Hello all,
Just joined North American Motoring. I am looking for my first Mini Cooper (a hardtop S) and drove a wonderfully running CPO car yesterday. However, the black wheel arches had a lot of white spots/scratches on them. I have read several posts here about how to remove dried wax from the arches, but what if they are really scratches? i am wondering if there is a touch up paint on the market that would cover them? Any advice will be appreciated.
Thanks very much.
SH13

 

The wheel arches, as standard, are not painted. They black is the molded color of them. If they become scratched, there really is no way (that I know of) to remove the scratches, short of replacing the arches. I had a couple of blemishes on the right front wheel arch of my Countryman when I got it, and my MA suggested that I try a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, It did the trick, but be careful. They are somewhat abraisive, so you don't want to rub too hard with them. Also, if you go this route, be sure to keep it away from the paint! You might also want to try a clay bar on the arch.

 

Thanks. What kind of blemishes were they? What did they look like and how did they look afterward? I really enjoyed driving this Mini and would consider buying it if I thought I could cover the scratches. Thanks again.

 

a good black plastic treatment is probably the best way to go

once you sweeten all the arch color those marks will nearly disappear . . .

plastic-wow ... edit .... black wow

Zymol vinyl

303

something along these lines is what I'd use.

Zymol is the one I use personally

 

You could also just replace the wheel arches for about $200 with your NAM affiliation discount.
http://mini.sewellparts.com/oem-cata...-R56-2010.html

 

Take a heat gun or a blow dryer and heat up the spot you want and it should make it go away .. just move it around not staying in one place to long ..

Plus it should make them look new again or close . Good luck

 

If black is the molded color, then the arches are probably black all the way through. That means any white marks are probably on or near the surface and likely removable by one of the methods you folks described. Anyone agree/disagree?
Thanks again.

 

Yes. Arches are black plastic. I just bought an r53 that had deep scratches and scrapes in a few of the arches. I replaced 4 of them, bought from ECS Tuning.

 

Well, I took everyone's advice and got ahold of a non-retail plastic cleaner through my friend in the paint business, went over to the dealer and tried it on one arch. Worked great, so I decided to buy the car. Just as the sales guy (MA?) and I shook on it, he was told that the car had just been sold.
I test drove a beautiful red '07 with a black leather interior but the big wheels and low profile tires, with their likelihood of more blowouts, scared me away.
The hunt continues.
Thanks, again, for all your advice.

 

I wouldn't let wheels and tires scare me away. They can easily be swapped out. And lots of us have been running on low profile tires for years with no issues. you in an area with lots of bad potholes ?

 

Yup, I am. NYC area.
But I will take into account your comment about not fearing low profile tires.
Thanks.

 

running 215/45-17 non-runflats and have been since winter '06. bent several rims but no blowouts [yet, looking around for some wood to knock on now...]