I Really Hate Black Paint!

[DSSG]

My car is '12 135i M-sport with Jet Black paint.

This is my first car with black paint, and I believe it will be my last. First, I do take care of my vehicles, so the car hasn't lack attention to its exterior.

After a few days of ownership, I noticed under the right lighting conditions, usually in the garage at night, all the swirls in the paint. I expected this, and I had the car professionally detailed using a four-step process: wash, clay, polish, and synthetic wax.

The swirls were gone, but something I had noticed before was even more apparent. All over the car were these very fine lines in the color coat. I'm assuming the color coat, since the polish levels the clear coat and if they were there, it should have removed them.

Has anyone with Jet Black paint noticed something similar in their paint?

[2PUTT]

can you show pics of the lines? sometimes, the surface really requires a 2 step polish. the first step polish will take care of the deeper swirls. the second "jewels" up the paint by taking care of the finer surface scratches and the hazing caused by the first polish.

here is a good example of a black car that went through a couple of polishes to get to the desired level of shine.

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...di-S8-lt-lt-lt

[DSSG]

Interesting. I'll post a picture first chance I get.

[Zombie1]

Look into Chemical guys V-line polishes I have found that there V34 and V36 compound/polish really work well on the paint after a couple passes. Also if you arent already you should buy there Black light (glaze) and Black wax it will make your paint look amazing also i hate Black it will be my last black car as well haha to much up keep.

[Dackelone]

The Jet Black color is a "Uni Farb" or single stage color. I don't think there is a tradition "clear coat" per se. At least that is what I remember from my couple of factory tours at Leipzig where our cars are made.

Just because you had your car's paint "detailed" doesn't mean it was done right. No offense. I think you need to have your paint "leveled" (polished out, with all the swirls removed) and then use a two bucket wash method to keep the scratches at a min. Btw... most scratches come from the "drying" process so look into how you dry your car after washing. Never use a fabric softener when washing your drying towels.

[DSSG]

Originally Posted by 2PUTT

can you show pics of the lines?

Here it is. Something similar is in various places over the car.

This was a leftover '12 bought from a dealer in Ga. Since it didn't sell, it was probably kept in storage maybe covered? The cover might have chaffed the surface. Another thought was the dealer did a screwed up detail job on it?

If I keep it long enough, I might have it repainted with BMW's Black Sapphire Metallic.

[2PUTT]

this looks like your typical wipe marks. those can be easily removed with the proper compound or polish with a machine. it doesn't look too bad. i have seen worse.

check out Phil's blog from DetailersDomain. he has a lot of pointers that helped me take care of my cars.

http://www.detailersdomain.net/

[DSSG]

OK thanks.

The only detail shops in my town are the dealers who use a 3M process. They simply follow a routine without doing any real thinking about what the paint really needs.

There is one independent guy, but he just mimics what the dealers do. Anyway, I'm just going to ignore it. It looks fine outside and inside too as long as one doesn't look to closely.

[DSSG]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

The Jet Black color is a "Uni Farb" or single stage color. I don't think there is a tradition "clear coat" per se. At least that is what I remember from my couple of factory tours at Leipzig where our cars are made.

Just because you had your car's paint "detailed" doesn't mean it was done right. No offense. I think you need to have your paint "leveled" (polished out, with all the swirls removed) and then use a two bucket wash method to keep the scratches at a min. Btw... most scratches come from the "drying" process so look into how you dry your car after washing. Never use a fabric softener when washing your drying towels.

Jet Black just refers to the color coat. All vehicles today use a 3-step painting process: Primer, Color, and Clear Coat. Clear Coat is just another paint which doesn't have any color. All BMWs including mine have Clear Coat.

The Clear Coat was polished and the swirls are gone. Anything left such as the fine lines in the paint would require a further application of polish. A really bad idea, since this reduces the thickness of the Clear Coat.

I don't think you understand what really is the cause of damage to the Clear Coat. It is essentially pollution from factories, power plants, and automobile exhaust mixed with moisture and activated by sunshine landing on the surface of the car.

The main way to preserve the finish on a car is frequent washings using a car wash soap and the proper kind of wash mitt. The first step is to hose the car off to remove as much loose dirt as possible. Next is the use of a car wash soap to clean the surface. Any of the brands on the market will do a good job. The last item, the wash mitt, is the critical part of this process. The swirls in the Clear Coat are the result of using a wash mitt that is too rough or abrasive to the vehicles finish.

The final step to protect the Clear Coat is the application of a true carnauba wax or what I call a synthetic wax. Under this category are products like Nu Finish, Black Magic Liquid Car Wax, Ice, and so on. They all do a good job of enhancing the appearance of the paint.

Finally, I have a couple of words to say about polish. If the car is regularly washed and washed properly, this step shouldn't be required. Another good idea is to keep your vehicle garaged to protect it from the elements. Polish is hard to apply by hand, and thus requires a machine polisher. The operator needs a lot of experience to use one correctly, and unfortunately the detail industry is full of clowns who really don't know what they are doing.

Fortunately the Clear Coat is very thick, about 3 times the color coat and primer combined, so the operator has a lot of room for errors. If you do decides to polish the Clear Coat, use a polish that has an ultra fine abrasive. I can't place enough emphasis on the idea that a polish is a polish is a polish. The only thing that distinguishes one polish from another is how abrasive it is. This is what the industry uses:

http://www.superiorcarcare.net/3m-ul...l#.VHnyXDHF-ao

Also stay away from cleaners and glazes. The former is for paint surfaces that are badly deteriorated and the other for filling in defects in the paint.