Anybody ever worked with/Ran into probelms with Paint Bubbles?

infury · Apr 14, 2003

Has anyone run into problems with paint bubbles?
Is there an easy fix? Or is it something where you have to strip that area and repaint it etc???

My co-worker noticed a small paint bubble on the hood/front grille area of the car. Anything I can do?

Jesus christ what else can go wrong? Maybe it's God's way of telling me I shouldn't have a new car

I sell my beloved S4
buy a brand new G35coupe
My car gets stolen
I get a new m3
It has to be returned because some idiot forgot to put a sold tag on it
I finally get the car I get to keep
this car has a fucking paint bubble

I'm about to give up on cars.
Anybody have any advice with paint bubbles?

Also if it's on one part of the hood does that mean they'd have to strip the entire hood and repaint it? Or just that small area?
it's about the size of a hockey puck, i wish I had my cam to take pics. someone please tell me it's an easy fix.

I give up on cars.

Pappy · Apr 14, 2003

Is that covered under warranty? I'd think if you took that to the dealer, they'd fix it for you quickly considering you have two other BMWs in your driveway. And hopefully you'll get the car back just in time to put the lip and other mods on.

infury · Apr 14, 2003

oh it better be under warranty
the 2nd fuck up they've had in 3 days

infact while i'm at it I'll ask for an M3 loaner

infury · Apr 14, 2003

here is a pic i took with my co-workers camera.
Sorry for crap quality

I circled the area and brightened/made it stand out more in photoshop. It's a bit hard to tell but I have been on the phone with those guys the past 20 minutes.

supergoat · Apr 15, 2003

Definitly get that fixed ASAP. My Talon has a less than a year old paint job. Look at this shit:

That area USED to be a small paint bubble.

One day when I have money, I'll just get the whole car re-painted again. Luckily that's the only bad area.

infury · Apr 15, 2003

i think it's incredibly common in cars that have been repainted.
But this is a brand new car. This crap shouldn't happen.
It does get worse too, especially since it's at the front which takes the brunt end of the wind/rocks etc...

I had to bring it in and they are calling me in the morning.

91RSlaser · Apr 15, 2003

damn dude, you do have the worst luck with cars....they better fix that shit.

o yeah, you should ask for the Z8 loaner considering all the business you've given the people, and all the shit youve been thru.

90TSiAwd · Apr 15, 2003

I was going to vent at the way Infury makes me feel

, but I decided it wasn't worth it, Mike

Espo · Apr 15, 2003

Well since I work at a car dealership, and have seen this happen many times. If you take it back to them, they will have it fixed for free. BUT i would seriously make them give you a new car (if its possible in BMW world, at the FORD dealership i work at they did that a few times).

I am sorry to hear that about your new sexy baby. It will all work out in the end. And you are still lucky as hell, i'll take an 2003 M3 with a paint f*ckup ANYDAY!!

fulleclipse96 · Apr 15, 2003

infury said:
i think it's incredibly common in cars that have been repainted.
But this is a brand new car. .

it doesn't matter if its a new car an old car or even what it is being painted, it is all in the prep before the painting. It should definatly be covered. What most likely happened is that while going threw the assembly plant somehow some sort of silicone got on that spot, e.i. someone with lotion on their hands touching it, it hitting up agianst something with grease on it, etc. and then that spot was missed when it was degreased and everything else that is done for paint prep. and then the paint didn't correctly cure to the metal in that spot because of the silicone and now it is bubbling. Definatly get it fixed, along with paint bubbles usually come rust not to far behind.

Pappy · Apr 15, 2003

Re: Re: Anybody ever worked with/Ran into probelms with Paint Bubbles?

90TSiAwd said:
I was going to vent at the way Infury makes me feel , but I decided it wasn't worth it, Mike

I saw what you wrote. And I agree with you to a certain extent. However, he's just asking if anybody knows what needs to be done to get this thing fixed. I think it's a good thing that you edited the post.

infury · Apr 15, 2003

i just meant it seems the conditions would be higher risk when getting repainted since I assume most painting for factory cars is done pretty securely.

Also since you seem to know about it, how come it wouldn't show earlier than now? Is it because driving the car would allow paint bubbles to show rather than sitting in a lot?

Also do you know how it's fixed?
if it's just a repaint of the area or the entire hood itself?

I've been doing some searching on it but haven't come up with much.

And dont bother to hold your tongue around me; if you have something you wish you say you can feel free to post or private message me. I'm sure you'll find I can address any questions/concerns/whatever you have. You're entitled to an opinion just as I am.

damnslowtalon · Apr 15, 2003

Infury - BMW uses Glasurit paint....one of the best, IMO. Both BMW and Glasurit have a 5 year, 60K mile warranty on the finish, so getting it fixed shouldn't cost you a cent. Second, the spot that the blemish is on is far away enough from the fenders that they should be able to get away with just sanding, primering, and putting color on that small area, and scuffing and clear coating the rest of the hood that they didn't sand the color off of.

Now here is where I think the dealer is throwing you for a loop. I worked for a BMW dealer for 2+ years and I can honestly say I never saw one car roll off the truck with a paint defect such as that. BMW is entirely too picky when they inspect cars before shipping to allow a bubble in the paint to appear.

I wouldn't rule out the possibility that the hood was somehow damaged at the dealer, then repainted before the car was sold as new. A few things to check would be:

1) The amount of orange peel in the paint. (If you're not sure what that means, ask and I'll explain

) If the texture does not seem the same in all areas of the hood, it's pretty safe to assume that it was repainted and not wetsanded well enough.

2) Check for very hard, white residue anywhere in the engine compartment, inside the front part of the door jambs, around the fenders, etc. This is usually a sign that someone got a little messy while buffing and didn't clean off all the compound they used to buff the fresh paint.

3) Check for overspray on the rest of the car. Run your hand over the surface on the paint of the entire car. If any particular area feels rough, look at it when the light hits it and see if that area looks dull. That's a good indication that when they taped the rest of the car to paint the hood, it wasn't sealed well enough and overspray found its way underneath the tape and paper.

4) While your at it, check around for any tiny leftover bits of masking tape that may have been left behind after they "un-wrapped" the car after painting. (I know it might sound kind of stupid, but sometimes one of the guys in our body shop will miss a piece of tape he used when he's un-masking the car.)

Of course, this is all a theory of mine, but let me reiterate that in my 2 years of working for BMW, we never had that problem on any of our new cars. Any more questions, feel free to ask. Good luck, and I hope this helps.

P.S. - this should probably be in Body Tech

infury · Apr 15, 2003

i figured so but didn't know if it should be since it doesn't pertain to dsm's directly.

So what's orange peel?

I did go over the area and it seemed to be fairly consistent throughout the entire area. I get to find out what they find out about it tomorrow. the paint had already begun to crack at the bubble by the time i dropped it off.

The car was immaculate but then again I suppose i never really checked incredibly thoroughly.

They told me the same thing about how in the years they've been in business they've never had a brand new model car with that problem.
The theory actually doesn't sound unbelievable or anything.
I wouldn't be all too surprised that a car dealership might pull something like that.

Thanks for the info.

Impulse · Apr 15, 2003

infury said:
So what's orange peel?

You owned a G35C and don't know what orange peel is? I know the Nissan/Infiniti's have a notorious problem with this... Basically the paint starts getting nasty and looks allot like orange peel, you obviously don't have it cause if you did you wouldn't have asked what it was cause it really does resemble an orange peel.

Good luck; that sucks. :tree:

fulleclipse96 · Apr 16, 2003

early 90's jeeps and a lot of chryslers had horrible orange peel from the factory. The spot prolly can just be sanded down and blended being brand new paint it shouldn't be to bad to match the paint. It may have been like that at the dealership when you bought it but it's always possible that where it was sitting and the way light was hitting it it wasn't too noticable and the angle it was sitting at apposed to something it was by. It is very easy to trick the mind into thinking things aren't what they seem. Also it coulda been noticable but almost always when someone gets a new car they examine it so much more closer when they get it home because they will be showing it to this person and that person and when a friend is looking at your new car they will always nit pick at it to make up for the fact that they don't have a new car, also you don't have a salesman breathing down your back disturbing you from noticeing things. Like when the sunfire's first came out my mom bought one and me and my dad went and looked it over and everything but didn't notice till two days after we bought it that the hole ass end, bumper cover, both quater panels, and c-pillars, were covers in a black overspray, but it took us two days to notice. So who knows it coulda been like that or not when you first bought it, either way it should still get fixed free no problems at all.

Defiant · Apr 16, 2003

infury said:
My co-worker noticed a small paint bubble on the hood/front grille area of the car. Anything I can do?

Jesus christ what else can go wrong? Maybe it's God's way of telling me I shouldn't have a new car

Jeeze, Bimmer people. Infury, you need to relax your sphincter a bit and join us in the real world. We got no perfection here. Hell, I can't even get Nikki Cox to return my fan mail.
Yes, for the cost of six cars, BMW should send a car out the door with "perfect" paint. Yours sounds to have repaired transit damage. It'll never be "right", paint just can't be re-done. Fancy colors, metallics, clearcoats, all conspire to make touch-up a nightmare.
God is probably busy with somewhat more important things than giving a lightning bolt over you and your luck (or, I'd sure hope so. Omnipresence only goes so far).

The coppers ever find a trace of your Infinity?

infury · Apr 16, 2003

negative on the g35c.

and i was being a bit sarcastic

about the paint, they are going to set me up with a new one however they cannot find a SG m3 in the area with 6speed and all the same options.

they said i might have to settle for another color.

petedmeat · Apr 16, 2003

3rd time's the charm, right?
Go black. Mmmm, black BMW's rule.

infury · Apr 16, 2003

maybe i'll go snag a BMW 2002 turbo

Those things are very

I saw one at a meet the past weekend.

They got me 2 more years on the warranty and knocked off another 1000 off the price. They apologized about 100 times, literally. I really don't care for apologies or anything at this point, i just want a car i can keep without anymore problems.

Anybody ever worked with/Ran into probelms with Paint Bubbles?

infury

Pappy

infury

infury

supergoat

infury

91RSlaser

90TSiAwd

Espo

fulleclipse96

Pappy

infury

damnslowtalon

infury

Impulse

fulleclipse96

Defiant

infury

petedmeat

infury

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