new to me m440i, want to make it best it can be

[93civEJ1]

So i picked up a 2024 m440i with 44k on it. It looks great, but it has the spider web looking swirls in the clear, not bad, but they are there. The front has a bit of road debris thats nicked the paint. Its not so bad that its obvious unless you get down and inspect. The hood has a couple tiny dots that have been hit with touch up but not great, as you can tell it.

I know its really too late for ppf unless you go and get all that fixed, but i prefer to spend money on performance mods, so expensive paint repairs are prob not gonna happen.

I thought about doing ppf but read that it all needs to be repaired and painted first.

How many of you are not running any sort of PPF? How does your vehicle look? Any tips or tricks to keep it looking good for those who go non ppf.

Also, for light clear coat spider web rings, what would be the best process for that? Otherwise the paint looks great really.

Oh, and some parts of the car have like tiny copperish colored parts kind of stuck in the clear. I tried clay, and it would get some but it would take a lot of work. Is there a product that gets rid of all of that?

[TimmyTurbos]

Take the car to a detailer for a proper paint correction. It's going to be much easier to maintain everything with a professional start. They will buff and polish everything they can out for you. After this step is where you want to pull the trigger on PPF since the prep is done. PPF is the only way to protect against road debris. You can do what's called a "highway" package if you don't want to go full car.

Also DO NOT take the car through one of the drive-through washes. Washing and wiping the car incorrectly is what has caused the "spider web" swirls in the 1st place..GL

[fiveightandten]

Originally Posted by 93civEJ1

So i picked up a 2024 m440i with 44k on it. It looks great, but it has the spider web looking swirls in the clear, not bad, but they are there. The front has a bit of road debris thats nicked the paint. Its not so bad that its obvious unless you get down and inspect. The hood has a couple tiny dots that have been hit with touch up but not great, as you can tell it.

I know its really too late for ppf unless you go and get all that fixed, but i prefer to spend money on performance mods, so expensive paint repairs are prob not gonna happen.

I thought about doing ppf but read that it all needs to be repaired and painted first.

How many of you are not running any sort of PPF? How does your vehicle look? Any tips or tricks to keep it looking good for those who go non ppf.

What color is the car?

You can put PPF on a car with some rock chips and imperfections. It will guard against additional imperfections. Though if there's notable paint damage (read: more than some small rock chips), then the compromised paint could potentially be pulled off down the line when you need to remove the PPF. If the paint is factory and generally in good shape, you won't have to worry about that.

The touched up areas can be wet sanded to take down the touch up paint and blend it with the surrounding material so it's much less noticeable.

Originally Posted by 93civEJ1

How many of you are not running any sort of PPF? How does your vehicle look? Any tips or tricks to keep it looking good for those who go non ppf.

Cars arguably look best without PPF. People use PPF because it protects the paint from damage, not because it looks better than uncovered paint. The biggest thing is rock chips and damage from snow removal (if you live in the snow belt). But if you are serious about keeping the paint nice, you can keep damage at bay from most other things.

Good washing and drying habits are a must.

• Wash the car regularly.
• Always rinse down before doing a contact wash. A pressure washer at ~1,000 PSI with a 40º nozzle is good, but a hose works ok as well.
• Use a liberal amount of quality soap with a plush microfiber towel or mitt.
• Change the microfiber often, or rinse the mitt often. I like to use the pressure washer or hose to aggressively rinse off the towel/mitt after each panel. Start at the top of the car and make your way down. Use a separate towel or mitt for the lower parts of the car and don't let it touch the upper parts.
• When drying, use a drying aid or drying lubricant. Using a leaf blower for no-contact drying is a good habit as well.
• When washing use the 2 bucket method and grit guards. Or change microfibers often and wash them after each car wash.

Those are the basics, but there are plenty of YouTube videos and other resources that cover good washing methods. Never ever take the car to a brushed carwash. Don't let a dealer or oil change place do a "courtesy wash" for you. Don't go to a car wash where they hand dry the car as you leave. Don't let people lean up against the car. For some reason people love to lean up against cars, with the rivets on their jeans gouging the paint. And if possible, remind people not to beat their shoes up against the side skirts in an attempt to remove dirt from them before entering the car. The floor mats can be vacuumed. For some reason, some people are in the habit of beating their shoes into the side skirts like this.

Originally Posted by 93civEJ1

Also, for light clear coat spider web rings, what would be the best process for that? Otherwise the paint looks great really.

It sounds like it could benefit from a full paint correction. Understand that buffing and polishing a car is permanently removing clear coat. There is a finite amount of clear coat on the car. So you generally want to take care of it to avoid the need for future paint correction.

Generally for a full correction you'd decon the paint (chemical decon / iron remover, clay bar), then compound it to remove the imperfections, then polish it to make it glossy and remove any artifacts that the compound leaves behind. Then apply protection to keep the paint looking good (panel wipe or alcohol mix wipe down after polishing to remove polishing oils).

Originally Posted by 93civEJ1

Oh, and some parts of the car have like tiny copperish colored parts kind of stuck in the clear. I tried clay, and it would get some but it would take a lot of work. Is there a product that gets rid of all of that?

That's probably iron. This is common to see behind the wheels and on the rear of the car, as metal particles from the brakes get shed and the hot particulate embeds itself in the paint. It's most visible on white cars. An Iron remover should take it off. If you live near a railroad or industrial area, airborne metals can be higher than in other places.

Iron removers generally turn color when they contact iron particles, and you'll see a purple or brown bleed coming from the iron particles. It's possible it's another type of contamination. But generally you see the following:

• Iron (use an iron remover, which smells horrible but is generally pH neutral)
• Tar, road film (oily residue from rain water flinging oil up from the road), bugs; use a high pH (alkaline) decon soap
• Water spots, mineral contamination from rain water or hard water used during washes: use a low pH (acidic) decon soap.

When using high or low pH products, always rinse very well, and ideally follow up with a pH neutral soap to neutralize the harsh stuff.