Bird Crap

[Gumball]

Yesterday I decided to do a bit of cleaning so parked the car on the street - big mistake....

Came out 3 hours later and the drivers side door, roof and windscreen was covered in bird poop. Washed it all off straight away and then gave it a wash 2 hours later but alas some marks (etches) are still there and worse a few scratches

I actually had 4 coats of Zaino on it but that only helped a little so today I clay barred and used Meguiars Scratch X 2.0 and that helped a fair bit but some marks are very stubborn and the scratches may need wet sanding ffs.

Just wondering if any one has any advice? Professional Detailer - Dr Detail?, touch up guys, smart guys etc???

4 weeks ago a tree branch fell on the car and luckily I got a PDR guy out quickly and the damage was fixed perfectly... Bit of bad luck as of late!!!

[Taymaishu]

Originally Posted by Gumball

Yesterday I decided to do a bit of cleaning so parked the car on the street - big mistake....

Came out 3 hours later and the drivers side door, roof and windscreen was covered in bird poop. Washed it all off straight away and then gave it a wash 2 hours later but alas some marks (etches) are still there and worse a few scratches

I actually had 4 coats of Zaino on it but that only helped a little so today I clay barred and used Meguiars Scratch X 2.0 and that helped a fair bit but some marks are very stubborn and the scratches may need wet sanding ffs.

Just wondering if any one has any advice? Professional Detailer - Dr Detail?, touch up guys, smart guys etc???

4 weeks ago a tree branch fell on the car and luckily I got a PDR guy out quickly and the damage was fixed perfectly... Bit of bad luck as of late!!!

I had some bird shit on my rear left window, washed the next day (Sunday) with Mother's California gold as usual and came straight off with a MF towel.

I do know that bird shit is meant to be very acidic, it may be worth clay barring it now (thanks to Zuzu who has made me an expert at clay bars ) and then wax/seal as you like.

If there's any discolouration you'll need to get that attended to.

[Gumball]

Yep tried that, worked on all other bird poo I have dealt with but these birds must be eating something very strange as these marks dont respond to clay barring etc.

Annoying thing is that i washed and zainoed it on saturday arvo.

So sucks....

[Taymaishu]

Originally Posted by Gumball

Yep tried that, worked on all other bird poo I have dealt with but these birds must be eating something very strange as these marks dont respond to clay barring etc.

Annoying thing is that i washed and zainoed it on saturday arvo.

So sucks....

Get her done professionally ASAP then!

I wouldn't be mucking around with anything that came out of a bird's asshole and i can't scrub off the car!

[jksgoh]

just a little tip, try not to park under trees or power lines or anything that a bird might sit on. greatly reduces your chances of getting shat on... having said that my car got shat on in an underground carpark when i was parked under a pipe, which the bird must have sat on...

[amk2912]

Shoot the b*stards! I get a VIVA wipe soaked with water and leave it on the dried up crap. Let it soak, dilute and soften the crap before gently wiping off. Best to do it ASAP, preferable before it dries.

I used to carry a roll of toilet paper in the boot but the bird would be long gone by the time I could get it out

[Gumball]

Yep, darn John Howard for banning guns - I really want to kill the little pricks

[MickyD]

Originally Posted by jksgoh

just a little tip, try not to park under trees or power lines or anything that a bird might sit on. greatly reduces your chances of getting shat on... having said that my car got shat on in an underground carpark when i was parked under a pipe, which the bird must have sat on...

we had a sewerage pipe in the carpark at work burst and spray all over the 2 day old car of one of my colleagues.... it wasn't bird crap...

[qship]

Got a bird problem....................

[Sprey]

Bad luck Gumball...

I'm afraid clay bars only cleans off contaminants on the paint's surface. Bird poo actually penetrates this surface and etches into the paint work. It is nasty. On the bright side, I would think the zaino'ing you recently did has probably shielded and mitigated some damage.

For that reason, like what jksgoh suggested, I even prefer to park under the sun than a tree/power lines. Worse thing that can then happen is water spotting if there is a quick shower followed by hot sun but that is mostly removable by clay bars... and maybe dings from irresponsible people, vandals with keys, airborne contaminants from nearby industries... argh! I'm leaving the car at home!

Seriously, a good paint specialist can probably rub it back a bit (ie with compound) to minimise the scaring.

[AussieRacer]

Yeap, taking off a good amount of the clear coat is the only way to get rid of it if a basic scrub with something like scratch X hasn't made much difference

[Gumball]

Yep hopefully, Dr Detail is coming tommorrow morning and with any luck he will be able to remove most of the damage.... Sometimes having a scratch here and there protects a car - try and keep it perfect and for some reason it keeps getting in harms way. My old car (kinda liked it but was just transport) never had a scratch or a dent in 3 and a half years - never worried about where I parked etc and nothing ever happened!!

And my new tyres are arriving tommorrow - goodbye runcraps!! yay

[Jaguar66]

!

[Elsabor67]

Originally Posted by RobMason

Just be glad it wasn't the bird(s) that bombed my new 135i.http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=281128

DAMN!!!! Did they go full auto on your car? I'm having teh same problems here in Germany with the birds AND the bugs. Not easy if you let it sit. I have tried alot of things to include claybars and some of teh stains remain but not as noticable. G/L

[Jaguar66]

!

[Zuzu]

Originally Posted by Gumball

Yep, darn John Howard for banning guns - I really want to kill the little pricks

A few years back we had these two massive fruit bats living in the gum tree outside our house and when they shat it was like a blood explosion... all over our paved driveway.. Couldnt move the beemer out in fear of these bats..

Needless to say I camped out there one night with a spot light and ##### and that was the end of that...

[Alext]

Unfortunately the clear coat BMW use appears to offer fairly weak protection against bird poo etching. It is especially noticeable on Jetblack. Nothing I have used protects against even that orange bug poo. I wonder if they use the same clear on metallics as next time I might consider going metallic black.

[Gumball]

Dr Detail came and had a look this morning and he said he thinks he can remove all the marks, scratches and if he has time will do it this arvo.

So seems to be working out

[x5mad]

They are pretty easy to remove. Clay bar will not remove it as some have already mentioned the etching. It will only remove surface contaminants.

I had bird poo etching on my sapphire black and did not get around to fixing it for 1 month. However it came off quite easily after I applied menzerna polish with a random orbital buffer, came off in 2-3 minutes of buffing.

Make sure they apply either sealant or wax after he polishes the etching off as I am certain they will use an abrasive polish at which stage that part of the paintwork will be 'naked' with no protection.

[Sprey]

Gumball, just curious. Who is Dr Detail and what services do they offer? What has been your experience?

Thanks.

[Gumball]

He did not make it back this arvo (morning job took all day) but he seems excellent. When he returns I will ask him all the stuff he does, do you want me to ask him anything?

[Sprey]

Thanks Gumball. Oh nothing in particular, just always interested in who can do what in case I get lazy one annual polish day.

Or if he does small air-brush touch ups, paintless dent removals etc ;-)