Soft paint

[RKR]

I'm slowly creeping up to 2 years ownership in June and I have just turned over 20k miles. I gave the car a proper clean last week to eliminate the winter grime etc and was dumbfounded by the state of my paintwork. The front doors, front wings, side skirts and rear arches have been absolutely battered and it looks horrendous.

Can anyone enlighten me whether or not this is a warranty issue? Stone chips are a given however I find it pretty appalling on a car that's not even two years. Car is OEM

[Wo-Wo]

I'm on my 3rd M4 now and they've all been like it and I do 30k miles a year. The general consensus amongst detainers is that the paint is actually hard thus making it almost brittle, which is down to water based paints.

I'd be amazed if you'd get anywhere with a warranty claim, but good luck if you do try.

[Mr-Gadget4]

I have a 3yr old M4 done 30k and have the same in the same areas plus behind the rear wheels

Never driven down a road that has been surface dressed never driven it off tarmac and never wheel spun it...oh and i drive round stones on the road

Mention it to the dealers every time I take it in and they just look at me as if Im an idiot

Quite depressing that a car worth £60k destroys its own paintwork so badly

Im sure small discrete deflectors on the wheel arches would eliminate most if not all of the problem

[MarkG_M5Comp]

Deflectors like these....

Tempting

[DazC]

I done almost 30k in 18 months and my cars front end and sides were absolutely ruined with stone chips.

Having paid extra for Tanzanite Blue and meticulously cleaned and professionally detailed the car from new it really ruined my enjoyment of the car.

If I were to buy another I'd definitely invest in PPF.

[RKR]

Thanks for your comments. It's a shame that it's such a common problem and as a result I will definitely get nowhere with a warranty claim.

I should have PPF'd it but its alot of money for a car that loses 50% of it's value over the course of a 3 year period. That being said the cost of PPF is the cost I am going to have to pay to have the side skirts etc resprayed, ha

[RKR]

Originally Posted by MarkG_M3CP

Deflectors like these....

Tempting

I hate mud flaps but those don't look so bad, they almost flow with the side skirt extensions. Worth the looking into for sure

[Wills2]

It's a common problem on all cars the state of the roads doesn't help either they are covered in tiny pieces of stones and tarmac which gets thrown back at the car or picked up by your tyres. (wide tyres, flared arches and spacers, if you got them fitted don't help)

The recent harsh winter will have also added to the issue.

As for ruining your enjoyment of the car it's for driving not looking at...I've done 70k in just over 2 years and the car is holding up as well as any car I've had as regard chips the worst was a 911 the rear arches were awful after a couple of years down to the bare metal in places.

[RKR]

Originally Posted by Wills2

I've done 70k in just over 2 years

Have so much time for that, that's what these cars are there for...to be used!

[jamiesecker]

Although only covered 2k I had a trip to the Nurburgring planned and decided to get PPF fitted and so glad I did . Had an amazing 5 days and returned as new. PPF is defiantly a good concideration IMOP

[Schuey]

It is disappointing to be honest. I went fort a spirited drive with a couple of friends, was following a mate in his M4 and we went over a recently surfaced road and his car threw all sorts of crap at mine and my front bumper took a bit of hammering. Little marks all over the shop, fortunately they are only visible on close inspection. I'm a bit of an amateur detailer so it does bother me, but I've touched up and machine polished most of them out.

PPF only benefits the next owner in my opinion, so if you change your car after 3 - 4 years then no point spending a couple of grand on it IMHO.

[kerkiraios00]

PPF is the best investment for a car like this that's the first thing I did when I took her home brought straight to my PPF installer.. Yea it was a lot of money but worth it, you don't have to worry about rock chips or any debris in the road.. I PPF all my previous M cars it retains the value a lot better also..