peeling paint on hood, roof, doors

I've only had my 2001 330i for a few months now and I am beginning to see that she was neglected by her last owner.

I noticed a few spots about 1-2 inches in diameter on difference parts of the car where the paint is beginning to peel. Since the car is still under warranty, I took it to the dealer nearby assuming it would be covered. The rep claimed that because the peeling was not under the clearcoat, it could not be fixed under warranty. What gives? He said it was probably from bird sh!t or something similar.

Anyone have any suggestions on how to take care of it?

Need pics but it sounds more like a bad repaint.

Originally Posted by sergiok

Need pics but it sounds more like a bad repaint.

what's the accident/repair record for the car?

Originally Posted by sergiok

Need pics but it sounds more like a bad repaint.

Yeah....I agree with this. Never heard of a 2001 BMW having any kind of paint peel problem. If I had to bet, I'd put my money on an accident and a repaint (and not even a good one at that).

Todd

I tried to get some pics, but with the reflection you can't see the peeling. Theres about 4-5 of these rashes on different parts of the car. Do you think its worth keeping or should I replace it? I got it for about $6k below KBB and so far I've put about $2k into it... so I should be able to replace it with little or no loss.

Btw, I checked out the records before I bought it... totally clean:


Your Vehicle Checks Out! AutoCheck’s results for this 2001 Bmw 3-Series 330i(WBAAV53451JS91900) show no significant Title events. When found, events often indicate past automotive damage or warnings associated with the vehicle title.
Problems Checked: Results Found
Abandoned No Abandoned Record Found
Damaged No Damaged Record Found
Fire Damage No Fire Damage Record Found
Grey Market No Grey Market Record Found
Hail Damage No Hail Damage Record Found
Insurance Loss No Insurance Loss Record Found
Junk No Junk Record Found
Rebuilt/Rebuildable No Rebuilt/Rebuildable Record Found
Salvage No Salvage Record Found


Your Vehicle Checks Out! AutoCheck’s database for this 2001 Bmw 3-Series 330i(WBAAV53451JS91900) shows no historical events that indicate a significant automotive problem. These problems can indicate previous car damage, theft, or other significant problem.
Problems Checked: Results Found
NHTSA Crash Test Vehicle No NHTSA Crash Test Vehicle Record Found
Frame Damage No Frame Damage Record Found
Major Damage Incident No Major Damage Incident Record Found
Manufacturer Buyback/Lemon No Manufacturer Buyback/Lemon Record Found
Odometer Problem No Odometer Problem Record Found
Recycled No Recycled Record Found
Salvage Auction No Salvage Auction Record Found
Water Damage No Water Damage Record Found


Your Vehicle Checks Out! For this 2001 Bmw 3-Series 330i(WBAAV53451JS91900)no indication of an odometer rollback or tampering was found. We determine odometer rollbacks by searching for records that indicate odometer reading that are less than a previously reported value. Other odometer events can report events of tampering, or possible odometer breakage.
Report Run Date: 02/23/2004
Date Reported Odometer Reading
01/27/01 122
02/05/04 30,224


Information Found! AutoCheck found additional information on this vehicle. These records will provide you with more past history for this 2001 Bmw 3-Series 330i(WBAAV53451JS91900).
Problems Checked: Results Found
Accident Data No accident data available
Corrected Title No Corrected Title Record Found
Driver Education No Driver Education Record Found
Duplicate Title No Duplicate Title Record Found
Emission/Safety Inspection No Emission/Safety Inspection Record Found
Fire Damage Incident No Fire Damage Incident Record Found
Lease Lease Record(s) Found
Lien Lien Record(s) Found
Livery Use No Livery Use Record Found
Government Use No Government Use Record Found
Police Use No Police Use Record Found
Rental/Fleet No Rental/Fleet Record Found
Repossessed No Repossessed Record Found
Taxi Use No Taxi Use Record Found
Theft No Theft Record Found


Below are the historical events for this vehicle listed in chronological order. Any discrepancies will be in bold text.
Report Run Date: 02/23/2004
VIN WBAAV53451JS91900 2001 Bmw 3-Series 330i
Event Date Event Location Odometer Reading Data Source Event Detail
01/27/01 FL 122 MOTOR VEHICLE DEPT. ODOMETER READING FROM DMV
02/02/01 FL MOTOR VEHICLE DEPT. TITLE (Lien Reported) (Leased Vehicle) (Title #: 0082604819)
02/02/01 FL MOTOR VEHICLE DEPT. REGISTRATION EVENT/RENEWAL (Leased Vehicle)
07/19/01 FL MOTOR VEHICLE DEPT. REGISTRATION EVENT/RENEWAL (Leased Vehicle)
06/13/02 FL MOTOR VEHICLE DEPT. REGISTRATION EVENT/RENEWAL (Leased Vehicle)
06/05/03 FL MOTOR VEHICLE DEPT. REGISTRATION EVENT/RENEWAL
02/05/04 FL 30,224 AUTO AUCTION REPORTED AT AUTO AUCTION

a clean carfax doesnt mean as much as you may think. if it was repainted at the VPC or was repainted without going through insurance, it wont show up on the carfax.

peeling sounds like an adhesion problem, which points to a bad repaint. easy check is to see if someone will do a paint thickness test. most dealers/bodyshops have them, its a handheld device that measures the thickness of the paint. it will tell you immedietly if the car has been resprayed, the factory paint is much thinner than any respray could be.

IMO one or two inches of clearcoat peeling on a 2001 is not aceptable and BMW needs to fix the problem. It sounds as if the condition will do nothing but continue to get worse. If the car has been repainted by anyone other than BMW you're out of luck dealing with BMW on the clearcoat issue.

Did you buy from a BMW dealer, used car dealer or a private party?

Originally Posted by Orient330iNYC

a clean carfax doesnt mean as much as you may think. if it was repainted at the VPC or was repainted without going through insurance, it wont show up on the carfax.

peeling sounds like an adhesion problem, which points to a bad repaint. easy check is to see if someone will do a paint thickness test. most dealers/bodyshops have them, its a handheld device that measures the thickness of the paint. it will tell you immedietly if the car has been resprayed, the factory paint is much thinner than any respray could be.

In fact, it could have been crashed heavily and the insurance could have paid for the repairs and it still may not show up in Carfax. I have had two vehicles hit and repaired by insurance companies. I ran Carfax on both cars before I sold them and neither showed a single thing on the carfax. The only thing that carfax is good for IMO is DMV records (titling information, previous owners, salvage/rebuild title) and mileage verification. I don't mean to get on a soap box here but I believe that the way carfax is represented is a fraud. MOST people believe that carfax will show all accidents, it doesn't plain and simple. In fact, I bet MOST accidents are not reported to carfax. I wish that they were, it would make buying a used car much easier. Now....as for your question....I'd try to replace that car if it were me. That paint may never be right and if the paint was not done properly, who knows what else was not repaired properly. Sorry about the length of the post but I think it's time that someone puts together the real "facts" about carfax.

Todd

Originally Posted by toddkageals

In fact, it could have been crashed heavily and the insurance could have paid for the repairs and it still may not show up in Carfax. I have had two vehicles hit and repaired by insurance companies. I ran Carfax on both cars before I sold them and neither showed a single thing on the carfax. The only thing that carfax is good for IMO is DMV records (titling information, previous owners, salvage/rebuild title) and mileage verification. I don't mean to get on a soap box here but I believe that the way carfax is represented is a fraud. MOST people believe that carfax will show all accidents, it doesn't plain and simple. In fact, I bet MOST accidents are not reported to carfax. I wish that they were, it would make buying a used car much easier. Now....as for your question....I'd try to replace that car if it were me. That paint may never be right and if the paint was not done properly, who knows what else was not repaired properly. Sorry about the length of the post but I think it's time that someone puts together the real "facts" about carfax.

Todd

I agree with toddkageals. For example: a branch from one of my trees falls on my roof and dents it in 5 places. 4 of the spots are taken out by a paintless dent remover; the remaining one is painted resulting in half of my roof being painted to blend in with the rest of my car. This will never show up on Carfax. FYI, you can not even tell the work was done because the body shop did such a good job

Originally Posted by toddkageals

In fact, it could have been crashed heavily and the insurance could have paid for the repairs and it still may not show up in Carfax. I have had two vehicles hit and repaired by insurance companies. I ran Carfax on both cars before I sold them and neither showed a single thing on the carfax. The only thing that carfax is good for IMO is DMV records (titling information, previous owners, salvage/rebuild title) and mileage verification. I don't mean to get on a soap box here but I believe that the way carfax is represented is a fraud. MOST people believe that carfax will show all accidents, it doesn't plain and simple. In fact, I bet MOST accidents are not reported to carfax.

I couldn't agree more. Carfax is largely a marketing scam. I don't trust it. Never did.

Before I bought my car (second hand) the sales company ran a Carfax on it. Clean. Two weeks after buying it a Xenon headlamp went out. When I took it to the dealer it turns out the car was previously in an accident. Cost me $1,000 to replace the headlight (cracked housing let in water).

I heard too many similar stories. As Todd said, other than DMV records, Carfax is pretty worthless. In fact, they have even messed up these records before. A couple of 944 folks have had bad Carfax because they screwed up mileage info. You see, the 944 only shows 99,999.9 miles before flipping over. When mileage got reported for something over 100k, they reported a rollback. Stupid.

Oh, and how can anyone forget the story of the poor bastard from Washington state who bought the E30 M3 in Florida that had a clean Carfax. In the end it turned out the car was actually two cars spliced together with all sorts of issues. And it had a clean Carfax.

Caveat Emptor.

How should I proceed? Is it worth it to get the paint fixed? Should I sell it? Will the insurance company do anything?

I bought the car from an independent dealer in Florida.

Like I said before if its a virgin BMW paint job BMW should pick up the tab on the sanding and respraying, don't give up so easily. If that fails go talk with the independent. If that proves unsuccessful you could sue the independent if they were aware of the repainting, I'm not familar with the used car dealer laws in Michigan.

not under the clear coat is such a BS line to give you, fight them until someone listens up!

I'm already fighting with the service manager... I don't think there is too much higher up I can go. What's the best way to contact BMWNA directly?