This paint is so weak its killing me

[Invadermoose]

Bought an M3 2 weeks ago and I've been daily driving it.

So far I've only had one other person in it, and i've only touched the drivers door handle. There's rock chips on the front bumper, 2 on the hood, 2 scratches on the roof, 2 scratches on the bumper, a scratch on the passengers door handle, and swirls from the dealership. and these arent just line scratches, i mean it looks like someone hit it almost. The paint is ruffled and you can see metal

I'm paying a guy $200 to do a paint correction, and then I guess I'll try and get all these deep scratches fixed.

I've NEVER had a rock chip on any other car before, but this one is just horrible. The paint must be incredibly thin. Anyone know a place near sarasota or tampa or anywhere on floridas west coast who can fix all these chipsa nd scratches?

[py0413]

get use to it and wait until you get rock chips on the wind shield. I have so many of them all over the car. You can't avoid them unless maybe you clear bra it.

[Invadermoose]

So it isnt just where I live? The paint is really this fragile..

[Stainless 45]

Get used to it. Order an OEM touch up paint bottle and dab it in the chips.

[///M Ryder]

Wait until you hit the track ................Phil

[PhillyNate]

I'm sure there is some aesthetic advantage to soft paint but damn if I know what it is. BMW's definitely have the softest paint of any car I've ever owned.

[Alpha///M]

I hear u bro. Use ur camaro as DD. Clear bra works better than it looks. You don't have too many options unless you tell everyone to get off the road when your driving the M!

[KIS]

The worst is when you find that the bird droppings that you immediately cleaned off have already etched the paint.

[doc19]

Yeah - I've given up... unless you clear bra the entire car or wrap the car you are going to have issues...

[Invadermoose]

Man if I knew this I would've reconsidered buying the car.. I mean it drives great and everything, but If by the end of the year I'm going to have 100 spots on it where you can see the metal, then damn.

Going with my friend to Reeves tomorrow since hes looking at aston martins, I might look into a Maserati GT while I'm there..

[CrusherM3]

Originally Posted by PhillyNate

I'm sure there is some aesthetic advantage to soft paint but damn if I know what it is. BMW's definitely have the softest paint of any car I've ever owned.

BMW used to use an acrylic powder clear coat, but they switched. Not sure what they are using these days.

[CBS]

This is my first car that I completely wrapped and I will never buy a new car without it again.

I am now repainting my 5 and wrapping it next.

[Invadermoose]

How much is a good wrap job? This is just unacceptable. I've owned the car or 2 weeks, but I've maybe been behind the wheel for 25 hours. I just counted 34 chips and scratches on the car. I dont even want to imagine what it's going to look like in a month. I mean, I had plans to modify the car a bit and put some wheels on it and whatever, but if it's going to look like a beat up civic because of all the holes in the paint, whats the point.

[PinkFlamingo]

You should be more frightened of the guy who is doing a "paint correction" for $200.

[KIS]

Originally Posted by Invadermoose

Man if I knew this I would've reconsidered buying the car.. I mean it drives great and everything, but If by the end of the year I'm going to have 100 spots on it where you can see the metal, then damn.

Going with my friend to Reeves tomorrow since hes looking at aston martins, I might look into a Maserati GT while I'm there..

While the M3 paint is admittedly soft the car is great otherwise. The Maserati on the other hand is far from great.

[Invadermoose]

Originally Posted by ftconstruct

You should be more frightened of the guy who is doing a "paint correction" for $200.

I've known him for years. I think I'll be okay.

[radiantm3]

Originally Posted by ftconstruct

You should be more frightened of the guy who is doing a "paint correction" for $200.

+1

[sycd]

I'm going to guess we all go through this at the beginning for a month or two. After a while you don't count the chips and just enjoy the dip. No car is going to stay perfect if you drive it.

[Adobong_M]

Originally Posted by Invadermoose

Bought an M3 2 weeks ago and I've been daily driving it.

So far I've only had one other person in it, and i've only touched the drivers door handle. There's rock chips on the front bumper, 2 on the hood, 2 scratches on the roof, 2 scratches on the bumper, a scratch on the passengers door handle, and swirls from the dealership. and these arent just line scratches, i mean it looks like someone hit it almost. The paint is ruffled and you can see metal

I'm paying a guy $200 to do a paint correction, and then I guess I'll try and get all these deep scratches fixed.

I've NEVER had a rock chip on any other car before, but this one is just horrible. The paint must be incredibly thin. Anyone know a place near sarasota or tampa or anywhere on floridas west coast who can fix all these chipsa nd scratches?

Same thing here, after picking up the car fresh from the dealer when I got home there's a freakin chip on the bumper. Paint coat is so thin! Considering I drove it in Germany for almost 500 miles and never had a chip there.

[dom_cmh]

Didn't I read on here somewhere that this is a result of the new water-based paint being used rather than oil based? If so thank your EPA and government once again.

[mpower4life]

could also be that the dealer did a quick touch up and used fillers to hide all the defects. Have you washed it since you've had it?

[chris719]

I have had 2 Nissan / Infiniti cars and a Mazda. Their paint quality is so bad it makes you appreciate BMW paint even though it could be better.