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Originally Posted by cannibalfish
Has anyone else noticed premature wear on their Jet Black (or similarly dark) paint on recent-model M3s? My 2011 has never been through a machine wash, has only 12K miles, and has basically been babied in the mild LA climate. However the paint is in worse condition than that of my last two black Nissans after years of ownership (and machine washing). Every inch of the car is covered in scratches. Every time a bird poops on it, no matter how quickly I clean it up, the clear coat is etched. Last year I had some rusty water drip from a pipe in my garage, and it deeply ate into the clear coat on the roof, resulting in a $450 bill at Paulee's for roof sanding and polishing. The paint looks so bad now that my hand wash guys often panic after the car dries, because they think I'm going to blame them and get them fired.
This is my first BMW, so my first question is, what gives? Is BMW paint just fragile? Am I wrong to expect paint on a $65K luxury car to be at least as durable as the paint on my $25k Xterra?
I finally got fed up last week and took the car back to the dealer (BMW of Beverly Hills) to file a warranty claim for the paint and for the disintegrating leather on the steering wheel. The service manager, Sean Clemens, agreed that the car looked terrible and that I had a case. He and other service reps at the dealership had seen the progressive paint damage on several occasions since I'd bought the car, so it was well documented. However, a 'factory rep' supposedly inspected the car and declared that it was ordinary wear and tear... basically, go shove it. Sean told me that he was 'shocked' at the verdict but there was nothing he could do.
So now I'm wondering what to do. Repaint the car? Go to a detailer for sanding/polish (and repeat yearly, since it's the same delicate clear coat)? Take the dealership/BMW to small claims court for selling me a lemon? Freeze the car in carbonite? All of the above?
Any input would be much appreciated.
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Welcome to the world of modern BMW paint. It's extremely sensitive to basically every kind of environmental hazard you can think of. I doubt BMWNA will do anything being nothing is probably unique about your paint: that's just BMW paint in general. You can bring it by our studio and I can help give you an idea of what should be done.