my friend just bought a black '04 525 last month and he told me his car always has water spots . he told me the dealer told him the car doesn't come with clear coat, only paint sealant . he wanted to take his car to a detail shop and add the clear coat. the shop quoted him about $350. but anyway, does anyone know our cars come with the clear coat/paint sealant? thanks in advance.

 

I am pretty sure it is clearcoat. BMW did a touch up job for me and followed it up with clearcoat.

 

so the clear coat is only for the metallic paints or everything?

 

Everything is clear coated! Get your friend to sign up and post a water spots topic in the Detailing section. I'm sure we can have lots of discussions about the topic!

 

All BMW's have clearcoat. The paint quality of German cars is the best in the world. You should be able to deal with the waterspots at any good detailing shop. Your dealer is pretty clueless.

 

BMW uses a powder based clear coat. Environment friendly!

 

wolverine is right about the clearcoat. If you look around the rail with the trunk/boot open where water flows off the rear view window, you will see that there is matt finished paint along that groove. It does not have the clear coat and is the color coat alone. (at least my car doesn't have it there).

 

i'll try but don't expect too much .
i don't feel proud by saying this but you are absolutely right !
i think i've seen it and i know what are you talking about and it should be the same as the hood, right?

thank you, guys. i'll let him know. oh, how about the paint sealant? does it come with the car as well?