Hi all, just like to get an idea from all you dark coloured BMW owners. I have just collected my 525d MSport finished in Carbon Black, I am really disapointed with the quality of the paint, it has really bad "orange peel" effect . Is that normal? One side of the car has been painted and badly (I am still in dispute with the dealer over this as he says the car is to a satisfactory condition for 18m old!) but the whole car doesnt look good. once i've finished fighting with BMW is there anything i can do to make the car look better, how can i remove the scratches from harsh washing and probably car washes too :thumbsdown:

Thanks in advance and congrats on a great forum.

 

The orange peel is due to the clearcoating process BMW employs.

Due to EU regs and a serious commitment to ISO 14001, BMW employs state-of-the-art, environmentally freindly paint processes that avoid much of the VOCs and other nasty chemicals in auto paint. (I think the clear coat is a process developed by PPG that is similar to powdercoating, but I can't find my reference material.)

If you don't like the look, you might consider having your clear coat wet sanded and polished.

I would inquire in the detail forum and elsewhere to ensure you get a more informed opinion(s) before you do anything, as you can mess up your paint pretty bad if it is done wrong.

You will want someone experienced with the type of paint. It is pretty soft, and it is easy to use materials that are too aggressive.

 

I have noticed that the finish of the paint generally on the e60's isn't as good as it was on the e39's. My car is also suffering from some mediocre main dealer paint repairs (bonnet and bumpers), and it has been through far too many car washes.

Best way to improve the finish quickly would be to have the whole thing machine polished by a professional bodyshop, although that can leave swirl marks, and can be expensive. I have bought myself a relatively cheap electric polisher and have some professional cutting compounds (Farcela G3, G10 and 3M Imperial Hand glaze), and have had a go at the bonnet.

Results are better than expected and I have managed to take out some nasty scuffs - but!!!! - my car is four years old with 50k miles so I am prepared to take a chance on things not going so well - yours is 18 months old, and probably best left top the professionals.

 

My last car was Carbon Black (an E46 not an E60) and I found that the paintwork marked very easily much, much more so than with my current silver-grey car. I even managed to accidentally scratch the Carbon Black paint with a fingernail! I love the colour but I would think seriously before ordering it again.

 

Hi,

I'm a black E60 owner as well, I will try to take some pics this weekend of my paint to see what you guys think. It is clear to me that you know what you are talking about and maybe you can give me some pointers.

p.s. i just had the care polished and waxed maybe a month ago now.

JO

 

Yes, you will find orange peel on just about every new car these days ... from Europe, Detroit, and even Japan/Korea. Lexus and Porsche seem to do the best job avoiding it right now. MB and Audi seem to be somewhat better than BMW too, but you will see it on their dark cars as well.

Generally it is much worse on the vertical panels than the hood, roof, or boot. And it shows much more clearly on darker colored cars, but it's there on the light ones too.

You can easily have the swirls polished out by a professional ... it will look great. Unfortunately, I have found that the better I polish the finish, the more apparent the orange peel becomes.

 

Here is a pic of my previous carbon black E60 where the orange peel is quite noticible, because of the light and angle.
I would say the orange peel is identicle on my current TiSilver car, but it is just less noticible.

 

You want to see bad orange peel effect... check this one out.

 

every e60 i've seen has orange peel.
some other bmws don't have it...

 

Thanks guys, i guess its normal then. All i have to do now is persude my dealer that my car hasnt been painted properly on the other side. I will be naming and shaming them soon if they dont sort my car out :thumbsdown: .

Thanks all.