[335e92tx]

I think this might have started as a rock chip (which did not chip the PAINT - only the clear), and now the clear is lifting from the paint and has gotten water/soap behind it. The dealer is saying they wont pay for the repaint bc its just a chip. I have their body shop going round with them and will escalate to the district rep if need be.

The part is the red square is where the clear is penetrated. The larger circle below is the airgap between the clear and paint (which looks much worse than the chip itself).

Whole thing is probably about the size of a thumbnail.

[purplewidow]

not much complaining you can do.. it is strange.. but it is road wear..how is anything road related ()going to be covered by the warranty..the velocity was just enough to chip away the clear coat.. lifting the edges and letting air in. or forcing water in with jets at car washes etc etc.. i have seen it before on cars.. i have no clue why you think they should pay for this.. it is from the chip and not from the paint.. it just happened to be at the right velocity to do this damage. it can be fixed..probably cost you about 300-800 depending on the panel..but the last thing i would do is cheap out.. go to the best place around. do your research.

[335e92tx]

Well, their body shop guy seems to think its still the fault of the clear. I have never seen a chip along these lines. Rarely is the clear so thick that it stops much of anything. If that was the case there should have been enough to buff out some of the swirls and orange peel these things come with. :/

[picus]

I've never seen clear separate like that on OEM paint. I see it all the time on re-sprays where the clear is shot after the base is already dry. Very weird - I think if this happened to my car I'd push for the dealer to repair it to my satisfaction. If they wouldn't I'd probably contact BMW NA, but I wouldn't bet on a positive resolution (it's worth a shot, though).

[335e92tx]

The person I talked to at BMW-NA/CS basically said it was just a road hazard.. no consideration that the clear should not have reacted that way. Not only that the local body shop has yet to call me back after they said they would again talk to the dealership body guy. I seem to be getting less and less response as time goes on. :/

[335e92tx]

Well, I now have a similar condition of CC lifting at the drivers front reflector - right between the headlight and reflector. I called the local service dept yesterday and they said they have a district rep in town on the 21st and I should drop by.

Lets see how this goes.

And there is no sign of a paint chip on these lifting spots.. Plus there is more than 1

[Houman21]

Lawyer up - people seem to take things more seriously when there is a possibility of litigation.

[Andy M]

Some things you could bring up to the dealership:
- if the clear coat is lifting off the base coat like that, what guarantee do you have that the rest of the paint job is like that?
- IF the original paint job was just bad, if you had it repainted, what stops the clear coat from separating from the rest of the car?
- how do you know that the paint wasn't damaged during shipping and the dealership actually got it repainted to cover up the damage?

[jopa489]

Originally Posted by Andy M

how do you know that the paint wasn't damaged during shipping and the dealership actually got it repainted to cover up the damage?

This happens more often than most people would think. These cars travel a lot of distance from final assembly point to point of sale. Unfortunately, it is perfectly legal for dealers to conceal or fix any damage to a new car and sell it as brand new, without disclosure to the buyer.

But I think that's somewhat irrelevant in your case. It looks like whatever happened (be it a repaint repair or something from the factory), this shouldn't be happening - especially in more than one place. I can understand BMWNA not caring much if it's only one location (they can pass that off as road wear easily), but two locations and you have a legitimate argument.

The odds of two rocks hitting the paint in exactly the right way to affect just the clear coat is astronomically high. Stop by when your dealer asks and see what they will do. If that doesn't work, it may be time to give BMWNA one last try (offer to send them pictures directly) then consult a lawyer.

[picus]

I agree with the above. It is likely the car was re-sprayed in some areas at the VDC or dealer prior to delivery, or there was some sort of defect in the paint process at the factory (which I would say is extremely unlikely). This will probably continue to happen in the effected area(s), so I'd keep trying to get it resolved.

[Andy M]

Originally Posted by jopa489

This happens more often than most people would think. These cars travel a lot of distance from final assembly point to point of sale. Unfortunately, it is perfectly legal for dealers to conceal or fix any damage to a new car and sell it as brand new, without disclosure to the buyer.

But I think that's somewhat irrelevant in your case. It looks like whatever happened (be it a repaint repair or something from the factory), this shouldn't be happening - especially in more than one place. I can understand BMWNA not caring much if it's only one location (they can pass that off as road wear easily), but two locations and you have a legitimate argument.

The odds of two rocks hitting the paint in exactly the right way to affect just the clear coat is astronomically high. Stop by when your dealer asks and see what they will do. If that doesn't work, it may be time to give BMWNA one last try (offer to send them pictures directly) then consult a lawyer.

Yup I knew. But it's something the OP needs to ask (ask, not accuse btw). I had to deal with something similar at work and even though it's within tolerances, you'll want to follow up on because of future problems. At least get something back to cover the costs of future repaints. The clear issue is about consistency.

[335e92tx]

They are pretty reticent about even acknowledging its a BMW problem at all. But they did agree to reshoot both parts of the car. If some other section materializes with the same problem, I guess we will go around again.