[msbbc833]

Hi everyone,
I have a 2012 black 335i that I bought CPO just 3500 miles ago. When I bought it I believe the front end was repainted (is that a part of CPO?) as I do not recall any rock chips - in other words the paint was perfect.

After only 3500 miles of driving/owning it I can count around 20 tiny rock chips on the front end, including some on the front part of the hood. A few on the hood have a sort of bubble appearance as if there is a defect in the clear coat, but the underlying black paint is there. The ones on the front end you can see the gray/white primer...

I've also had the car washed at an automatic drive thru car was twice. Is it normal to have this many rock chips from only 3500 miles? Can a car wash cause it?

[Rotary Rasp]

Resprays are never as durable as the factory finish. I had a clear bra put on my m3 bumper right after it was painted to keep it from getting rock chips. Worked very well, I recommend it to anyone that just had their bumper painted.

[JETmn]

Agreed, my car came with a clear bra and it still looks great.

[Becken_e90]

Interesting, I never heard of 'clear' bra and I imagine it's expensive and not worth the cost for my 328i. I have many rock chips in my 2011 front bumper...certainly an eyesore from few feet away from the car.

BTW, this post broke my virginity on this forum. Glad to be here

[jwalker87]

A few ideas

1) If the respray was not allowed to cure properly, then normal driving can cause an abnormal number of chips. This happened on an older car of mine when I couldn't let it sit for a while after it was painted and had to drive on the interstate for 6 hours. Just in that drip I had LOTs of chips.

2) New paint can't be waxed for about a month. If you bought it less than a month after the respray, there's no wax, so no protection for the paint, which may be the reason for all the chips.

3) My 2011 also has a clear bra, and it works well. I would recommend at least looking into the cost of one.

4) Dr Color Chip (www.drcolorchip.com) actually works very well for small rock chips. I've used it on 3 cars to fix anything from small door scratches in the paint to a front bumper where there was more primer showing than paint. It's not perfect, but it matches the paint very well, and you can't tell anything's wrong from more than about 2 feet away.

[Becken_e90]

That's good information jwalker. Have nothing to lose with the touch up paint, and I too have heard good reviews of dr touch up paint. Would you recommend finishing with a coat of clear?

Just to give a little background about my chipped car. I bought the car three years ago with 25,000 miles. My memory has faded since but I want to say I've had also about 20 little rock chips then. Since then, it has about doubled. I do a lot of highway driving here in Rochester with unfortunate road salt also contributing to the chips. I wash my car with pressure washer only and always have with all my cars. In any case, I don't see how a car wash could cause 'rock chip' type damage.

It does seem plausible that the dealership would have resprayed without proper prep work or poor paint products that would have cause previous rock chips to reappear. just my 2cents.

[msbbc833]

Im thinking of repairing the chips and putting on a custom colgan bra

http://www.m3post.com/forums/attachm...1&d=1234324337

Any thoughts? my car is black so it would match the color of the bra. I don't want to spend $1500 on a clear bra

[Cory S]

Best thing to do to avoid most rock chips.... Stop following too close. Been working great for me over the past 10 years. Little to no chips past 3 new cars. Started backing off following distance when I was about 32 years old.

[Wingnut335]

Completely agree with Cory S. The only issue is if a gravel truck is in the lane next to you and you need to pass it. I've got a clear bra on entire front end of my car and you'd be surprised to see how many small nicks are on my hood beyond the protected area.

[Dark_Knight_335]

Sucks that happened, but try Doctor Colorchip.