Just washing the Mini today, and I noticed, especially on the rear bumper, it looks almost like there are a bunch of tiny little rust spots on the paint.

Is this normal? Something any of you have heard of? Will a good wax job take care of it? Should I notify the dealer?

Thanks for any thoughts...

 

There shouldn't be any "rust" spots suddenly appearing on a one/two year old car unless you have scratches going clear through to the metal. I'd suggest using a clay bar on them or a good polish & see if that removes them.

 

Definitely shouldn't be any rust... but if you find that it is, the MINI has a rust protection warranty of 5 or 6 years, regardless of mileage.

 

Thanks guys...

Yeah, after I posted here I read Ryephile's long post about car care stuff, and I think I have a good idea about what to buy to kick my car care up a notch. Definitely gonna go get a clay bar and do the whole treatment on the Mini.

Any specific tips on using the clay bar or anything else? I know Ryephile had said to not do circular motions, use more straight motions right?

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2002 Mini Cooper - LY/LY [BMP/ProMini Intake | Magnecor Plug Wires | More soon...]

 

>>Just washing the Mini today, and I noticed, especially on the rear bumper, it looks almost like there are a bunch of tiny little rust spots on the paint.
>>
>>Is this normal? Something any of you have heard of? Will a good wax job take care of it? Should I notify the dealer?

Kilo,
Normal? No. This is why you benefit from washing your car every 7 to 14 days. To detect trouble and to prevent it.
Heard of it? Yes. See this thread (find by searching for "rust on boot&quot
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...mp;topic=14813
Waxing help? Might help, might not be enough- best course of action is to use Mother's (or similar) clay bar to remove the surface problem leading to the start of rust or corrosion.
Notify the dealer? Nope. You can do the clean up yourself then use a good Polish or wax to help protect.
Be dilligent and enjoy your MINI.

_________________
Aloha

 

The very first time I washed my car...the week after I got it, I noticed small rust colored spots on the paint of the boot too. I don't think the person was neglecting their MINI. Could it be a paint issue? I have a PW 04 MC.

 

Take your car back to the dealer. I had the same problem and got every excuse from where I live to brake dust from metalic brake pads. Working at auto dealerships for 30+ years I told them it was unacceptable. They reapplied paint sealant plus rewaxed the car. Make sure they mark your repair order with the problem. My car was not the first with the problem. Remember one thing about dealers "make sure you get everything documented"

 

well i know what it is cause i had the problem but severly on mine, its the vacume behind the car sucking the metal that is shaved off your rotor and throwing it up to your boot, mine is a 02 and it dosent have the wear sensore so when the rear calipers locked up and went to metal to metal my rear was litered with rust spots,

now after that incident its been just minimal but after a day on the track or auto crossing anything with heavy breaking i find them back on the rear so i have to rub them off again

just something ive noticed thats all

 

I wash my car AT LEAST once per week. I take such good care of my car, neglect is definitely not the issue.

I'll take the clay bar to it, and hopefully that will help.

Where can I get good prices on products like Zymol?

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2002 Mini Cooper - LY/LY [BMP/ProMini Intake | Magnecor Plug Wires | More soon...]

 

i don't think this is the same thing but...i recently had literally a hundred+ tiny little spots/specks of brownish/reddish stuff peppered all over my white roof. there were primarily two areas hit hardest, the driver front and driver rear. i only noticed it after washing my car. a few came off with very vigorous rubbing of my mitt and suds about 100 times.

on closer inspection, i noticed that some were bumpy; ie. i could feel something on the surface. in addition, the around the bumps was a thin border of stained run-off. the other spots was just stained. luckily, i have a moonroof and my body color is brg, so i did not notice if any spots were on those areas. but these specks also stained the rubber molding around the windows, looking very much like red dirt specks. at least these were much easier to remove than those on the white roof.

basically, i spent all day removing most, hopefully all, these dreaded specks. what i found worked the best was wd-40 and a finger nail. yep, that's why it took all day. each speck required about 2-4 minutes of vigorous rubbing with wd-40 and a finger nail. nothing else worked, including tar remover, clay bar, you name it.

those specks that i could actually feel would kinda smear into a reddish-brown substance upon breaking up with the wd-40 and rubbing. rubbing the stains required the same vigorous rubbing. in fact, the stains were much, much more difficult to remove due to using a finger nail to rub off the entire speck. so it required many, many passes to get the whole stain off before moving on to the next speck/stain. yes, very, very meticulous work all day long.

i also discovered specks/stains under the spoiler near the top brake light. these were especially difficult to remove due to the tight spacing. if any spot remain, that is where they lie.

oh yeah, i had my mcs for ~3-4 weeks at that time. and it had just came back from the dealer a few days earlier for installation of the works. now i did once park next to a red dirt parking lot and that day was windy with intermittent rain and sun. but i still cannot understand the spread pattern of those specks. basically, it hit the entire car, as both side's window moldings were hit. in addition, the entire roof and under the spoiler was marred. plus there were two areas of the roof, the driver front and rear that had the majority of the specks/stains. if they are on the body of the car, i cannot see or feel them.

anybody have any clue as to what this was? i am hoping that it is not from the dealer. that perhaps they were doing some metal shaving/welding on a nearby car and specks came flying over and peppered my car. i am telling you right now, i would not wish this on anybody, and i definitely hope none of you experience this. worse yet, i had not waxed my roof yet at that time. so it only had whatever stuff the dealer applies during their prep work.

i do not think this is simply from my brake dust. simple due to the spread pattern. maybe pollen from a tree i parked under? any clues would be greatly appreciated as i do want to avoid this in the future.

thanks

 

The "rust" spots you're seeing are ferrous metal particulates "blooming" on the paint surface. A rear bumper fasica can't rust because it's urethane, not metal. These particulates can come from railroad tracks (metal wheels against metal tracks make metal dust shavings), along with industrial fallout, dust from semi-metallic brakes and hundreds of other sources.

It's not a problems for the dealer, it's an environmental condition.

They're most common on the back of the car due to low air pressure when driven at speed - they get "sucked" up against the rear of the vehicle and stay there, adhering to the surface.

A good clay bar will remove these particulates and anything else on the paint, leaving it smooth. As well, an application of a paint protection wax/polish will help protect the paint surface against damage.

Wash at least once a week, and apply your favorite paint protection product on a regular basis.

_________________
forrest@mothers.com

 

Forrest,

I might add that a good polishing of the area may also be necessary. I recently had the same condition on my BMW. I treated it with clay as normal, but the oxidation returned because small particles remained, even after claying. I had to repeat the process again and follow with a good polishing.

db

 

You can't have rust on the rear bumper as it's a non-metallic composite. Is there another reason for the rust-like discolouration? If it's the boot though, contact your dealer as that is certainly covered by warranty, environmental influences or not.

 

Just went out and bought the Mother's Clay Bar Kit. Comes with the clay bar, their Showtime Instant Detailer (spray and shine type product), and a bottle of their Carnauba Cleaner Wax. I also picked up a large high-quality micro fiber towel, and some 303 Aerospace protectant for the inside of the car.

Gonna spend a few hours (or so) tomorrow washing and claying and washing again, and applying the wax. I'll let you guys know how it all works out.

 

Ok, well, the treatment seemed to help forsure.

When I was claying the paint, I could definitely feel it catching all that crap on the paint. The clay bar-ing was definitely worth the time, and I put a light wax layer on top. It looks good now, but there are still some remnants of the spots. I may end up taking it to a professional, or asking the dealer to do it.

I didn't realized until now how much is involved with detailing cars, I'm learning slowly but surely though.

Thanks all!

 

I get those little rust spots on the roof right above the boot...I havent been able to get them off yet.

 

for those rusty specks on my white roof, i used wd-40 and some rubbing with my fingernail to get the stained spots out. not sure it the wd-40 actually helps with the stains, but it sure does help breakdown the particles. with the stained spots i think the wd-40 serves as a lubricant that allows you to rub your fingernails over the paint without scratching the paint. yet, with multiple passes of your nail, the stain will eventually come out.

let me assure you, my fingernail did not damage my roof paint as i literally did this over a 100x over the entire roof. then waxed her up after. no damage, as long as you got a generous coating of wd-40. try it in on a small out-of-the-way spot first to ease any anxiety you might have.

not sure why, but claybarring didn't seem to work all that well for me in this case. and i still don't know where i got bombarded with all that industrial pollutants. hopefully, a good protective coat or 10 of wax will make it easier to remove next time, or better yet, prevent them from catching onto the paint in the first place.

 

Yeah, I saw the WD-40 idea that you posted previously, but for some reason I'm scared to put WD-40 on my paint. Might just be me being paranoid, but oh well.

I figured out that the reason the bumper and rear of the car got hit the worst with this spotting is because of the design of the car. Most of the particles and crap that you kick up when motoring end up on the back of the car.

After this, I think I'm going to invest in a car cover.

 

You might also consider having a professional detailer use an "acid bath" like the ones sold at http://www.autoint.com

The acid destroys the ferrous particulate, and then the neutralizer removes the acidity of the acid.

It's most certainly not a DIY program, but in the hands of a pro it's a godsend.

BTW, metallic particles on the roof might be a sign your electric garage opener chain needs to be lubricated. Sometimes it can be that simple.

_________________
forrest@mothers.com

 

Forrest, thanks for the suggestions, I appreciate them. I don't park in the garage though, and I think that has a lot to do with my issues. A car cover is on my list of things to get sooner rather than later.

 

Car covers are a wonderful investment. I own 2 for my MCS - one made of Evolution for outdoor use (and 4 layers thick to prevent door ding damage), and one made of Dustop, which is the new, state of the art version of flannel lined cotton, for indoor use.

Mine are made by Covercraft, and even have an additional piece sewn in to cover the antenna, which is preferable to the other brands that require you to punch a hole in the cover (which defeats part of the purpose of owning a cover).

I use the outdoor cover any time my MINI sits still for more than 30 minutes.

 

Well, just did the clay bar thing and the Zaino application for the first time. The rust colored spots are still there. Some of them did come off but am disappointed that some remain. It's easy to see them on my PW/PW MC. Probably wouldn't even notice them on a darker colored car.

So did I screw up to cover them with Zaino? I went over them numerous times with the clay bar.

Too chicken to use WD40 like others have mentioned. My car is only 2 months old... :???:

 

Yeah, I had the same experience. After I clay'd, I noticed that some spots still remained. I'm wondering if you have to just clay more, or if there's something else to do.

Do you park your car outside like me? I think that's the main origin of my problem. A car cover is a good investment, but a pain to deal with.

 

>>Yeah, I had the same experience. After I clay'd, I noticed that some spots still remained. I'm wondering if you have to just clay more, or if there's something else to do.
>>
>>Do you park your car outside like me? I think that's the main origin of my problem. A car cover is a good investment, but a pain to deal with.
>>
>>

The clay bar just slicked over them. I kept going over the specks with the bar but nothing...

I park my car in the garage...so no car cover. Wish it were easy to solve.

 

Same with me. I have a small rust spot above the Cooper emblem. I used the Zaino clay bar with diluted Z7 as lubricant but it didn't remove any of the rust at all. I just wish mine was on the bumper instead of the actual body of the car.

I park outside and do, in fact, use my car cover constantly. Unfortunately, I still have this rust issue. Potential car cover problem is a whole other ball of wax, which I brought up in another thread. It seems its rather porous despite costing $200, thereby possibly exacerbating the problem by letting moisture in, then holding it there. Nevertheless, this should never be an issue, particularly with a car that is practically brand new.

I also should note that Zaino, from my perspective, doesn't seem to protect from rust. In little more than six months of ownership, I've put on four coats of Zaino twice over (excessive I know). Yet and still, I have this rust spot.