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re: <Misc> BMW Paint

>What kind of crap are BMWs painted with these days???
>
>Yesterday I briefly parked my '96 328is under a tree while attending a
>meeting,
>and found upon my return that two pigeons had mistaken my hood for their
>toilet!  So I immediately ran to the car wash, and gave the car a nice
>thorough washing.  The bird crap could have been on the hood for a maximum
>of 1
>and a half hours, assuming it happened right when I walked away from the car.
>Well: imagine my surprise to notice that even though the clearcoat on the hood
>was perfectly smooth to the touch, if you looked at it with the light shining
>on it you could perfectly well see the blueprint of the two bird-craps!!!
>............
  Well, upon my return
>and a thorough cleaning of the cemetery which my front grill/fender had
>become,
>I discovered several small to medium chips in the paint.  None of my older
>cars
>(which had all the defects in the world) ever had a paint this sensitive!
>
>Did my car get a particularly poor paint batch, or are there others out there
>with similar problems?
>
>[email protected]
>Paris, France
>'96 328is coupe (with indelible bird-crap marks on the hood)

If the acid rain levels in Paris are as bad as the NE USA, or for that
matter Germany, then your bird droppings are probably just as acidic.  If
your car is a dark color and the sun is out and it's July through August in
the northern hemisphere, you're doubly screwed.  A couple of years ago a
BMW rep was randomly checking cars on our lot for A/R damage and was
particularly interested in the differences between the 4dr E36 and the 2dr
E36.  Further questioning revealed that at that time ('94?) there were
different paints employed at the two different factories (Munich and
Regensburg?).  Unfortunately I was unable to find out which was using the
old and which was using the Waterborne technology as they are referring to
the new paint in Spartanburg.  The problem is real.  I can leave any of my
old cars out in the rain or bird zone and not have the slightest problem
but even insect excrement left in the sun for an hour seems to make
permanent impressions on new paint.  I guess the short of it is, you're not
alone.  Sorry.

- -Phil Marx  BMWCCA #6021