I pickup up my Laser Blue MCS three weeks ago. Last week we had some pretty serious rain for most of the week and noticed what looked like 'bird droppings' on the front hood near the black wheel trim. After closer inspection, I noticed it on both front wheel trims in the vacinity of where the seam is on wheel trim on the previous models. Also on the B pillar near the door latch and under the hood. This stuff leaves a nasty streak on the black plastic and seems next to impossible to clean off. I stopped by the dealer this morning and was informed that this is factory lubricant for the hinges and was told that there isn't too much they can do about it.

Has anybody else noticed this and is there a way to clean it off? Also, should the dealer be a little more eager to help clean it off?

 

That is likely the protective wax they spray the cars with before they are shipped. Its cleaned off when they arrive, but residue in the nooks and crannies drips out when the car is in the sun, or its hot out.

 

I saw something like that on the right front fender, also thought it was bird poo, or I was worried it was coolant. I think I got it cleaned off with a soapy solution.

 

Meguiars NXT Speed Detailer (got mine at walmart) gets it off quick not to mention just does a good job on the rest of the car when you wanna do a quick shine...

 

Not to worry.. it's simply an anti rust inhibitor that's sprayed on the two pieces of the hood before they're welded together. The heat from your new motor (congrats on the buy) will cause some of it to soften and run - mostly from the 'pointy spot' in the hood right above the side markers.

There's really nothing your dealer could have done about it, unless you wanted them to drive the car far enough to heat the goo up and get it to run, then clean it off before you took delivery.

Open your hood, and wipe the goo off the spots where you can see that it's run.. You may have to do that a couple times, but eventually all that goo that will run will have run..

 

Thanks!

After washing the cars this morning I used some Mother's Back-to-Black we had on the trim and that seems to have helped although you can still see the drip marks if you get right up to it.

I'll clean up under the hood and remove any additional spots now that I know what it actually is.

 

Contrary to popular belief they don't cover MINIs in cosmoline, and the MINIs aren't de-waxed at the VDC. However they do put either cosmoline or some other rust protection stuff in a bunch of places, later it leaks out when it gets hot and is a pain in the butt to clean. Expect to have that oozing out for months.

 

hmmm.... not really looking forward to having to clean that stuff off the trim again!

 

I had some of that goo drip on my paint. I thought the paint was damaged (looked like an acid burn) and I couldn't get it off trying several different things. Finally, I used a small piece of wet Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and with very little pressure, the goo was gone and there was no damage to the paint. It looked as good as new.

 

I used Prima Mystique, in a slightly higher than normal concentration and took it right off, then I used Hydro and buffed it up to a shine.

 

Since I use KLASSE TWINS (AIO and SG from day one), and AEROSPACE 303, all that stuff just washes off with my weekly wash.

 

Never even thought about the Magic Eraser, some pretty good suggestions.

Thanks!

 

I had the same problem and took it to the dealer because it was returning every few days. They took the "stains" off with some 3M spray and told me that they'd be happy to wash and re detail it if it continues to show up because the factory used too much. Only problem is the dealer is an hour away and it's not that big of a deal.