Help with Overspray?

[CorporalCarrot]

Hi Folks

My first post on the forums. A couple of months ago I bought a 1.5 year old E46 BMW m3 in Carbon Black metallic.




The car is in pretty excellent shape mechanically, but the previous owner was a bit less careful with the paintwork. Now when its all waxed up, it looks absolutely fabulous and my wife thinks I'm crazy noticing the things I do, but I really want to get it perfect.

Now above both wheelarches, there appears to be some white flecks in the paint that looks like overspray. I tried claying the car and I think it shifted part of it but there are still flecks remaining which are driving me crazy. Thing is, the paint feels like glass to the touch - you honestly cannot feel any imperfection when running your hand over the car.

I have tried to capture it in the following photos (please forgive the dirt of the car but we are having a pretty wet winter so far here in ireland)





Now as I said, when the car is waxed up, given the particular location of these flecks, you have to be really looking for them to notice, but I'm sure you all know what I mean when I say it annoys me that they are there. I find myself thinking about ways to remove them at the most unusual times.

Have anyone any suggestions given that I have already clayed the areas which now feel very smooth to touch?

Would scratch-x be by next port of call?

C

[MB///HRV]

I cannot see any pictures, however what kind of clay are you using?

[CorporalCarrot]

Originally posted by MB///HRV
I cannot see any pictures, however what kind of clay are you using?

I used the Meguiars Clay Bar and Quik Detailer twice on the affected area.

C

[Setec Astronomy]

Those look to me to be minute rock chips that look white because they have wax or polish in them. The same area of my car, which is 15 yo, looks like it's been sandblasted.

[CorporalCarrot]

Hmmm

Its possible (and the wheelarches on the M3 are certainly prominent and liable to catch stones etc) but I'm not sure.........I think the effect is hard to capture on picture because of the flash but if you get down close to it, it definitely looks like tiny white paint flecks on the paint.

Now as you can see on the top picture, its totally unnoticeable to the non-enthusiast so maybe I'm being picky..........but I would still love to remove them all the same.

C

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by Setec Astronomy
Those look to me to be minute rock chips that look white because they have wax or polish in them. The same area of my car, which is 15 yo, looks like it's been sandblasted.

I agree with Setec on this one because of the appearance and the location. Perhaps a jewelers loupe or a magnifying glass would reveal if these are in fact chips in the paint. You could also try seeing if the tip of a toothpick when dragged over the paint near them, and then into one drops down or raises up, this would indicate if the defect was below or above the surface.

If they're above and claying is not working you could try a combination of a paint cleaner like ScratchX with a little passion behind the pad followed by some more claying.

If in fact these are below surface defects such as small chips our to the paint from impact with small rocks or some other road debri, then the only fix is to add more paint where paint is missing. This means either touch-up paint or repaint the panel. Neither are fun or easy.

[CorporalCarrot]

Thanks Mike

I'll try the toothpick later since I won't have easy access to a magnifying glass.

C