Paint problem - July 2011 build

Originally Posted by tbod

To me (ex paint guy) it sounds like an easy fix but alas the dealer should've taken care of it. If it's just soap spots then some fine cleaner polish with an orbital polisher or untiring elbow will get it out. If it's bird droppings or something else that's really been baked in the sun, then you may have to wet scuff it out. This isn't difficult, but risky if you get near any corners or character lines since the clear is thinner in those areas. Wet scuff, high speed course polish with wool pad, medium speed medium polish with foam waffle pad, then orbital with foam waffle pad and fine polish is the procedure I use to get stuff out. Any detail shop can do this but the dealer should take care of it.

Thanks for the detailed suggestions tbod and K-A. Thanks to all of you for your insights and reprimands. The car goes back to the dealer tomorrow (6-Sep). I'll let you know where we come out. It'll either be fixed (because it was something simple) or it'll be the beginning of a long process, which could go smoothly or could get ugly. That'll be up to BMW. I'm prepared for either. Let's hope for the simple fix, first.

If it stops raining for a while today, I intend on shooting some high res and much better "before" pictures for documentation.

Originally Posted by markl53

The car is Imperial (dark) blue. I would venture to guess that any all-body heavy duty polishing will leave a body full of swirl marks, always visible in the sun.

That is correct. When first waxed it will not show up. As the wax dissappears it will. Hand washing will help keep the wax on longer. Even if you are prepared to take the car, I'd call BMW immediately and tell them because of the number of panels that are defective repainting is unacceptable. The dealer will lie to you alot easier than BMW. Good luck.

Originally Posted by markl53

The car is Imperial (dark) blue. I would venture to guess that any all-body heavy duty polishing will leave a body full of swirl marks, always visible in the sun.

The 3 step system I stated will not leave swirl marks. If you have swirl marks then you didn't do step 2 or 3 correctly. I do it with Jet Blacks all the time. White or Silver cars can even get by with only doing the 1st polishing step. Blues are usually fine without even using the orbital. You do have to be careful with high speed polishers though. If you catch an edge the paint is gone in about a half a second.

Originally Posted by tbod

The 3 step system I stated will not leave swirl marks. If you have swirl marks then you didn't do step 2 or 3 correctly. I do it with Jet Blacks all the time. White or Silver cars can even get by with only doing the 1st polishing step. Blues are usually fine without even using the orbital. You do have to be careful with high speed polishers though. If you catch an edge the paint is gone in about a half a second.

We're likely talking about a simple dealer shop making these corrections, not a high-end body shop. If they cared so much they wouldn't have delivered the car as it is.

edit

Originally Posted by dunccfp

Also, check the cars warrantee record to see if they did anything at the port to rectify the problem.

How do I check the car's warrantee record?

Originally Posted by BimmerMun

How do I check the car's warrantee record?

I think the person meant specifically ask your dealer for the pre-delivery and VPC reports that will indicate if any corrections were made.

As the OP, I am very happy to report the car looks amazing. It only took the dealer a few of hours and they cleaned the unknown light blue dandruff off of my new Imperial Blue 535ix and it looks beautiful. They don't know what the stuff was. Our only guess is it was something whipping around in hurricane Irene through which the vehicle sat in the port of NJ. The general manager and service manager were both very apologetic for the car having been delivered to me in that condition. I know they had a crazy day delivering a bunch of cars on the last day of August. That's no excuse; but likely explains how mine slipped through. My goal is/was not to have someone fired. I just wanted the finish pristine; and it is.

It stopped raining for a few minutes and I shot a couple of pictures. The lighting conditions were not very good for this color car. (No, that's not my real license plate). I've included a shot of the interior as I love the contrast among the Nappa Oyster, Nappa Black, and Imperial Blue exterior.

I'm glad it worked out in the end -- it's a beautiful car. Now you can go ahead and enjoy it to the fullest!

Congratulations on having the paint issue resolved.

I love your color combo especially the contrast of exterior/interior. Very elegant and classy. Excellent choice.

Gorgeous!

BimmerMun,

Congratualtions, car looks great. Glad it worked out. More pictures!

Glad your problem is resolved. I had a problem with a Volvo years ago and all they did was repaint. Congratulations!!

Glad you got that worked out! It has to be a huge weight off your back.
Love the interior combo, wait 'til you see the ambient lights against the oyster!!!

Congrats - good to hear success stories like these. Enjoy the ride, it is an incredible machine..

Congratulations - it is great to see a happy ending. The car is beautiful!

Looks good. Glad it worked out