Hi All
Washed our new 2004 mini today and noticed black and rust-colored spots on the car! =(

(full res picture here - you can see the rust spots more clearly as they are orange in color)
http://s89531464.onlinehome.us/athen...st_fullres.JPG

This car was purchased down near Santa Monica, CA (near the ocean) - so this could be a combination of 2.5 years of smog and ocean salt in the air...? Anyone else experience this before?

From a detailing perspective, I've tried clay barring and I can remove some of the black speckles, but the rust may take more work. I will be trying to use a circular polisher and some rubbing compound to see if I can get under it, but the rust is bothering me...

Any one try to get something like this covered under the rust warranty? Seems this doesn't fall under "rust perforation" - thoughts?

 

I get this on my car too. I really had to clay bar it to work out the spots. It did take a lot of work to get it out. Good luck if they have been sitting for a while(much harder). I've found that after a good clay bar and wax, it's a lot easier to come off later(maintenance). On a light colored MINI you have to be on top if it. I believe it has something to do with the exhaust. Someone else may have the answer to that one . Living by the ocean doesn't help either as the fog tends to turn them into rusty streaks.

 

dang, you didn't notice that before you bought it, huh?

since you already tried claybar with soso results, i would recommend
going to either a polisher (as you mentioned) or try ScratchX. It's a
very mild hand polish.

If that doesn't work, then CleanerWax from Meguiar's. Its an abrasive
wax so don't bare down on it too much as it will take away the
clear.

 

Unfortunately I didn't notice it before.

Luckily I do my own detailing and restoration work... and luckily I have the free time today to try.

I'll see how it goes and I'll update you guys on it...

I was hoping BMW would cover this as part of the rust warranty... I don't have this on any of my other cars, and I also live in a smog area (though not as bad as in socal) and only about a mile from the ocean

 

I might also be something kicked up from the road, or even bird poo. That last one will wreak havoc on a paint job if not removed quickly. Good ol' digestive enzymes.

 

I think it might be brake dust. The little particles stick to the boot and then promptly begin to rust. That's why they look orange or rusty. I've got to clay bar and rewax mine too. I really noticed them when preparing for my boot stripe installation.

 

since we're all thinking, i think it's rail dust.

 

I second that conjecture!

I found the same thing on my girlfriend's Accord, which she lent to her sister for a couple of years, who lived closed to some railroad tracks. A whole lot of elbow grease with clay, polish, and wax for an entire morning, and I still wasn't able to make the Accord baby-behind smooth.

 

Rust warranty is for perforations in the body sheetmetal. Paint damage during shipping would get covered before you took delivery of the car. Defects to the paint (like the clear coat lifting off) would probably be covered under the 48 month/50,000 mile warranty. What you have is an external factor - something getting on the paint and causing problems. You might be able to file a claim with your auto insurance policy's comprehensive section.

 

Any thought to trying very fine rubbing compound?

 

Thanks for the input... I'll leave this as a final option since I don't want my premiums to possibly go up Paint jobs are thousands of dollars to get it done right, I'm sure my insurance co won't like that!

 

No train tracks in the area that I know of... but there is a major freeway just 3 miles away and LAX (airport) just a couple miles away as well!

 

I didn't have any with me that day, but I will certainly give that a shot the next time. Thank you for the suggestion, sir!

 

Its clearly rail dust, i bet its all over the roof too, near the hatch.

Rail dust doesnt have to come from just trains...

Its common everywhere cars and trucks drive alot.

 

If it is not your "fault", the insurance company factors the expense as a cost of doing business. In a prior lifetime, I had a 2002 Volvo S60AWD (black) that had every panel except for the roof and the trunklid repainted at least once from birds**t, parking lot dings and even one hit-and-run while parallel parked. The repainting was covered as either comprehensive (birds**t) or collision (parking lot dings and the hit-and-run). All of the re-paints were done with no adverse impact on the premium. Check with your agent/insurance company. The worst that will happen is that they say the premium will go up if you file a claim. If no increase in premium, then you got a Christmas present in August (or July if you ask before the month is out).... You will have to pay the deductible, however.

 

thanks for the input - it's worth a shot if I can't get out the speckles today when I try to polish them out...

good thing my collision deductible is at $250 and comp is at $100!

 

A friend of mine lives in Torrance and get this on her car quite often. We cleaned it up with a clay bar and cleaner wax and she tries to keep a good coat of wax on it. I am just guessing but I attribute it to the refineries in the area.

 

i would contact OctaneGuy. He's in your area. your car will look
better than new.

 

if you have successfully removed some of these spots, it is clearly superficial and not coming from underneath the paint... a far worse diagnosis... car cancer :0

A good detailing is all you would need. Some mild compounding may help too. Metal road debris or dirt from parking underneath things like bridges, or exposed parking lots near construction or cement industrial areas always have things floating in the air. youre best bet is to park away from that area, and check on the paint finish often to keep the surface clean. having this debris lay on the paint while beaten down by the sun will surely ruin your clear and base coat.

good luck.

 

Phew! Bad news and good news... these things must have been on for at least a couple years (ie never properly cleaned off). In hindsight, you guys are right that it appears to be rail dust, but it could also be brake dust from my own car. =( After all the work today and driving only a few miles, I noticed black dust specks on the car again! The black dust ends up mostly on the rear hatch of the car. Strange, I've owned light-colored cars before and I never had this issue.

Ok, bad news was that even with heavy clay barring... not much luck. Next, aggressive circular machine polishing with a fairly agressive rubbing compound with an aggressive foam pad, I was only able to get off the some of the rust and black specks. Using my hand and a good microfiber towel with rubbing compound and really rubbing hard... I was able to get more off... but it took a LOT of work for just a couple specks, and I must have had thousands of specks on the car...

Ok, good news, it took hours but I got most/all rust and black specks off the car. I had to go to my last resort... I wet-sanded the whole car by hand. It worked quite easily (wet-sanding is sanding with, in this case, a light abrasive piece of sand paper soaked with water - it works similarly to a clay bar in smoothing out the surface but in sanding you are removing some of the clear coat). With wet sanding, you're left with a dull-surfaced, but smooth, car... so naturally I had to then polish it all back up (compound, polish, glaze, sealant in my case).

Now, all is better. Our mini is as smooth as a baby's bottom... maybe smoother. All the black dust and rust is now gone from the clearcoat!