Removing our orange peel: is anyone committed to doing it?

[AMPowerJ]

Originally Posted by iatacs19

Spartanburg, SC is the actual factory.

Not that it really matters but you are wrong again. The address is:

BMW Manufacturing Co.
1400 Highway 101 South
Greer, SC 29651

I was just there last week.

[NewM3driver]

The problem with wet sanding is that the paint will invariably be "cloudy" in about 6 months... as soon as the polish and wax wears off.... for as long as you own the car. I have seen it too many times, always from a "great" detailer.

Why fuck up your car for nothing?

[chris719]

Only cloudy if they didn't polish it properly... polish doesn't wear off, it's an abrasive.

[eclipsisNA]

Originally Posted by NewM3driver

The problem with wet sanding is that the paint will invariably be "cloudy" in about 6 months... as soon as the polish and wax wears off.... for as long as you own the car. I have seen it too many times, always from a "great" detailer.

Why fuck up your car for nothing?

After reading your response, this came to mind:

Wet sanding, compounding, or polishing does not fade or cloud in the long term in any imaginable way. If the paint is properly polished after being wet sanded, the paint will look perfect for years to come, dulling only due to natural phenomena such as oxidation and acid rain.

[Montoya]

Unless you have experience wet sanding a car, I would not do it. You need the right detail blocks, the right amount of pressure, patience, experience and then hopefully you haven't put deep scratches in the finish because of it all. I speak from experience trying to wet sand out a paint blob on a rock chip on another car... not good, but then your mileage may vary..

Good luck, I will just keep waxing my car until the orange peel disappears- If I do it every night it might be gone before I sell it in 5 to 7 years!!!

[NewM3driver]

Originally Posted by Eclipse Motors

After reading your response, this came to mind:

Wet sanding, compounding, or polishing does not fade or cloud in the long term in any imaginable way. If the paint is properly polished after being wet sanded, the paint will look perfect for years to come, dulling only due to natural phenomena such as oxidation and acid rain.

This statement is coming from a guy that makes his living wet sanding unsuspecting folks cars. I know of several dark color cars... a Jag, a porsche, and a vette that were wet sanded, looked great, and 6 months later look like dog ass.

Don't even think about wet sanding your new car.

[iatacs19]

Originally Posted by AMPowerJ

Not that it really matters but you are wrong again. The address is:

BMW Manufacturing Co.
1400 Highway 101 South
Greer, SC 29651

I was just there last week.

Thx bro!

I was there long ago when it opened, my memory failed me.

[ChitownM3]

I would never wet sand a car, and polish is permanent because its abrasive, but what do you think an abrasive does to paint?!?! It creates millions of small scratches which are hidden by the final coat of wax. I'd rather have orange peel that a permanent amount of surface scratches.

[chris719]

In case you guys spreading FUD didn't know, your clearcoat is already polished before it leaves the factory, by the same Menzerna polishes that body shops and other professionals use. If the polish was so aggressive, why would you need to wetsand in the first place?

So, to recap... wetsanding does not cause cloudiness if done correctly because it's followed by multiple passes of progressively finer grit polishing which in the end is probably much more level than the factory finish on a microscopic level.

[MMMorish]

I think I'll leave mine alone. It doesn't bother me and I'd be too afraid of messing it up.

[JIO]

I've noticed that the clearbra I have over the entire hood and fenders (and front end) hides the orange peel pretty good. This is on a space gray coupe. I like to keep as much clearcoat as possible for getting rid of minor scratches. The paint could be better but hey, all the BMW's seem to have orange peel. Maybe I'll just clearbra the entire car...he he.

[haze gray]

agree, enjoy the car

[ideliver]

E...my Sapphire Black wears its orange peel as a badge of honor...but IMHO there is only a small handfull of people that are capable of doing this correctly...I have seen your posts and pics....you ARE one of them...

But the rest of us....no way....

To the guy who thinks that this can't be done...what does EVERY bodyshop do right before they polish your paint from its repair...is it wetsand to level out the clear???

[yamahuh]

I wet sanded / polished / buffed a front fender that I was planning on repainting anyway due to a dent. The results were amazing; however it wasn't until the car was under flourescent lighting that I realized I had gotten very thin on a crease. I didn't go through the clear but you could see a different shade in the color along the crease. It's not worth the risk to me, regardless who is doing the work.

[SenorFunkyPants]

Originally Posted by yamahuh

I wet sanded / polished / buffed a front fender that I was planning on repainting anyway due to a dent. The results were amazing; however it wasn't until the car was under flourescent lighting that I realized I had gotten very thin on a crease. I didn't go through the clear but you could see a different shade in the color along the crease. It's not worth the risk to me, regardless who is doing the work.

I believe its usuual to tape up all edges and creases before doing a complete wet sand of the car to avoid such problems.

[Mavrick151]

Originally Posted by Eclipse Motors

Several weeks ago, I was wondering whether the orange peel on my Space Gray E92 M3 could be safely removed without removing too much of the car's clear coat. I tested this theory by wet sanding the passenger side rear quarter panel and the results were fantastic. Not only did I remove 100% of the orange peel, I also removed only 10 microns worth of clear coat, or roughly 1/14 of the total clear.

I'll try and get pictures up some time soon; I'll be really busy the next few weeks. My question is now that we know the orange peel can be safely removed, how many of you would be willing to take the plunge and have their entire car wet sanded?

Just talked to the dealer about this issue yesterday. I thought that they would want to make this problem right but after 45 minutes talking with the GM and head of the service department it is a factory orange peel and they wont do anything about it. I made my point clear as glass but they would not color sand my car. This is a bunch of bs. I didn't pay for a car with factory orange peel. I will be getting the car color sanded and im sure that it will look 10x better. Cant wait to bring it back to them and show them the difference.

[ChitownM3]

Originally Posted by Mavrick151

Just talked to the dealer about this issue yesterday. I thought that they would want to make this problem right but after 45 minutes talking with the GM and head of the service department it is a factory orange peel and they wont do anything about it. I made my point clear as glass but they would not color sand my car. This is a bunch of bs. I didn't pay for a car with factory orange peel. I will be getting the car color sanded and im sure that it will look 10x better. Cant wait to bring it back to them and show them the difference.

Actually you did pay for a car with factory orange peel. They all have it, it's not like yours is the only one with it. Don't tell me you were trying to get them to wetsand it for free.

[JCtx]

EVERY car I've seen has orange peel, so I don't even think about it. Maybe an Enzo or Veyron might not have it, but all others I've seen do, at least to some degree. Not worth risking f***ing up your car indeed . Take care.

[Mavrick151]

Originally Posted by ChitownM3

Actually you did pay for a car with factory orange peel. They all have it, it's not like yours is the only one with it. Don't tell me you were trying to get them to wetsand it for free.

No car should ever come with orange peel. I am getting them to do it for free. It pays to be assertive in situations like this. Eventually they will listen to you. Looks like you just need to grow a pair and go talk to your dealer too.

[ideliver]

Originally Posted by Mavrick151

No car should ever come with orange peel. I am getting them to do it for free. It pays to be assertive in situations like this. Eventually they will listen to you. Looks like you just need to grow a pair and go talk to your dealer too.

well...every single BMW does...so did my MB and p-car

[niqui]

Originally Posted by ideliver

well...every single BMW does...so did my MB and p-car

i have three benzes and a jag parked in my driveway, no p though. none of them have any orange peel, at least that i can see. my m3's is obvious...i compared color to color to be fairer.

[graider]

can someone post pic of orange peel. i don' t know what it looks like