I have had two instances where birds have blessed my car. The first one was on my black roof. I washed it off 15 minutes later. Well I was surprised to find that it left the paint. It discolored it in the place where the droppings had been. Upon closer inspection I noticed that the paint was actually moved somewhat and had puddled. I called the dealer along with service and was told it is not guaranteed from outside debree. I called Mini USA service and was told the same thing along with the explanation that Mini is ahead of its time by using water based paint and the paint therefore soft. I said that it seems a little extraordinary that the birds that hit my car seem to have an extra dose of acid in it's excrement to be able to cause the damage it did after being on the vehicle for only a few minutes. I have owed many vehicles and still own two additional vehicles that suffer no damage from every day environmental situations. I find that water based or not paint should be able to stand up to birds. Update: last week I was hit again from the deadly flying poop but on the body of the Chile Red bonnet. This time it remained on the car for about 40 minutes. I was not too worried this time though because I protected the paint with a PTFE (the same substance that makes nonstick cookware) chemically bonded and blended to the paint surface. Well I washed it off and to my disappointment and anger the same result as the first episode. My contention after speaking with other Mini owners across the land is there is a definite defect as to the paint itself or the lack of clear-coat or other application on top of soft paint so we have a vehicle that holds up though the most common and simple exposures of a vehicles life. I think it is not outrageous to not have to have body or paint work done if our Minis are hit with SXXT. I want to here from others who have experienced this same problem and then form a ceritfied type class action after serving them with a mass coordinated formal compliant. I would be willing to seek the proper legal counsel and let others join. By the way my Mini was built in August 2002 Chile Red. If others would include build dates to qualify researching the paint seems to see if the problem is across the board. :evil: :evil: :evil: :???: :???:

 

That, my friend, sucks big time. As if you didn't know that... And now I'll leave the post alone so that other rightfully disgruntled patrons can voice their complaints. Just wanted to sympathize... and I hope you get this mess (literally) resovled--good luck!

 

I've had problems with bird poo which have been documented elsewhere here, but mainly because I was too hasty cleaning it, and scratched my clearcoat (or lack thereof), leaving a hazy spot. The actual paint doesn't appear to be damaged, though.

 

You've really got to clay bar that paint and WAX WAX WAX it!!!!!!!!! It's like going outside in the rain. If you don't wear a coat you'll get wet. Same theory. No wax, you're paint is not protected.

I've pulled MANY bird doos off my black top and had NO issues. They've even baked on for a couple days in the sun of a parking lot.

Sounds like your paint is totally lacking any protection from wax or otherwise. YIKES!!! Get waxin'!

R

 

Davebret right, this is nothing that a good application of Zaino or any other quality wax would have helped prevented. I receive like everyone else, bird droppings weekly. I just try to be real careful to remove and not to scratch the clear coat. I have had zero paint issues with my EB MCS with white top.

 

Well I must say that my MCS has the worst paint off all the cars I have ever owned. I own 7 cars now One of them is a 59 Anglia and its factory paint hold up better than my MCS paint. I protect them all the same and the only one with pit and holes in the paint is the MCS.

 

>>You've really got to clay bar that paint and WAX WAX WAX it!!!!!!!!! It's like going outside in the rain. If you don't wear a coat you'll get wet. Same theory. No wax, you're paint is not protected.
>>
>>I've pulled MANY bird doos off my black top and had NO issues. They've even baked on for a couple days in the sun of a parking lot.
>>
>>Sounds like your paint is totally lacking any protection from wax or otherwise. YIKES!!! Get waxin'!

I agree that wax is important! I have owned many, many, many automobiles. Waxing is a fundamental of good ownership. My car is waxed regularly. Lack of quality wax is not the problem. It was also paint protected by PTFE's. Please read and state build dates as I asked before if you have experienced a problem. By stating problem and build date, it is a way to determine if it is isolated to particular colors, or paint batches that have the problems. Paint should not discolor, haze, fade puddle or change in any way after a bird dropping hits it. Please I do not want care detailing lessons just a solution to a problem that myself and that myself are experiencing.

 

Hey Minilee,
I agree with your assessment of the paint. My Jet black Cooper has a build date of June, 2002. I was bombed twice on the bonnet about two months ago and to my disappoinment the paint stained and looked bubbly after the poop was removed. I have waxed my Cooper at least every two weeks since last September. I had a very difficult time tryiing to restore the finish to what it was before and still can see the outline of the droppings on the bonnet. I'm not sure if the paint itself is stained or the clearcoat. I now avoid parking near any location where our feathered bombers may be.

 

...are these birds eating nuclear berries???

R

 

My thoughts exactly. Could it be that the birds in your area ate something that made their droppings particularly acidic, so that the paint was damaged? It might be worth a mention to the local agriculture extension agency, then make sure that you don't have any of those "berries" nearby.

 

I've had many occasions of bird droppings covering my Y/B MCS hood almost completely. And I took my sweet a$$ time to clean it off (my car has never been waxed), however, no damage at all. I'm thinking the birds ate tomatoes or something to that extent or you're missing some ingredient in your paint.

Good luck, and in the meanwhile wax that baby!

 

>>My thoughts exactly. Could it be that the birds in your area ate something that made their droppings particularly acidic, so that the paint was damaged? It might be worth a mention to the local agriculture extension agency, then make sure that you don't have any of those "berries" nearby.

I would think the birds that get my MINI are no different from the ones who get my neighbors or anyone else in this geographic region. Minis do not come clear coated to my understanding. That coupled with the fact they are water based does not help but I still think paint should not be affected especially to the extent that a few Mini friends and mine have experienced. I am sure the birds eat all sorts of acidic berries and substances and excrement is acidic by nature anyway. The point is it should not be a bearing on the effects it takes on MINIs. If this is a persistent problem geographically then MINI needs to know as well so they can plan for this. The collect data from your ecu when you go into service and send it to the main databank to get geographic info for the engine tuning in the future so why not do the same for all build quality?

Keep on posting. ops:

 

I have an assigned spot under a tree. I have had
more bird sh$t on my car than probably anyone else
on this forum. No problems to date.
BTW I am in FL. and I am talking all kinds and sizes
of birds. I don't even look up at the sky anymore.

 

MINIs ARE clear-coated. The problem of soft water-based paints is not unique to MINI. Most manufacturers nowadays are using water-based paints and they can be easily etched by acidic bird droppings.

I had a similar experience with bird droppings on the hood of my last car, a Volkswagen Passat.

It seems that the solvent-based paints that cars used to be painted with were much better at standing up to this kind of stuff.

At any rate, the key is lots of wax and then removing the bird droppings as soon as possible. Most times you will be OK but if the birds have eaten berries or some other acidic food your paint can be etched pretty easily.

 

Unfortunately, I got hit yesterday, right on my bonnet and it also messed up my paint a little. I think that the problem isn't the poop itself, but it's a combination of the poop and HEAT! If the surface is hot, when the poop hits it, the acid in the poop reacts quickly and cause slight imperfections on the spot where it hit. My car has been hit many times, but only when the surface is hot is when any sort of damage occurs. At least for me anyway.

 

Did this bird crap modify the car, changing its performance?

 

Happened to mine too... twice!!! The first time, bird sh*t had apparently found it's way to my electric blue bonnet and had rested there sometime between my lunch break and 4:30 PM. Given that, Clear coat should hold up for 3.5 hours. The second time, I was in the car when it happened, and washed it right off and it stained again. Within 10 minutes! What gives? I am fanatical about keeping my cars clean and polished, and have never seen a car suffer such damage in such a short amount of time. I would love to get it fixed.

 

>>Did this bird crap modify the car, changing its performance?





His, Chile RED all over / Hers, EB UJ on top.