Z4 paint disappearing?

[neil-c]

I know this is a long shot without pics and i will try to upload later. I have a serious issue where the front wings of my 2003 Z4 fold into the engine bay. On the short vertical face the paint appears to have disappeared down to what I have been told is the white rustproofing. I realise there is no lacquer on these surfaces but I didn't expect this. The edges of the bonnet are not rubbing or anything and I've owned the car from new so I know theres not been any repairs etc. I wash the car with snow foam then born to be mild. The only thing is the car was machine polished a few months ago and I've been back to see the detailer but he says all shutlines were taped etc so nothing he done should have affected this. Anyone seen this before?

[4rephill]

It's not part of BMW's cost cutting exercise is it? (and no, I'm not joking!. A lot of the area's that can't be seen from the outside of the car do not get a proper top coat any more).

[neil-c]

I'm sure it is cost cutting and I've seen unlacquered areas on other cars but I didnt think the paint would be to fragile as to start disappearing so dramatically after 8 years, the cars also very low miles and garaged so I don't know how much more I could have done to look after it

[4rephill]

I'd wait to hear from some more knowledgeable Z4 owners first but it does sound like a curse of the cost cutting exercise to Me.

It'll be interesting to see what experience other owners have with this.

Hope it's nothing too serious

[steve_bmw]

Same here, I have a 2003 z4 and the paint has worn off in the same place as yours. Not realy that visable but if you look down the gap between hood and wing you can see it, looks like I have waxed it and left some wax in the cracks and not buffed it off.
My plan is to get some paint made up and brush it on, using a fine brush, you wont be able to tell as you cant realy see but much better than white, then apply a clear coat.
I would prefer to spray it but I fear that using masking tape would pull the loose edges of the paint and make it worse.
That part of the wing has no clear coat on it, if you scratch it with your fingernail the paint just flakes off.
I will be sorting it before winter, I will post up some before and after pictures

Edited by steve_bmw on Saturday 15th October 22:36

[steve_bmw]

just taken these pictures, does your car look like this?

[neil-c]

thats exactly it. thought i was the only one with this!! I thought it was polishing compound left by the detailer at first because as you say it looks like dry polish. Out of interest what colour is your Z4 - not Toledo blue by any chance?

Edited by neil-c on Saturday 15th October 23:30

[steve_bmw]

Seen it on a few now, pretty poor standards from BMW I think.
It's cost cutting, the paint is fine, right up to the point the clear coat stops.
Do you plan to DIY it or get the wings painted?

[steve_bmw]

neil-c said:

thats exactly it. thought i was the only one with this!! I thought it was polishing compound left by the detailer at first because as you say it looks like dry polish. Out of interest what colour is your Z4 - not Toledo blue by any chance?

Edited by neil-c on Saturday 15th October 23:30

no it's maldeves blue.

[neil-c]

going to let a local paintshop look at it and see if they can do anything. dont fancy getting full wings painted though. Like you im thinking anything is an improvement on the white look, especially against dark blue.

[steve_bmw]

Right guys, after reading about this paint problem I decided to get up early and sort it out.
Went to the local motorfactors and had some paint made up got a can of clearcoat.
Cleaned the areas that I wanted to paint and got cracking with the masking off.
Had to be carful with the masking tape, I wanted a perfect finnish so it cant be seen, I feathered up the edge of the masking tape just a bit so a small amount of paint would feather in so not to leave a sharp paint line.
Also the edges of the bonnet were fading too, so I did those as well
Took me about 1.5 hours and it looks stunning! well happy with the results.
Here are some before and after shots.











looking good!

[steve_bmw]

Just checked on the paint and its dried perfect!
Wiped off the overspray and it looks as good as new.

[V8A*ndy]

That's a great job!

Now would you like to come round to mine and sort out our brand new 1M Coupe as it has the same problem around the hinge area in the doors.

I nearly shat myself after washing it the other day thought I had managed to damage it then I looked at the other side.

The VO paint just goes from having no laquer to fading into primer. looks shoite.

[Fox-]

This happens on all the Z4's, most noticeably the darker colours. I sourced an AUC Sterling Grey example about 4 years ago for my Mother and noticed on collection that it had exactly the same problem. The supplying dealer resprayed the area and it now looks fine and has been ever since but it seems the original factory paint finish has some sort of issue as I've seen it on loads of Z4's now.

[KP]

steve_bmw said:

just taken these pictures, does your car look like this?

That is shocking! BMW paint leaves a lot to be desired.

[TX1]

Nice job, always end up very pleased once you sort something like that yourself.

[Neil_Sc]

That looks great, good to get something like that sorted.

[4rephill]

steve_bmw said:

Just checked on the paint and its dried perfect!
Wiped off the overspray and it looks as good as new.

The problem you'll have now is that people will be suspicious of your cars condition because it looks too good compared to all the other Z4's that they look at!

(That's the kind of crazy world we live in!)