Paint Swirls on Brand New San Marino Blue M4?!

[SaMaster14]

Hey guys... I'm not going to lie I'm pretty shocked and almost sick over this.

I've had the car about 4 months and about a month ago, I started noticing the paint beginning to swirl.

I've taken the car to the hand wash in my office building about 3 times now, and have a feeling that may be the culprit. But I'm still surprised... It's an upscale building and I've seen cars ranging from Tesla model S's to Ferrari's, astons, and the occasional Rolls. I've never seen swirls on those cars.

I also had my 2015 mineral gray M3 for almost 4.5 years before I upgraded to this M4. That car went through it all! (Drive through car washes when I was living in the middle of nowhere Indiana during law school at ND, hail storms, blizzards, rain, intense heat, everything (not to mention I've used the same hand wash for the M3 when I had it!)). The paint was near PRISTINE, the only slight swirling on the black trim along the windows.

I'm obviously going to stop using that hand wash, but is there anything at all I can do? Will a good detail help at all??

Any thoughts are MUCH appreciated.

Thanks, Bimmerpost fam!

[swagon]

That'll buff right out, literally.

Looks like normal love marks and swirls from bad washing technique and dirty rags to me. Folks from your area may know of a reputable shop to do paint correction and protection.

Mineral Grey would kind of "hide" these imperfections better than this blue.

Once you get it corrected, the key then is to minimise the possibility of scratching it up again. If you are able to do maintenance washes yourself, I highly recommend getting the proper tools and watching some tutorials on youtube etc. (ammonyc is one, for example).

[SaMaster14]

Originally Posted by swagon

That'll buff right out, literally.

Looks like normal love marks and swirls from bad washing technique and dirty rags to me. Folks from your area may know of a reputable shop.

When you get it corrected, the key then is to minimise the possibility of scratching it up again. If you are able to do maintenance washes yourself, I highly recommend it.

Thank you! I was seriously worried it couldn't be corrected easily.

I'll be sure to wash myself/use the car washes I frequented with my MG M3 who I trust when I need to.

[jdgamble]

All it takes is one negligent car wash. That will be easy to correct. You might want to consider doing it yourself. For the price of a good paint correction, you can buy all the necessary tools and products.

[SaMaster14]

Originally Posted by jdgamble

All it takes is one negligent car wash. That will be easy to correct. You might want to consider doing it yourself. For the price of a good paint correction, you can buy all the necessary tools and products.

Thank you!

Might be a fun little weekend project, too!

[Groganrocket]

That’s just a bad car washing job by whoever did it.

[TR930]

Menzerna 1000

[HyeM3]

God that color is beautiful!

Like others have said those swirls will easily all buff out. But that hand wash is 100% the culprit. Car wash workers don't care about technique or quality, they just care about doing as many cars as possible. This means they use the same wash mit on your car that was contaminated with all the dirt from the 5 cars that were washed right before you. They also won't take the time to rinse their mits and instead clean your car all in one pass. Then they use towels to dry your car that have been laying on the ground, which means all the tiny rocks on the ground are now embedded in those towels and being grinded into your paint...

If you're really OCD about this kind of stuff I'd find a good mobile detailer that'll come to you and wash your car. They usually know what they're doing and do pretty good jobs

[SaMaster14]

Originally Posted by HyeM3

God that color is beautiful!

Like others have said those swirls will easily all buff out. But that hand wash is 100% the culprit. Car wash workers don't care about technique or quality, they just care about doing as many cars as possible. This means they use the same wash mit on your car that was contaminated with all the dirt from the 5 cars that were washed right before you. They also won't take the time to rinse their mits and instead clean your car all in one pass. Then they use towels to dry your car that have been laying on the ground, which means all the tiny rocks on the ground are now embedded in those towels and being grinded into your paint...

If you're really OCD about this kind of stuff I'd find a good mobile detailer that'll come to you and wash your car. They usually know what they're doing and do pretty good jobs

Thank you!

And that's what I'm thinking. There are some pretty good car washes in the west LA/Beverly hills area that do a good job and where I've never had swirling issues, but definitely going to try and find a good mobile wash person!

[doug_999]

They are lying to you. Your car is totaled and basically worthless. I willl however make you a fair offer, allowing you to get out of this mess.

PM me - I have cash

[SaMaster14]

Originally Posted by doug_999

They are lying to you. Your car is totaled and basically worthless. I willl however make you a fair offer, allowing you to get out of this mess.

PM me - I have cash

Haha

[GERMAN M3]

just To repeat what others have already stated, seems that the technique and wash mit used on your vehicle are definitely the culprits. I’m sure there are some reputable detail shops in your area that can take care of this for you.

[GERMAN M3]

Here is an image of an e46 325 that I detailed a few years ago. Used a mild compound and it took the swirls out.

[DML]

Originally Posted by swagon

That'll buff right out, literally.

Looks like normal love marks and swirls from bad washing technique and dirty rags to me. Folks from your area may know of a reputable shop to do paint correction and protection.

Mineral Grey would kind of "hide" these imperfections better than this blue.

Once you get it corrected, the key then is to minimise the possibility of scratching it up again. If you are able to do maintenance washes yourself, I highly recommend getting the proper tools and watching some tutorials on youtube etc. (ammonyc is one, for example).

2 to 3 buckets, grit guards, clean mitt and a blow dry

[MisterF80M3]

Originally Posted by GERMAN M3

Here is an image of an e46 325 that I detailed a few years ago. Used a mild compound and it took the swirls out.

Looks almost the same? Am I missing something?

[flipnkraut]

Just a word of advice, any place calling themselves a "car wash" is in the business to wash as many cars as possible in the shortest timeframe. I guarantee they will do a worse job than a real detailer.

As others have said those scratches are entirely from improper washing. Luckily they can be polished out.

My buddies mustang was about as bad as yours and it only took me around 6-7 hours to do a 2-step polish on it.

[Germanauto]

Southern California is great in that you can wash your car yourself year round. Personally I hand wash mine once every couple months, then every 1.5 weeks in between I use Meguiar's waterless wash (dust from the winds). It's like $9 a bottle and lasts me 4 washes and can be done very quickly. So far I haven't noticed any marring from that product.

[Megabass]

Originally Posted by SaMaster14

Hey guys... I'm not going to lie I'm pretty shocked and almost sick over this.

I've had the car about 4 months and about a month ago, I started noticing the paint beginning to swirl.

I've taken the car to the hand wash in my office building about 3 times now, and have a feeling that may be the culprit. But I'm still surprised... It's an upscale building and I've seen cars ranging from Tesla model S's to Ferrari's, astons, and the occasional Rolls. I've never seen swirls on those cars.

I also had my 2015 mineral gray M3 for almost 4.5 years before I upgraded to this M4. That car went through it all! (Drive through car washes when I was living in the middle of nowhere Indiana during law school at ND, hail storms, blizzards, rain, intense heat, everything (not to mention I've used the same hand wash for the M3 when I had it!)). The paint was near PRISTINE, the only slight swirling on the black trim along the windows.

I'm obviously going to stop using that hand wash, but is there anything at all I can do? Will a good detail help at all??

Any thoughts are MUCH appreciated.

Thanks, Bimmerpost fam!

If you want to ease your worries going forward get a full self healing ppf wrap and a good shop should do paint correction before applying it. Best thing I did on my car.

Otherwise don't fret, that can be polished out no problem. Start hand washing yourself on the weekends or find a good detailer.

[M3Fahrer]

Originally Posted by MisterF80M3

Looks almost the same? Am I missing something?

I first thought they looked the same too, when comparing side by side. Look above the line in each picture, I'm assuming that's the polished area and below the line hasn't been polished

[GERMAN M3]

Originally Posted by MisterF80M3

Looks almost the same? Am I missing something?

The left side of the deck lid is swirl free, whereas the right side still has the swirls embedded.

[GERMAN M3]

Originally Posted by flipnkraut

Just a word of advice, any place calling themselves a "car wash" is in the business to wash as many cars as possible in the shortest timeframe. I guarantee they will do a worse job than a real detailer.

As others have said those scratches are entirely from improper washing. Luckily they can be polished out.

My buddies mustang was about as bad as yours and it only took me around 6-7 hours to do a 2-step polish on it.

Looks good flipnkraut. What brand of compound do you use?

[flipnkraut]

Originally Posted by GERMAN M3

Looks good flipnkraut. What brand of compound do you use?

Thanks. I don't stick to any one brand, I use whatever works. For that mustang I think I used M105 and M205. I've used Sonax, Griots, Menzerna, and others.