I got hit with a nast bird bomb today and couldn't get it off until I got home about 8 hours later. I soaked the mass with quick detailer and it came off. Unfortunately, it left a rough spot where it was which I took it down a little with a clay bar, Zaino all in one cleaner/wax, and another heavy dose of quick detailer, and more wax on top of that. Some of it is still there and at certain angles it is very noticable. Is there anything out there that you guys can recommed to get that stain out, or has it already eaten its way into the clear coat?

 

This happened to a fellow club member last month. Uses Ziano too since the MINI was new in 05. From several angles the poop stain is still visible. He tried everything.

As I, he has been using Ziano for long time, does it by the book and often. His MINI's paint finish is better than showroom. But I am becoming suspicious of the acutal protection this Ziano stuff provides. It did nothing for his paint finish and apparently yours as well....

 

Detailer and a microfiber in the boot... stays clean and fights against poo's lol

 

Maybe a fine polish and random orbital polisher will do the trick.
I use Prima Epic wax and have not had that problem.... but I may not have had a run-in with YOUR bird.

 

I don't think this is a Ziano problem (and I am an Epic user). Bird poop which sits for a while is just a problem no matter what sealer/wax you use.
I had a similar problem with Epic and a PC was able to get the problem out with some M80.

 

OP- polish it out. scratch-x and foam pad. wax afterwards.

 

I have the same problem at times. Kenchan is right. The only way to make it perfect again is to wheel it out with a very mild polish. There really isn't a wax that can guard you from acidic bird crap. You just need to wash it off ASAP.

 

Polishing compound is the only thing that's going to take care of it at this point.

 

Thanks for the tips. I probably need to use something a little more aggressive than what I've been using. It just sucks as it was my first day taking the mini to work after picking it up over the weekend.

 

i got a windshield chip on the 3rd day of ownership but i repaired to the best of my abilities ... i still see it

 

Bird poo etching can happen in as little as 10 seconds and will go straight through any sort of wax barrier. All these coatings do is buy you some time to remove the problem..but 8 hours is a LONG time...the damage has already been done.

Zaino, Epic, Turtle Wax, etc... will all give varying amounts of protection. It's the same as rock chips. Can't expect wax to protect your paint from physical impacts, and bird poo is a chemical attack on your paint.

As far as improving it, buffing with a polisher as people have said might help, but the best thing to do is look at it with a magnifying loupe. A 10x is sufficient and you can see how deep is the damage..if it went straight through the clear..no amount of buffing will fix it. Just use a wax with fillers..your Zaino has them...and learn to ignore the problem area is about all you can do.

Richard

 

I picked up a bottle of scratch x after work today and attacked the affected area. It took a little bit of rubbing, but I managed to get all of it out. Luckily, it wasn't as deep as I thought. I went over it again with some more Zaino, but for the record, I haven't had a chance to give the car a coat or three of Zaino yet. I'm waiting for this weekend to wash and wax it. Whatever the factory or dealer put on the paint is protecting the finish right now (which is probably nothing).

 

Zaino really does make the car look great, but I've heard consistent reports that people who use it feel that sometimes it doesn't provide adequate protection unless layered or they use the Zaino as a base and add a wax on top. As Richard mentioned...the acidity of the bird poop is going to eat through those layers, but the combination of sealer and wax might be stronger.

On the other hand, maybe this is just the excuse you need to pick up some new detailing supplies

 

Well...I'm looking forward to this Sunday when I can actually wash my MINI and give it the full Zaino treatment, 3 coats to be exact. There's probably nothing on the car now as I just took delivery last Saturday. I have Zaino on my E350 and it was bombed by a similar poop pile with no ill effects on the finish whatsoever. I'm pretty confident that the Zaino will still come through. I hit the polished area with some of Zaino's all-in-one simply because I didn't want to mix up a batch of my regular Zaino when I knew I wouldn't be able to use all of it by the time it cured in the mixing bottle.

 

Happy to report that, after what may not have equated to an "epic" bird stain, it's been removed and fully cleaned. My strategy was warm soapy water with GRIOTS microfiber cloths to just sit and soak on the spots for a minute or two (which loosened the grody hard stuff) and then gently push away the majority of the blob. Following that, some Meguiars quick detailer and another microfiber cloth and all is good. Was worried about the potential of a remaining mark but everything looks OK. Hoping some of that was due to recent waxing.