Horrendous Rock Chips..when is it time?

[Uptempo80]

My 10,000 mile E88 just got killed again...Just as I was about to retire it from the road for winter season.

I seldom drive this car but it still always gets the worst of damage of any car I've ever owned. (My 93k mile Kia and my BMW 88' 325i which I've owned for 13 years has never taken stone /rock chips such as the my New E88!

- I even have a cracked windshield I'm dealing with a setup of a comp claim to replace that right now. Again. I've never had damage to my other cars such as this.


I'm going to post photos of the damage this time because it's pretty bad...
Do these E82/E88 models have "Soft" paint!??


I may have to get the hood re-painted this spring. The damage is pretty substantial. The chip is easily noticible even to a non-car enthusiast.

My plans of entering the car in a BMW club event/concours is down the drain because of the paint damage. It's a very noticable flaw. The BMW touch up paint doesn't match at all? *Is there 2 different kinds of BMW "Blue Water" metallic paint codes? Because this touch up paint doesn't match at all.....maybe if it did I would't be as pissed off as I am right now.

My Blue Water color is a light blue metallic. & The paint may be tough to match for a pro painter.... My Question is: When is the time to re-paint the Hood?
I think it's very close to that time...pics coming tomorrow!

[Uptempo80]

Guys is there 2 types of "Blue Water" metallic BMW Paint codes?

I am probably 100% wrong but I kinda recall someone telling me once that there were 2 paint codes for this color. This facrory color has been used the entire 1 series production run so far...08'-12'.

Maybe the dealership ordered me the wrong touchup paint....because man it IS Dark!
Doesn't match at all...and worst of all the chips look worse now then when the naked primer was showing!! Didn't think that was possible!

AIRBRUSHING: I've heard of this in the past...I'd drive from PA to NC or even farther to find a shop that does high-end paint repair using the AirBrushing technique.
ANYone know who does this? I live in Northeastern PA.

*Also if I can get the correct touch up paint....I wouldn't mind taking my car (with a Langka kit) to Phill @ Detailers Domain to professionally touch up the chips and give my car a nice routine detail.
*Everything including peace of mind and satisfaction would be great. I'd be entering my car in the Concours this summer!!!

Now, as usual I am freaking out..lol. I have good reasons.
I care about my car more than most people.
-I'm trying to avoid re-painting the hood at all costs!

[jkoral]

I'm not familiar with Langka -- have you tried Dr. ColorChip road rash kit? Looks like you are color code 896.

I use it anytime I see a new chip, no matter how small. I'm space gray metallic, but it's a perfect match.

I always thought proper chip touch up was an art and was never satisfied with my results, but I'm a big believer in Dr. ColorChip. It works so well no need for a professional.

Without pics, it's tough to see how bad the chips are. Here's a video from their site fixing the road rash on an Alpine White 3-series: www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4rmx5EmsKY

[MZWIE]

Dr. Colorchip doesn't work for chips (holes in the paint). I even called them and they told me that. It only works for minor scratches.

[TEAM SLO]

I have just over 2k miles on my 135i and have 5-6 big water drop sized holes in the paint. And no, I don't drive close on traffic in front of me either. Also, I don't speed hardly, maybe 10 over max on very rare occassions.

Will be having it sprayed/faded after the winter passes.

[sonicbimmer19]

My 1er has a lot of stone chips too, unlike any other vehicles I've/I own.
I'm pretty sure it's the "soft" paint.

[Dackelone]

I saw this car at one of the German cars shows this summer. It had some really bad rock chips on it. This car was a 2007 M.Y. 135i, so the paint was thiner than on later models. But still it really shows you how bad the paint is on our cars. Makes me glad I put a clear-bra on my car. Becuase when your driving fast on the Autobahn... small rocks are shot at your car like bullets!

[jkoral]

Originally Posted by e34m5

Dr. Colorchip doesn't work for chips (holes in the paint). I even called them and they told me that. It only works for minor scratches.

I don't know why they would tell you that because Dr. Color Chip is expressly made for chips, not scratches.

From <http://www.drcolorchip.com/faq-repairing-scratches.php>

"Our paint system is primarily designed to address chips, but it will work well on certain types of scratches and poorly on others."

I have had a number of chips right down to the primer and successfully used Dr. Color Chip to fill in and blend into the surrounding paint. The deeper chips do require multiple applications to fill in the hole however.


Regardless, I think everyone will agree that BMW paint is soft/prone to many chips. I had the same experience with 3-series models from E36 to E46. My 135i paint is no better/worse than previous BMWs, but certainly worse than my Japanese family car which takes a lot of abuse and doesn't have this problem.

[Uptempo80]

in 07' there was no 1 series. But wow must have been a 08'. It looks like we are in this problem together guys. I only have 2 stone chips but man they are bigger than any I've ever experienced on any of my cars. Keep in mind I am now 31 years old...and this E88 I own and love has some of the worst paint chipping I've ever seen.

My mom has a 09' 128i convertible and her's has some big chips..but it's white and the touch up paint looks good filled in. My touch up paint does NOT match and it's "factory BMW" touch up paint.

My dad has a 1,000 Mile VO 1 series M coupe that he's owned I keep warning him and telling him to be careful out there.
He did the BMW Performance center delivery last month and I went with him...lets just say I honed-in and perormed the world's best ever painters tape job on the car for the drive from SC to PA.

[Mstandard]

Originally Posted by Uptempo80

in 07 there was no 1 series. But wow must have been a 2008. It looks like we are in this problem together guys. I only have 2 stone chips but man they are bigger than any I've ever experienced on any of my cars. Keep in mind I am now 31 years old...and this E88 I own and love has some of the worst paint chipping I've ever seen.

My mom has a 09' 128i convertible and her's has some big chips..but it's white and the touch up paint looks good filled in. My touch up paint does NOT match and it's "factory BMW" touch up paint.

My dad has a 1,000 Mile VO 1 series M coupe that he's owned I keep warning him and telling him to be careful out there.
He did the BMW Performance center delivery last month and I went with him...lets just say I honed-in and perormed the world's best ever painters tape job on the car for the drive from SC to PA.

They had 135i in Germany in 2007.

And I feel you guys, the paint on my Honda is pretty soft too. After only a few weeks, I had stone chips on the hood and the A pillar. I'm always carrying a touch-up paint pen around.

BTW, we should start a painters tape job thread :P

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by Uptempo80

in 07 there was no 1 series...

2007 was the first year for 135i's over here. Germany often times gets a car model one or two years before the RoW does. One has to only look on RealOEM.com to confirm this. Nov/2006 was SOP for the 135i's.

Leipzig did change the primer base coat to a black color instead of white that the early cars had. But still the paint isn't up to snuff. This Spring when I toured Munich's 3er plant... the lady said when Leipzig closes to switch over to the F20 new 1er... they will also change and upgrade the paint shop too. Something about the dry painting system being not as good as the paint booths in Munich or Regensburg plants. I guess we shall see.

[Uptempo80]

Whoops. Should have known. The E30 M3 was made in Europe in 1987. While it came out in the US in 1988.

Off topic: My brother has an E30 M3..an early production 9/87 where as my 1988 325i was also an early production 10/87 model.
Both cars were for sale on the same dealership lot in 1987/early 1988.
Small town, Kingston, PA. Very unique story....that eventually we both purchased these cars atleast 10 years later. He's currently 26 and I'm currently 31.

I started to become an E82/E88 enthusiast in May 2010 when I ordered my E88 128i convertible. Still don't know enought about these wonderful 1er cars...

Pics coming of my stone chips (2). They stick out easily because my car is flawless inside/out otherwise. With only 10,000 miles, you would assume it has like 40,000 miles with stone chips like this. These are what I would call "big" chips. I'll post pics as soon as it stops raining..I didn't retire the car for the winter yet so I'm driving it back and forth to/from work this week.

- The other problem here is that BMW factory blue water touch up paint does not match. And that is probably the reason I'm so pissed off. I need to have touch up paint that actually matches! Going to a place (Autopaint world NEPA) that uses computer-match where they snap a photo and used it to make a fresh batch of paint tomorrow (if open on xmas eve) or Monday, Dec 27th.

Sometimes I wish I had black or white. You can touch up stone chips alot easier!
http://www.fototime.com/2F3873814F41842/standard.jpg
Here's a quick photo of my car.

[Uptempo80]

Ahh just noticed your "Frog tape"..I just used that stuff to wrap my dad's VO 1M on the ride back home from the performance center. Works great!

[szcyxzh]

you can get the exact paint code under the hood. my jet black is 668 and this is how i ordered the touch up paint from ebay.

my paint kit is still not delivered by USPS due to the holiday (one of my package was cruising around the States over the past month wtf of usps of 25 $/hr)... once i get it, i will paint the front bumper and fender myself. i am confidence that its much worse than yours since mine involved in an accident. once i did mine, i will write up a diy thread. just subscribe in the next few days.

regarding stone chips, my opinion is to learn to live with it. anyway bmw is not build to be a garage queen and why bother yourself for such little imperfection?

[BlackjackMulligan]

Originally Posted by Uptempo80

Do these E82/E88 models have "Soft" paint!??

Yes.

[vanbmw]

I loooked into Lanka versus Dr.colorchip and I believe dr.colorchip is the one for rock chips and Lanka is better for scratches. I used Dr.colorchip on my jet black 135. One a scratch on the door, it filled it in and you could not notice it from 3 feet away but it is very noticeable any closer. The rock chips are hard to see. You need to know where to look. If you get within a foot or two and rub your hand on the paint you can find the chips. It did a decent job of filling them in. It is easy to go after and try to better your "fill" of the chip. Obviously a full sand/paint would be better but I thought dr.colorchip was pretty good.

[Uptempo80]

Originally Posted by vanbmw

I loooked into Lanka versus Dr.colorchip and I believe dr.colorchip is the one for rock chips and Lanka is better for scratches. I used Dr.colorchip on my jet black 135. One a scratch on the door, it filled it in and you could not notice it from 3 feet away but it is very noticeable any closer. The rock chips are hard to see. You need to know where to look. If you get within a foot or two and rub your hand on the paint you can find the chips. It did a decent job of filling them in. It is easy to go after and try to better your "fill" of the chip. Obviously a full sand/paint would be better but I thought dr.colorchip was pretty good.

I was thinking about getting both to see which one suits my current needs first. I'm sure I'd get good use out of both.

[Uptempo80]

Originally Posted by Slo135

I have just over 2k miles on my 135i and have 5-6 big water drop sized holes in the paint. And no, I don't drive close on traffic in front of me either. Also, I don't speed hardly, maybe 10 over max on very rare occassions.

Will be having it sprayed/faded after the winter passes.

Please share with me more in detail your plans on going about this. Are you going to get your hood just repainted. Sure re-painting is great for a no-chip look. Just gotta have the finest painters working on your car.

Airbrushing is the best thing for stone chips or deep scratches.
In Northeastern PA, I can't seen to find a place that does airbrushing!! That frustrates me.
My friend's E36 dakkar yellow m3 was deeply keyed and the car was airbrushed. It looked better than inaginable! Only thing better would have been repaiting the entire car (the entire car was keyed on every panel).
The airbrushing was great to fill in those deep scratches.

I know the Ferrari guys respray/airbursh their front bumpers every year. Those cars are so low to the ground..they get peppered with stone chips.
It's a hassle free routine for those guys. I'm assiming they get airbrushing most of the time they address those issues..

[HeyMoe53]

I could be completely off-base here, but it seems to me that the stone-chip issue is worse these last 2-3 years or so.

Could it be the switch to "VOC complaiant," AKA "water based" paint?

I have a few chips on my 1er. Nothing serious.

But my winter '05 Focus has fewer.

[stevenc]

I have DR. Colorchip and it works pretty well. 8/10 on some big chips. Enough to where they don't bother me anymore or are even noticeable if you are not looking for them.

[jkoral]

Originally Posted by HeyMoe53

I could be completely off-base here, but it seems to me that the stone-chip issue is worse these last 2-3 years or so.

Could it be the switch to "VOC complaiant," AKA "water based" paint?

When I bought my E36/5 new in '96, everyone complained about the soft paint (I had Jet Black which might have exacerbated the issue) and they also said it was due to the new more environmentally friendly, water based paints.

I got tons of rock chips and pretty similar to what I'm experiencing with my 135i (no better, no worse). So in my experience, there has been no change.

All I know is I don't get the same kind of rock chips on our family car (Japanese SUV). And this is true for the last few family cars we have owned.

[sonicbimmer19]

I repaired stone chips on my E88 yesterday.. I'm not a professional, I just literallly touched up paint with BMW touch up paint.

I might have to just repaint the hood and the front bumper in a few years but that's my last option.