wax cleaner, I did give this a go but it did not appear to help...

I am going to post up on Detailing World and see what advice is offered there.

Thanks for all the advice so far it is much appreciated.

[toxicnerve]

Originally Posted by M3-FAST

Hi Toxic, you haven't mentioned what colour it is? Is it a flat/solid paint or a metallic (would be lacquered) - my Crimson Red E93 had little spots all over the flat surfaces of the car (ie: bonnet, roof & bootlid) - I used metallic T-cut (less abrasive than the normal stuff) and then re-waxed it & this sorted the issue out. The marks could not be felt by hand so were more of a stain than a contaminant stuck to the surface. I live in a VERY hard water area so put it down to water marking.

You idealle need to start by trying the least abrasive option and then keep getting more severe until you find a product the shifts them. As others say, try claying the car and see if this helps - if not try something like Meguiars Paint Cleaner or even 3M Finnese-it lite. DoDo Juice Lime Prime may also fetch it off.

Either way, once clean and mark free, I would look at protecting the finished result with a few layers of good quality wax.

Hi mate, it's Black Sapphire (which is metallic). I've tried using CarLack NSC and some Meg's ScratchX 2.0, neither of these products shifted the marks...I would have thought the ScratchX would have taken it off if it was a surface contaminant surely?

[AlanQS]

You'll get good advice at DW but I would never use T-Cut for anything now. A clay bar with plenty of lube may go a long way to sort out the contaminant. If it doesn't work, it may need a machine polish.

[toxicnerve]

Originally Posted by AlanQS

You'll get good advice at DW but I would never use T-Cut for anything now. A clay bar with plenty of lube may go a long way to sort out the contaminant. If it doesn't work, it may need a machine polish.

Exactly, I don't touch T-Cut these days. There are far superior products out there. I have posted on DW, I will see what advice the fellas over there offer.

I am hoping a machine polish is not going to be the only answer, I'm not keen on the idea of reducing the paint/lacqueur thickness just yet...

If anyone here has any more ideas they would be most welcome. Is it even worth washing the car again tomorrow? I was thinking I would forgo the pre-wash and just give it a hand wash using my mitt and 2 bucket method...

What do you reckon?

[wafik]

Originally Posted by toxicnerve

Hi mate, it's Black Sapphire (which is metallic). I've tried using CarLack NSC and some Meg's ScratchX 2.0, neither of these products shifted the marks...I would have thought the ScratchX would have taken it off if it was a surface contaminant surely?

ScratchX will not remove contaminants....contaminants will come off using clay bar.

try posting pics so we can get an idea. As i said, i really doubt this is the lacquer, it will come off

[toxicnerve]

Hi guys,

I just took some snaps, the spots are not the easiest thing to capture and the bright Sun made it a little more difficult until I figured out the glare/lens flare from the Sun actually showed the spots up more!!

Attached are the pictures that I took, I am guessing that the forum software will automatically scale/reduce the quality so if anyone wants high res images please PM me and I can email them.

What are your initial thoughts after seeing these?

[GX337]

Thats exactly what i`ve got on my alfa gtv, again only mainly on flat surfaces. Only noticed it last week after washing and could not shift with autoglym paint restorer and wax but a week later and it seems to rub off with my finger !. Will see if it washes off completely.

[toxicnerve]

Originally Posted by GX337

Thats exactly what i`ve got on my alfa gtv, again only mainly on flat surfaces. Only noticed it last week after washing and could not shift with autoglym paint restorer and wax but a week later and it seems to rub off with my finger !. Will see if it washes off completely.

Weird!!!

I am hoping mine will rub off also...going to pop out and grab a Meguirs clay kit to see if that will shift it but I think I will wait until later in the afternoon so that the car is in shade/cooled down a bit so the clay lubricant doesn't just evapourate away too quickly.

Fingers cross, did you have any clues as to what might have caused this? I did a motorway trip up to the West Midlands via the M1/M6/M5 and wondering if it was something off the road or something that was in the air that landed when it rained.

Could be anything, hoping it is just calcium deposits like Wafik suggests.

I will keep you posted. Also for what it's worth I've started a thread on DW:

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/foru...d.php?t=164870

:thumbs:

[Glasgow Rangers]

Volcano dust from Iceland mate. Your car is fucked.

[toxicnerve]

Originally Posted by Glasgow Rangers

Volcano dust from Iceland mate. Your car is fucked.

[SiKkBaSs]

Originally Posted by Glasgow Rangers

Volcano dust from Iceland mate. Your car is fucked.

Was just about to write this.

To OP good luck in sorting the issue.

[toxicnerve]

Originally Posted by SiKkBaSs

Was just about to write this.

To OP good luck in sorting the issue.

Cheers Sunny.

Oh and just for you (spotted yesterday around Forest Gate/Green St. iirc):