Hood discolored on Jet Black 2008 E60. Heat?
 

The hood on my 2008 535i has gradually faded in a specific area. It first started out as a milky patch that I thought would polish out. Didn't. Gradually kept expanding. I am thinking it is related to heat. A recent morning when there was dew on the hood, I had left the car running to warm up while I checked tire pressures. When done, I noticed that in the area that is discolored, the dew had evaporated, and the rest still had dew. Hmm. The insulating cover inside the hood is loose and shrunken, and I am starting to think that is a contributor. I am looking to re-spray the hood, but I don't want this to happen again. Should I get a new insulation mat? Leave it off? Ideas are appreciated!

pics?

Almost all of us have the shrunken interior cover. Id think the hood was probably repainted at some point and the clearcoat was probably too thin or of bad quality. The reason the dew wasn't on the patch is because the clearcoat on your "normal looking" paint beads water. The milky patch wont becuase its a rough surface. Much like how the area on your windscreen where your windscreen wipers always wipe always are smooth and rest of the windscreen beads water.

Jet black 550i
 

Hey I have a blk 07 550i I had the same problem on my hood, roof and trunk lid. So instead of re painting I had those areas wrapped in jet black. Looks great and when I wash it i just use spray wax for a phat wet look shine and the rain just beads and runs off. Unless I say it's a wrap ya can't tell

Jacksonville Florida

I have a 2006 Jet Black car and the clear coat is shot. This seems to be a common occurrence on the E60s with this paint color.

looks like the three of you (ajs916, star69me, and txag) reporting this issue all live in warm sunny climates. perhaps the black paint absorbs more heat than lighter colors and over time that damages the finish on the paint.

i'm not implying that this is normal or should be happening, but just a potential cause.

My 05 545 Sport was midnight blue. Same problem. However, I polished the roof and hood with a Maguire's orbital buffer and three levels of product i.e. polish, sealer and wax. you would never know there was a problem.
the rear lid got tagged in traffic and was repainted - no white out.

Pics
 

Attachment 150245

Attachment 150246

It may be hard to see in pics - here goes. Thanks for all the responses. I am a little bit of a detailing nut, so I tried all the usual methods, including using high quality multi-step polishing/sealing materials with a porter cable orbital polisher. No improvements. I am coming to the conclusion it is a clear coat issue.

:help: I moved this thread to the detailing forum in hopes that some of the detailing experts out there might be able to chime in with a solution. Thanks.

I do have same problem in my hood. I have 2008 535i sapphire black
Any recommendation

:blush: Moved this back to the general forum since the detailing experts haven't replied in two months.

Hi I thought I would write as I am a panel beater


The paint that you are speaking about on your car is a metallicpaint I think with a clear coat.


I like the Black metallic paints that BMW use.


BMW and European cars that are painted in Europe do not make aspecial paint for each state or country depending on their weather conditions.


Car makers do their best to use a paint system that will be the bestfor overall weather conditions.


That being said, California is pretty unique in beautiful sunnydays and heat.



The clear coat on your car is simply a few coats of clear paintover a black metallic base.


The bonnet is always more susceptible to heat as it is getting itfrom both ways. From the sun and from the engine. This combination breaks the cleardown added with years of polishing and abrasive shampoos and car washes andultra violet light attacking the paintwork


You can see on a lot of older Japanese built cars the complete topof the car looking much worse than your car as the clear coating breaks downand breaks away.


Polishing the paint can work if the clear is not too bad and somepeople have posted that a good buff and polish has returned their paint workback.


If they continue to keep a polish on the paint work to protect itfrom UVL they should have years of no trouble.


But sadly yours has gone too far now and you will need to have eitherthe clear coat removed and repainted or the entire bonnet stripped andrepainted.


If I were you I would have the bonnet stripped to metal andrepainted


I would also have then paint the top of both guards and blend thecolor and clear into the guards
This will ensure that the bonnet and guards will have no problemsfor the rest of its life but the same problem may appear on your roof and trunklid.


Also while you are there, it would be best to replace the noiseand heat shield under your bonnet.


It will look better and protect your paint.


Then keep a good quality polish on the bonnet and rest of the carto maintain the clear.

Do you have pics?