Hit by tree sap mist

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animescreen

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So being in Seattle, it's pretty hard to be into details. I really don't see much people detailing cars. As it rains and lot of tree sap or things coming from trees as we have so many trees everywhere. So i live in my home where huge douglas fir tree and it produces lot of sap. My mazda3 would be underneat the car and pretty much covered in and will take care of it soon. But my x3 i park it in garage and then noticed when i do car wash outside and leave it there for even like 30 minutes or so i start to see mist of dots on the car. Have it there longer and more mist. I didn't even know this until like 3-4 days after getting the car from dealer. Thought it was pollen first but touching these specs (its like super small dots) it smeared like honey. Of course it was relief that I was able to remove it with foam gun at off and thought nothing of it. But after getting those special lights on here that shows swirl marks etc.. I noticed that there where tiny dots but were not felt. I thought of 3 things. A). Either that's how auto paint manufacture is and may be like spray marks (leaving little specs that can be only seen by this type of light)
B). It might be the type of paint? I used to have crystal white pearl and had pearl specks inside and was really nice. But the x3 is alpine white. So not sure if that has any specks??
C). Or what is dreaded is these specks of tree sap mist took some parts of clear coat off and I see light removal of clear coat. Again i can only see it when I'm passing that special light.

Anyways, will polishing remove this? If it's just part of the paint or paint spray that I don't mind.

I should have asked dealer when was last time it was waxed but being new car and stored in the showroom i thought i would protect these little dots from staining after removal. Plus removal was so easy with even light wash didn't think it would leave any issue afterwards. But then again if its just paint spray or nature of alpine white paint i'm fine.

Never knew you can be parked not directly under a tree except few branches sticking out that is 40-50 feet away. No much wind either but somehow i think small winds or something came and blew mist into my car (not sure lol)
 
First a question: Are you sure it's from the Doug Fir? This time of year, bees are active and bee poop feels (acts like) tree sap.

IF it is from the fir trees, turpentine will dissolve it.

Bill
 
BillE said:
First a question: Are you sure it's from the Doug Fir? This time of year, bees are active and bee poop feels (acts like) tree sap.

IF it is from the fir trees, turpentine will dissolve it.

Bill
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It’s tiny dots like freckles and when I touch it it’s like honey / sap. I mean it disappears after wash but the clear coat seems to be stained a bit if using one of those lights that examine paint.

Will polish remove this?

I had no idea bee poops lol. I’m guessing bee poop will also be hazardous to car. I know it can be bee poop cause a) not many bees roaming here b) if there was bees they really would be pooping a lot!

But bee pooping honey that’s bit cute hahhaha

Anyways hopefully polish will remove these clear coat stains? Still not sure if it’s like factory paint that’s not perfect or if it’s due to alpine white (maybe alpine white is like snow with little specks?)


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If it's tree sap get a dedicated tar remover like Carpro TarX or another brand. Do a test spot and see if it's desolves it. Proberly you only wipe off the top of the tree sap part and the part that has bonded to the paint is still there.

Are you sure it's spots from the tree sap? Since it has been at the dealership it has most certainly been washed or wiped off in some kind. And it can be water spots you have or something else like some protection residue left behind without beeing wiped off thoroughly. Then a tar remover would not be any help for you and that's why I ask if it can be something else.

A polishing would take care of it. In rare cases if it's been on for a longer time it can be penetrating the clearcoat. So now I have gotten you to worry about that LOL. But start with a tar remover and see if it desolves it. If it is water spots and fairly fresh. A water spot remover or even a QD or waterless wash can take care of them. If it has etched it's polishing to be doing to level the clearcoat down. And also water spots in rare cases can penetrate the clearcoat. Then you useally heat the paint up so it expands and push up the minerals from the clearcoat. Hard to say what it is if you don't see them in person or if you able to get a picture of it with your new inspection light to help seeing them. I useally starts with a chemical to desolve the spots and if it's not works I try another kind of chemical product. And most of these chemical products is safe for the clearcoat if used properly. Instead of abrading of the paint every time you get these problems. The thing to do afterwards is to refresh the LSP.
 
You don’t need anything special for tree sap. And please don’t use turpentine! Especially on the newer clears. 91 percent alcohol, or even hand sanitizer will remove it.
 
SWETM said:
If it's tree sap get a dedicated tar remover like Carpro TarX or another brand. Do a test spot and see if it's desolves it. Proberly you only wipe off the top of the tree sap part and the part that has bonded to the paint is still there.

Are you sure it's spots from the tree sap? Since it has been at the dealership it has most certainly been washed or wiped off in some kind. And it can be water spots you have or something else like some protection residue left behind without beeing wiped off thoroughly. Then a tar remover would not be any help for you and that's why I ask if it can be something else.

A polishing would take care of it. In rare cases if it's been on for a longer time it can be penetrating the clearcoat. So now I have gotten you to worry about that LOL. But start with a tar remover and see if it desolves it. If it is water spots and fairly fresh. A water spot remover or even a QD or waterless wash can take care of them. If it has etched it's polishing to be doing to level the clearcoat down. And also water spots in rare cases can penetrate the clearcoat. Then you useally heat the paint up so it expands and push up the minerals from the clearcoat. Hard to say what it is if you don't see them in person or if you able to get a picture of it with your new inspection light to help seeing them. I useally starts with a chemical to desolve the spots and if it's not works I try another kind of chemical product. And most of these chemical products is safe for the clearcoat if used properly. Instead of abrading of the paint every time you get these problems. The thing to do afterwards is to refresh the LSP.
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View attachment 67425View attachment 67426
Well took video but not sure how to upload here so took Brief snapshot instead. The lines are swirl marks which will disappear after looking and the tiny dots are not that bright but light shows it brighter .. these are I belief clear coating that was bit lifted off after tree sap mist that been there over night . Will they be removed from polishing? Unless it’s part of alpine paint?



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I think that it's either some residue off the tree sap or minerals from water spots or something else that has left residue on the paint. The decon prep both with chemical and mechanical decon with clay could remove it or else the polishing will. Get a panel wipe product to inspect the true results after you have polished an area where you these dots and see if they are gone. If not you have some kind of clearcoat damage. But don't worry to much as clearcoats are very hard. It can be that you need to be compounding to get it leveled down. If it needs more than that I would do a warranty claim at the dealership to BMW.

I think that you will be getting it of with a polishing. Just remember that BMW paint useally is on the hard side of hardness of the clearcoat. So you may end up with an aggressive combo to polishing with. The test spot will show you that. I would get a medium cut polish or a light cutting compound to have at hand if you need it. If you have been set on a finishing polish or polish that is. The benefit is that you still will get it LSP ready with the aggressive combo in most cases where you would be doing a one step polish. If you get any haze you refine it with a more gentle combo. This you dial in with doing the test spots.
 
SWETM said:
I think that it's either some residue off the tree sap or minerals from water spots or something else that has left residue on the paint. The decon prep both with chemical and mechanical decon with clay could remove it or else the polishing will. Get a panel wipe product to inspect the true results after you have polished an area where you these dots and see if they are gone. If not you have some kind of clearcoat damage. But don't worry to much as clearcoats are very hard. It can be that you need to be compounding to get it leveled down. If it needs more than that I would do a warranty claim at the dealership to BMW.

I think that you will be getting it of with a polishing. Just remember that BMW paint useally is on the hard side of hardness of the clearcoat. So you may end up with an aggressive combo to polishing with. The test spot will show you that. I would get a medium cut polish or a light cutting compound to have at hand if you need it. If you have been set on a finishing polish or polish that is. The benefit is that you still will get it LSP ready with the aggressive combo in most cases where you would be doing a one step polish. If you get any haze you refine it with a more gentle combo. This you dial in with doing the test spots.
Click to expand...


I don't think it is minerals from water spots. It rains a lot here and other areas of the car (kind of towards bottom) doesn't have it. I think the tree sap mist hit the car in top ports mostly and when I cleaned it off, it came right off instantly but took bit of the clear coat. Always thought trees were just so pure and great. lol

What is a " DECON PREP" "BOTH CHEMICAL AND MECHANICAL" and clay mean? I'm familiar with claybar as I did few times but I'm guessing your suggesting some special solution?

And " panel wipe product to inspect the true results"

I'm newbie in polishing and got the porter cable PC 7424XP here and will be coming in soon.. Any recomendation to get and start for newbie? (like pads and polish).

So if these little dots don't go away (which you can't see without special lighting) guess I can live it with lol
I don't think warranty claim will do anything.
 
The decon prep is tar remover and iron remover. This is to make the claying easier. And to get as a clean paint as possible. Some also use a stronger alkaline based degreaser to desolve the protection on the paint or at least degrade it.

The mechanical decon is either clay bar or clay alternatives. The clay alternatives is synthetic clay which comes in blocks and mitts and pads and mf towels. Where one side is covered with the clay. It's faster than the clay bar and if you where to drop it you don't need to be tossing it. Just rinse it off very thoroughly with water and it's good to go again. Also they last you to do 30-50 cars before you need get a new one. So even if a pricier product to get it's often more economical in the longrun. A little finicky to store as the clay can not be touching it self or anything else. So a plastic container is what I store it in. And when you first use it you clay the windows to get the protective layer off. If not you induse a lot of marring before it breaks in.

A panel wipe product is an alcohol or solvent based cleaner. Which you desolve the polishing oils that can mask some defects and also use before a coating to get a clean paint after polishing.

I went straight to a 21mm longthrow polisher and a mini polisher. So I would go with the ones you get recommended from others. Lake Country pads and Buff & Shine pads is brands that are well liked. We don't have distributor of these brands in Sweden sadly. For polishes I personally like Sonax Cutmax for compound and Sonax Cut and Finish for medium cut polish and Sonax Perfect Finish or EX 04-06 for finishing polish. But there are many quality polishes out there today.

Yeah see where the polishing gets you on the spots you have and go from there if it's not corrected.
 
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