I have a 2010 R56 S with ~17k miles, and have a weird paint problem that just started on the front bumper...

Bumper

Bumper

At first I thought it was just road grime, or perhaps salt. Then I got a free Sundary car wash at the dealer and noticed it's still there immediately after. At closer inspection, I think it's primer?

It's almost as though the paint as been buffed off these spots on the bumper.

I've never hit anything or been hit affecting the front bumper. I have a valet every day park my car, but I know the guys and can even see the lot from my office. I don't think they hit anything (and how would that not show impact, just paint damage?)

I had my car detailed recently, but strictly paid for interior detailing... no reason to even touch the car exterior let alone some odd spot on the bumper.

Should I go to the dealership, and will the standard warranty cover fixing these spots? What might have happened?

 

just noticed a cut in the bumper in the first picture... on second thought I think someone did something...

 

Hard to tell, it does look like the paint has been sanded off.
My guess would be the valet tried to fix a scratch and sanded the area thus bringing the paint down to the primer.
Or something is continually rubbing against that area ...maybe the valet has brushed another cars bumper against your bumper?
Since your leaving your car in the hands of a valet everday any number of things could happen. ...I can't think of any road salt that would cause that kind of a sanded pattern. Does this appear anywhere else on your car?

 

Something is all over your grill and the chrome as well. Whatever it is, it looks like it has eaten through the clear coat and destroyed the paint (hard to tell without looking at it up close). Warranty is not going to cover this, but your insurance might. Either way, it looks like a respray and new chrome parts will be needed.

 

Was my inital thoughts, then i guessed/assumed it was residue from the carwash that was not rinsed off....
Interesting if the clearcoat has been buffed off....ever get the car buffed/waxed?

 

By any chance were you following one of those salt trucks that lays down the liquid salt treatment for the roads prior to snow? Or did you follow any kind of truck/ vehicle that was leaking something. That looks like a chemical erosion.

 

I'm thinkin' something of this must have happened although I can't think of a single instance...

The chrome has peeled too, and it's definitely all over the lower portion of the car... it's almost peeling the chrome on the scoop too!

All I can say is WTF!? I have a picture of my car 3 weeks ago with none of this BS.

Any idea how much this would cost to spray and fix?

 

You didn't **** anyone off did you? Worst case scenario is that someone sprayed something on it to eat away the paint.

Cost depends. I would imagine the bumper will need to be totally sanded down and cleaned up then resprayed. The chrome parts will need to be replaced. Either way, you are looking at a nice little bill there. My guess will be 600 plus... (it is just a guess)

 

That is about $3,000 ( guestimate ) in damage there, They will need to basically respray the front, and replace the chrome trim.

I would call the insurance company since as said someone could have vandalized the car.

 

Really? That seems so high.

Replacing the entire rear bumper (bumper, paint, etc.) when a semi bumped me with his hitch was $700. The chrome trim on outmotoring is like $75?

 

It really depends on how you go about it. If they do it right, they will need to strip and prep the entire bumper then coat it several times. If they want to just cover it, they can clean and prep the affected area and respray just that area blending it in. Just depends on what you want as to what the cost will be.

 

That's actually really cheap for the previous work you had done. A lady at my job had a bumper, light and trim replaced on her Nissan versa after a tire blow out hit the front of her car. That bill was $2,200 and I figured being a mini was a bit more. Perhaps go get a couple estimates and see what the body shops say?

 

Front bumper on the right side looks to have been scuffed with something. Looks intentional. The stuff left of the license looks like something ran down the bumper. I see the grille chrome but can't tell much from the pics. I'd try some wax and hit the chrome and the bumper and see what happens.

If you do call the insurance company it'll probably be a comprehensive claim since it doesn't look like a collision loss. That may make a difference as to what your deductible is. Just looks like a simple disassembly and repaint. Been in the collision repair business for 30+ years and that's a real simple repair. In south east Virginia, our labor rates would put that somewhere around $350. Your area may be more, seems like our labor rate is about as low as anywhere in the country.

 

Why???????????????????

 

Boss pays for my parking everyday in downtown Chicago, which is kind of a big deal. I really wanted to drive my car everyday so this was awesome. :(

I'm afraid it might have affected the hood too. I'm going to get a closer inspection tonight before calling the insurance company.

I can't think of any reason why anyone would want to vandalize my car, or when I might have been exposed to any chemical other than driving around in Chicago's salty winter roads.

Could whatever chemical did this also get past the grill and affect what's under the hood??

 

$1000 + in my area to get a respray, I have checked around.

 

What parts are they repainting for that price. The DC/Baltimore labor rates are only about 4-6 bucks per hour higher than here. They're usually around 48-50 bucks per hour.

 

Front bumper and lower bonnet.

 

When ya add the bonnet and some chips you're getting pretty close. Might be a little high, but that's in the ballpark for a bonnet and bumper

 

Hence my previous quote of about 600. I figured with prep, paint and new chrome trim it would be about that.

 

So the plot thickens...

I went outside and took a closer look at the "damage" and began cleaning it with a microfiber cloth + mild water/dish soap solution. No change.

However, when I gently scratched the chrome that looked to be totally peeled with my nail, this residue completely came right off:


https://i.imgur.com/jTYOAMH.jpg

It was all over the headlight in tiny patches that I could scratch off too. It was much more stubborn on the plastic bumper and hood. I could barely cause any effect on the huge white patches that looked like someone sanded off.

There is nothing like this on the driver's side.

Is it possible it's DRIED wax???? I mentioned earlier I went in for an INTERIOR detail service on January 29th. Maybe they tried to wax the front until they realized thats what I wasn't paying for and didn't bother removing it?

I am going to get some dried wax remover tomorrow and see what happens on the bumper... any ideas?

 

Are they valet parking your car in a consistent spot where you could have a pipe or something else leaking gunk onto your bumper daily?

 

Jeez, how hard is this? Call a professional detailer, see if it can be removed. If that fails, take it to a body shop. It's not any kind of a "normal failure". Something got on your car.

 

Is the garage a concrete structure? This looks to me like lime corrosion that could be caused by water seeping through concrete and dripping on the car. The valet guys could have tried to remove it causing the scuffing marks.

 

+1
That happened to me on the hood of a red Jeep an it looked just like that.

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