Paint Correction Question on BMW 335i Jet Black

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UMDMAZ

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Hello All! New member and car enthusiast looking for some advice on my first full paint correction. The car is a 2007 BMW 335i in Jet Black that I purchased about a year ago. Daily driver so the Paint isn't in the best of shape currently and I would like to restore it the best I am able to myself. Yesterday I completed my first clay bar of the vehicle and the paint appears to be much slicker as a result.

My current intention is to follow up the clay bar by stripping it down with IPA, and performing paint correction using a Flex 3401, Wolfgang compound and polish, with CCS pads. After paint correction is complete I would like to use the Dr. Color Chip process to remove as many chips as possible from the vehicle. I intend to follow this up with CG Blacklight, CG Petes 53 wax, and CG V07. I am aware I should wait ~30 days following the Dr. Color Chip to apply product over the fixed paint.

I have two questions-
1) Does my process seem to be correct? Any suggestions, comments, etc?
2) I noticed stress fractures in the clear coat between/around a number of paint chips on the hood. This covers an area of about 12" x 6" and I have attached a picture of a small portion of this. I am concerned about running over this with the flex and compound and further damaging the clear. Is this safe to do? Is it possible the paint correction could remove the small fractures and leave me only with the chips to be removed? Some advice on how to proceed would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!
 
For your prep work, you can skip the pre-correction IPA wipe down, as the compound or polish will remove anything the claybar didn't get. You might consider an iron removal product as well - Iron X, McKee's exreme iron (or fallout? can't remember) remover, Griot's has one as well.

Don't forget to do one or more test spots to confirm the compound is necessary to get your results you're looking for.

To me, the picture looks like a bad repaint - I would be surprised if you could correct out the fractures. Maybe others can chime in if they've run into it before.
 
oneheadlite said:
For your prep work, you can skip the pre-correction IPA wipe down, as the compound or polish will remove anything the claybar didn't get. You might consider an iron removal product as well - Iron X, McKee's exreme iron (or fallout? can't remember) remover, Griot's has one as well.

Don't forget to do one or more test spots to confirm the compound is necessary to get your results you're looking for.

To me, the picture looks like a bad repaint - I would be surprised if you could correct out the fractures. Maybe others can chime in if they've run into it before.
Click to expand...

Thanks! Forgot to mention i did use Sonax Fallout on the vehicle as well. I'm pretty torn on whether the paint is original, its looks off but at the same time I've read a number of issues with other similar year BMWs due to factory paint changes for environmental reasons. I really need to find a similar year Jet Black and compare.
 
My first inclination is to say, the polisher won't hurt. Also, it's not likely to help remove the stress crack either. But, gaining more info is good. What portion of the car is it? Plastic bumper cover or metal body part?
 
VR8 said:
My first inclination is to say, the polisher won't hurt. Also, it's not likely to help remove the stress crack either. But, gaining more info is good. What portion of the car is it? Plastic bumper cover or metal body part?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the response! If it doesnt remove the crack i wont be heartbroken, just dont want to end up having to respray obviously lol

It's on the front edge of the metal hood, I've attached a photo showing where.
 
UMDMAZ said:
Thanks! Forgot to mention i did use Sonax Fallout on the vehicle as well. I'm pretty torn on whether the paint is original, its looks off but at the same time I've read a number of issues with other similar year BMWs due to factory paint changes for environmental reasons. I really need to find a similar year Jet Black and compare.
Click to expand...
You need a paint gauge to see if its a repaint, unless you can spot a tape line, blending or over spray on some hidden areas.
 
Rsurfer said:
You need a paint gauge to see if its a repaint, unless you can spot a tape line, blending or over spray on some hidden areas.
Click to expand...

^^ this. To me it looks like a re-spray at some point. The 335i I just completed had the hood painted and my paint gauge showed where the fenders were blended. It's a very worth while investment and a near must IMO, if you're working on other peoples cars.
 
So, full disclosure: I've never used a paint thickness gauge to spot a respray. But, I have been working at an independent BMW shop for the last 7 years (10 years at an Audi dealership before that). Any time I do a prepurchase inspection, I always look for signs of bodywork so the buyer has the whole picture (actually, I at least look on most cars just out of curiosity). By this time I've had enough exposure I'm confident in my spotting abilities.

What stands out from the picture is the texture of the paint in the bottom left corner of the first picture (the reflection of the window frame on the house). Also the depth of the chips. Maybe I just want it to be a a respray? Do a comparison of the paint texture/orange peel between the hood and a rear fender (or somewhere far from the hood that may not have had paint. Bumpers are frequently repainted, so maybe not those).

On top of tape lines, look for high/low spots (dirt in paint, solvent pop spots, etc), and sometimes you'll find old rock chips that got painted over.

Last confession- despite '05-'12 being our bread and butter (especially early E90's and E60's), I can't say I've seen cracks in the paint like that.
 
So, even if you find out it's a repaint, your next steps are likely to be the same. Start with your least aggressive method first. Honestly, I would try a medium compound or polish on a orange pad, being careful to limit the time spent on a localized area (Don't want to generate too much heat). See how it looks.
 
VR8 said:
So, even if you find out it's a repaint, your next steps are likely to be the same. Start with your least aggressive method first. Honestly, I would try a medium compound or polish on a orange pad, being careful to limit the time spent on a localized area (Don't want to generate too much heat). See how it looks.
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting that. I was thinking about that after the fact about being too focused on whether or not it was a respray vs what the best approach is. Just forgot to find the thread again.

Looking forward to seeing how it turns out!
 
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