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      04-11-2013, 05:52 PM   #1
Cozmonaut
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Question Bird poo removal kit?

I've had my car for a little over a month, and it seems to be a bird poo magnet. I don't know if color has anything to do with it, but I have a Mineral Gray 2013 328i. It's been hit several times, but at least twice I've had droppings that left a mark even though it was cleaned off in less than 12 hours. One of them, I don't notice any more, but the other is really irritating me.

What I need is a portable bird poo removal kit. Something that I can keep in the trunk and use to remove the mess as soon as I notice it. Any of you guys have something like this put together? I figure at a minimum, it would include:
microfiber cloths
sanitizing hand wipes
plastic bags (for storing new and used cloths separately)

I'm at a loss for what type of product to use. You can't use soap because you don't have water to rinse it well. I've seen some "waterless" car wash products. In my search results, I think some people mentioned a detailer spray or something?

Anyone have a bird poo kit? What's in it?

Thanks!

P.S. Any tips on preventing and/or removing the mark left behind would be appreciated as well.
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      04-11-2013, 06:43 PM   #2
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1) Good coat of quality wax on car.
2) Meguiars Quick Detailer
3) Clean it off and let car sit in sun for a few days so the self healing clearcoat can do its work and help the spot go away.

If the above doesn't work and you've left car in sun for a few days, you can try Meguiars #9 (or similar very fine cleaner/cut) to help work the damage out. BE PATIENT and don't resort to quick fixes or you'll risk damage to finish.
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      04-11-2013, 10:58 PM   #3
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Autoglym has bird poo wipes. Should be able to find them at Walmart.
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      04-12-2013, 10:29 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by claykin View Post
1) Good coat of quality wax on car.
2) Meguiars Quick Detailer
3) Clean it off and let car sit in sun for a few days so the self healing clearcoat can do its work and help the spot go away.
1) I'm hoping to get around to doing a wash and wax this weekend or next. I'm assuming that the dealer put wax on it before I picked it up, but you never know.

2) I'll look into this stuff. Thanks!

3) Self healing clearcoat? Whaaatt??? Googling...

I've never heard of this before. Since it was poo'd, the car has mostly been garaged (at work and at home). I'll try giving it some sun this weekend. I guess it's the heat of the sun that activates the self-healing magic?

I wonder if this self healing clearcoat is the reason that there's a mark in the first place. If there's bird poo on the paint, and it's out in the sun, maybe the clearcoat will try to "repair" itself and actually cause the mark.
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      04-12-2013, 10:30 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by weiweiwei View Post
Autoglym has bird poo wipes. Should be able to find them at Walmart.
Thanks! I did see a reference to these earlier somewhere, but when I searched the Web, I got the impression that Autoglym was a UK product.
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      04-12-2013, 10:51 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cozmonaut View Post
1) I'm hoping to get around to doing a wash and wax this weekend or next. I'm assuming that the dealer put wax on it before I picked it up, but you never know.
In my experience wax provides some protection, but not foolproof protection. And I've tried many different waxes, pure carnubas, polymers, etc...

Quote:
3) Self healing clearcoat? Whaaatt??? Googling...

I've never heard of this before. Since it was poo'd, the car has mostly been garaged (at work and at home). I'll try giving it some sun this weekend. I guess it's the heat of the sun that activates the self-healing magic?

I wonder if this self healing clearcoat is the reason that there's a mark in the first place. If there's bird poo on the paint, and it's out in the sun, maybe the clearcoat will try to "repair" itself and actually cause the mark.
Yup, BMW has been using self healing clear for a few years. And I've been told by semi reliable sources that BMW uses PPG paints for many models. Not all, but many.

http://www.ppg.com/coatings/autooem/...clearcoat.aspx

The need for self healing clears became even more important when the auto industry changed to water based paints in the mid 1990's. The old solvent based paints could resist a lot more than the newer more organic paints. Luckily over the years chemical companies have managed to improve water based finishes.

In this case UV is your friend. Give it a few hours on a good sunny day or it could take 2-3 days of good sun. Give it time, you'll be surprised.
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      04-12-2013, 02:58 PM   #7
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Bird crap and trees pissing sap! The bane to keeping a shiny car.

I had a really nasty and BIG bird crap etch a horrible mark on my Imperial Blue hood and fender. I was not happy. I removed the crap using a mf cloth and Meguiars Quik Detailer, but the damage was done. I've never heard of self healing clear coat and if it's on our F30s, great! I tried using Meguiars Scratch X several times and claying the mark, but nothing would immediately remove the mark. However, after a few car wash cycles, several waxes and a little time, the mark is slowly disappearing. Maybe all the above, combined, played a hand.
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      04-12-2013, 07:20 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by live4wknds View Post
Bird crap and trees pissing sap! The bane to keeping a shiny car.

I had a really nasty and BIG bird crap etch a horrible mark on my Imperial Blue hood and fender. I was not happy. I removed the crap using a mf cloth and Meguiars Quik Detailer, but the damage was done. I've never heard of self healing clear coat and if it's on our F30s, great! I tried using Meguiars Scratch X several times and claying the mark, but nothing would immediately remove the mark. However, after a few car wash cycles, several waxes and a little time, the mark is slowly disappearing. Maybe all the above, combined, played a hand.
Don't forget that self healing clear that helped too. Well, depending on how old your Imperial Blue Bimmer is. My wife's 2011 has it and my 2010 E90 had it as well.
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      04-12-2013, 07:48 PM   #9
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i had the same problem as well and it irritating me much, i was thinking of drop of the car at dealer and ask them to use wet sand paper and puff it, recommendation?
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      04-12-2013, 08:17 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cshih2 View Post
i had the same problem as well and it irritating me much, i was thinking of drop of the car at dealer and ask them to use wet sand paper and puff it, recommendation?
Dealer is going to screw it up, or give you a blank stare. Hire a pro.

And it won't be wet sandpaper used to fix!
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      04-12-2013, 08:18 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cshih2 View Post
i had the same problem as well and it irritating me much, i was thinking of drop of the car at dealer and ask them to use wet sand paper and puff it, recommendation?
Clean car and leave car in direct sunlight. If no direct sunlight where you live then get a UV lamp. Takes a good couple of days of UV to do the job.
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      04-13-2013, 05:55 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by claykin View Post
Don't forget that self healing clear that helped too. Well, depending on how old your Imperial Blue Bimmer is. My wife's 2011 has it and my 2010 E90 had it as well.
I'll take whatever helps in the battle of clear coat etching. When they come out with self healing body dings, I'll be really happy!
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      04-13-2013, 06:03 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by live4wknds View Post
I'll take whatever helps in the battle of clear coat etching. When they come out with self healing body dings, I'll be really happy!
They have, its called plastic/composites. I believe a few BMW models use plastic panels. I recall some of the X truck front fenders are composites.
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      04-13-2013, 07:56 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by weiweiwei View Post
Autoglym has bird poo wipes. Should be able to find them at Walmart.
Thanks for the tip, didn't realize such a product existed. Going to pick some up today.
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      04-19-2013, 04:00 PM   #15
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Well, here's what I ended up putting together:

Several clean microfiber towels in a gallon Ziplock bag.
A large plastic cup
Another Ziplock bag to put the used towns in
Meguiar's Quick Detailer (Ultimate)
Hand sanitizer

I saw the detailer in an Ultimate version and a "regular" version. The Ultimate version wasn't that much more, so I went with that. I couldn't find the Autoglym bird poo wipes anywhere, which is too bad.

I haven't gotten any new poos lately, to test my kit, but here's my plan:

Go to a nearby store, or water fountain, or whatever and fill the plastic cup with water. Take a clean microfiber towel from the Ziplock bag and spray the detailer on one side. Place this on the poo and pour some water on the towel and let sit for a few minutes. This should dampen the poo. Then, I can lift the poo with the towel, and dry/polish with detailer using some more clean towels. The dirty towel goes in the other Ziplock bag.

Use hand sanitizer when done!

The only thing I don't like about this plan is putting the wet towel in the Ziplock bag. It's not going to dry in there at all. I can't forget that it needs to be taken out of the car and washed, or it'll probably get super nasty. But on the other hand, I don't want it exposed and pooing up everything else in the trunk.

Thanks for all the input!

P.S. I guess that autohealing clear is a thing, because the mark I had ended up going away eventually. Gotta love technology.
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      04-19-2013, 04:51 PM   #16
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I work a BMW prep-center and actually we had to do on a brand new car today, all you need is a heat gun after you cleaned the area just heat it from a distance and it will disappear if it hasn't been on for very long time but be careful don't get too close as you might ruin the clear coat. The supagard kit that we use includes a foam to remove fairly fresh drops and works well. It's quite amazing how the heat gun can restore it but I'm not convinced leaving on the sun as others suggested would do the job. Hope it helps
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      12-16-2013, 07:02 PM   #17
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Any idea if these steps work for tree sap? I found what looks like two lumps of tree sap on my hood. They're unfortunately dried and hard now, and I'm not sure how to approach this without damaging the paint.


Also, sorry for resurrecting the post, but it was the closest post I could find to what I needed to know, and I don't need another "use the search" reply.
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      12-17-2013, 09:48 AM   #18
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@antyman you can get a can of tarminator at your local auto store or if you buy online, tar x or trix from carpro. combine this with some clay and there should be no trace of sap
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      12-17-2013, 03:25 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PTek Will View Post
@antyman you can get a can of tarminator at your local auto store or if you buy online, tar x or trix from carpro. combine this with some clay and there should be no trace of sap
Hi Will, thanks for responding. Glad to hear my car isn't ruined!

I was able to find what looks like an aerosol spray called Tarminator. Is this what you were talking about?

I'm going to have to do some more research on how to clay my car. Thanks for the advice.
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