Paint protection trouble on new Mini Cooper S

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daggerNC

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Very happy owner of a 2 week old 2012 Mini Cooper S Clubman (a blast to drive!). Spent the first 3 days detailing it: Dawn dish detergent full wash; complete interior vinyl and leather treatments; a little claying and a few areas of light Porter Cable DA swirl removing; and then two coats (14 hours apart) of Blackfire Wet Diamond sealant. Wow! S-H-I-N-E-Y!! We are good to go, right? Well....

Went to work Monday after an Optimum No Rinse wash on Sunday, came home during the dark and Tuesday morning as I went to get into the car I see my first bird dump on my bonnet (hood for us Yanks). Darn it, but grabbed my handy spray bottle of ONR mixture and microfiber cloth for the typical quick wipe off, right? WRONG! As the dealer mentioned, the bonnet on these turbo Mini's gets very warm to touch and that is where the bird decided to relieve himself. Only the size of a dime, but when I spayed the ONR mixture and did a light wipe on the little pile, it didn't budge at all. It was rock hard.....which it then clicked in that the hot bonnet must have really "cooked" that sh#t on!. I had to literally scrub the pile off and it left behind paint etching on my freshly polished virgin paint job :-( I spent 1.5 hours polishing out with PC and an orange pad that paint defect (Meguire's Ultimate Polish didn't get and left behind their oily residue - so threw that bottle out; Duragloss (652?) Swirl Remover didn't get it; Griot's Machine Polish #2 was the one that worked. I then put on some Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant as the next sealer to try...

This BFWD synth wax is supposed to be really good stuff - I fully expected the droppings to slide right off like my other vehicles (note - this is the first time I have used BFWD sealant). My conclusion is that the high surface temperatures on the turbo Mini bonnet will quickly bake in any contaminates (bird droppings, bug guts, etc.). So what I need recommendations from this forum for is what brand of sealant must I use with this high temp paint surface situation I will have? I'm already counting out anything that is Carnuba based?

Thanks in advance,
Mini mourning!
 
does the mini have hood insulation under the hood? if not maybe its not good enough, my suggestion would be get some stick on foil type of underhood insulation and put that over the factory insulation, would keep the heat off of the hood.some thing along the lines of this Thermo Coustic with Seam Sealer and Roller Kit basically anything with a foil type coating on one side will really help heat not soaking into your hood, will help with protecting the paint also as its not exposed to the constant heating/cooling cycle due to engine heat. onto the bird bomb issue, the bird poo can eat right through the wax/sealant due to the chemical make up of the poo itself. so if you really want to protect the finish go with opti-coat or cquartz. if not then next bird bomb take a microfiber and soak it with some bug remover or some onr and lay it over the bomb to let it soak and soften up, will make it easier to remove without any potential maring.
 
Thanks guys - I actually did buy a cquartz kit, but it being January the temps on the days off I've had weren't above 60* per the minimum temp application requirements. There is no underhood insulation which I found a little odd considering it is a known condition for these Mini's. There is a heat shield over the turbo assembly. Not much hood clearance but I might try applying something if it doesn't invalidate any warranties (I could see the dealer saying I overheated the turbo by keeping the heat in the engine bay!). If cquartz/opti-coat is my only high heat durable solution, what's needed to fully remove the BFWD/DGPS sealants - I suspect more than a Dawn wash? Thanks again.
 
Even with Opti-Coat or CQuartz the poo can eat right through.

Next time you get a poopie on the panel take a damp/wet MF towel and let it sit on the paint for a few minutes to soften it up before wiping.
 
in a pinch, I've used a piece of paper towel folded into a square then soaked with some bottled water. Mike's article on removing poo is something so simple but most people wouldn't think to do it.

I put the wet towel on the poo, then went to grab a coffee. Came back and sat there on the curb until I was finished. Then scrunched the towel and the poo came right up no problem and no etching...

I forget what I had on there...CG BL and DP maxwax perhaps...

on a side note, my aunt comes round the other day and the hood of her BMW has these crusty salt drippings on it that looked like 3 large blobs of ostrich poop. She must have parked somewhere where saltwater was dripping on her hood. I wish I took a picture. This stuff was unreal cause the rest of the car was pretty clean except for these spots (prob an area about 1 foot by 2 foot cause of the runoff).

I don't know how she could miss it but when I showed her she said, "hmm, how'd I get that?". Anyhow, point of the story is I had OC'ed her new car for her about a month earlier so I took a hose to it and the stuff came off no problem, no etching, nada. OC rules!
 
The soak technique makes good sense and I'll definitely use that next time it happens (hopefully not first thing in the morning when I'm already late for work!). Also need to store a bottle of ONR mixture in my car! Going to look for any good info on safely removing existing premium sealants and then do the cquartz treatment first chance I get when warm enough. Thanks all for the tips and guidance.
 
My Lincoln has CQ on it, and has for a year now. We used it to drive to Florida a few weeks ago. When we arrived and stayed over night prior to getting on our cruise, I observed 2 big bird bombs on the hood. I certainly didn't want it to sit there for a week while we were gone, but we were leaving any minute to board. I got a hotel wash cloth and soaked it with hot water and let it dwell for about 2 minutes only. It came off effortlessly and with zero damage. The car was not washed until about 10 days later and it looks just as good as before.
 
Coatings may buy you a little more time, but they can still be damaged by bird poopie.

Also keep in mind that not all poopies are the same, some can be left on for weeks without issue, others can etch the paint within minutes. I suggest staying away from birds that like spicy food! :D
 
I had the same thing on my bonnet of my s2000 where the header side is. Being that I have an aftermarket header their is no heat shield so that side of my bonnet gets hot too.

I had gotten some Menzerna SIP and an Orange Euro Hand foam pad and I just went at it. I think 5 full passes and I fully got mine out.

Once you get your etchings out and the paint is in perfect condition I would opt-coat it if I were you.
 
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