Hey everyone! I would like to have your advice on my situation… I bought/received my new Mini Cooper 2014 (F56) on July 25th (less than 2 weeks) and found that there was a marks (look like glue) on the hood. It is only visible when it is very sunny outside and/or under the light (ex: garage) so I didn't see it when I picked up from the dealership. I went back to the dealership and they were not able to remove the marks and said that it was an issue with the paint. They called me today and advise me that it will be fixed under the warranty and I have to take an appointment to their bodywork shop (BMW certified).

I’m a little bit scared about getting my brand new car (hood) repaint. I heard that an “aftermarket” paint job is not good as a “factory” one which could cause some issue later (chip easily, flake, etc..). I’m also worried about being able to see the difference (color) after they will repaint my hood (or spot that is affected). What are your advice on this? Thanks!

 

Are those marks on the drivers' side near the windshield nozzle? If so it could be a bad nozzle which leaks windshield washer fluid and etches into the paint. I had nozzle replaced along with the addition of a pressure damper.

 

I got a brand new hood as a result of an accident. The body shop matched the paint perfectly and I believe the thickness of the paint/clear coat exceeds the factory spec. In other words, don't worry, it will look great and may even be better than the robot paint job from the plant.

 

My friend told me it's impossible to get a perfect match for metallic paint for BMW/MB. He said the body shop paint and factory shop paint are never be the same. Is it true or do I have a very picky friend? On the other hand, I couldn't tell any difference after my Toyota Avalon Silver Spruce Metallic came out from body shop works.

 

I have a midnight black F56 with metallic flake. The body shop used MINI paint and prepped to spec. Color, clear coat, everything matches. The car went to the MINI dealer for inspection and my service adviser looked at the paint in the sun, cloudy day, low light, and so on to make sure the paint matched. A BMW certified repair shop will have the down draft paint booths and equipment to provide a great paint job. I had the same concern as well. . . fish eyes, runs, color variations, etc. I was pleasantly surprised and the end result exceeded my (and my service advisor's expectations). The body shop that did my car also specializes in BMW, Cadillac, Porche, Audi, and other high end cars.

 

Paint matching has come along way.. Don't worry about it. It will come out fine.

 

It could just be in the clear coat so it may only need a little wet sanding and some more clear coat.

Look at the bright side... if they do have to repaint your hood you will have the thickest paint on your hood since the factory paint is about as thin as they can get away with.

More defense from rock chips.

 

It really depends on how good your eyes are.
TBH, my 5 days old F56 went into the body shop to get the hood and fender fixed and repainted. Thanks to the tint shop that dropped a engine stand on my brand new vehicle.

But needless to say, when cars are being assembled from the factory. EVERYTHING is robotic, from assembling to painting.
Once repainted, it will never be the same.

Anyways, from the pics. You dont look like u need a repaint. Worst case scenario just some wet sanding and buffing and you will be good as new

 

I'm with Fenderpicks. Looks from the photos like the marks are in the clear coat. A bird dropped on my car near the hatch handle I had to wet sand with 3000 grit then polish with an electric polisher. I probably removed half the clear coat but the mark is gone.

 

Thanks for the advice guys! I’m a little bit more confident on getting my brand new MINI fixed. I spoke with the dealership today and they said that they will repaint the whole hood. They suggested me to call the bodyshop and ask them my questions (quality of the paint, etc..). Hopefully everything is going to be good and I won’t have any other trouble with my new car.

Last Friday, I brought the car to get the windows tinted (not at the dealership) and they didn’t do a good job. The 2 front window are full of bubbles because of the window that drop a little bit when you open the door and the 2 back side window are full of scratch. Short story… I have to bring back the car Friday so they will completely redo all the windows.

 

I had the weeping washer nozzle problem right from the start on my F56. It's been back to the dealer who brought it to a certified BMW body shop. They wet sanded it twice, I'm not excited with the results. I'm thinking the only way to get it right is a respray at this point. Again not excited to have my hood resprayed either

 

I found that I also have the windshield nozzle issue on my MINI... When I got out this afternoon (sunny and very hot day), I noticed a leak dried on my hood (see pic). Not sure if this could be related to my first issue (marks on the hood).

I'll call my dealership Monday and try to get this fixed before they repaint my hood.

I'm a little disappointed about all this... It's the 3rd car that I buy new and I didn't had any issue with the 2 previous one (Mazda Speed3/CX-7). Hopefully that everything will be fixed soon and I will be able to start enjoying my new MINI.

 

Your friend is right. BMW/MINI has a paint detector that can tell if it's factory original paint or not. A good shop may be able match the paint job correctly to the naked eye. But it will not pass the machine test. Make sure you have it documented so you don't have any issue with warranty later on.

 

Most paint shops will not be able to match the quality of OEM, they will tell you they can, but they can't. You have a better chance on the hood than other body panels, because it can be removed and painted separately.

Your car looks like it's white silver. I am not sure of the specifics of this paint, but silver is in general a difficult color to match, being the hood works to your advantage here as well though, because the hood isn't adjacent to a panel that it is in the same plane as (like a door and a front fender).

Typically when a panel is painted, certain edges are masked off and you can feel the tape line, this takes some experience, but it's one of the ways a dealer or savvy buyer can tell, the other is a paint depth gauge which measures the thickness of the paint, the repainted panel will read thicker than other panels on the vehicle, a telltale that it's been repainted.

With all of that being said, a couple points...

1) I would try and find a high end detailing shop in your area, there is a good chance they will be able to fix this. Most dealers don't have very good detailing staff. If they are able to repair it, there will be no signs and you can probably have them go over the rest of the car when it's there and it will leave looking better than when you picked it up at the dealer.

2) Even if it is painted, most people aren't going to notice, it doesn't mean it won't be obvious if you look for the signs though.