I've had my LaB/W for three days now, and today i park the car in my driveway and notice that there is a small dark bump on one of my white bonnet stripes. I wipe it away, and it leaves a stain behind. Get soap and water, stain's still there. Get the clay bar out...still stained.

Has anyone else had experience with this?

 

Weeping windshield washer fluid from the "squirters" (no dirty comments )?

That's what mine came from anyway.

 

I've not had a problem, but I would be very upset if I had.

 

40 grit sandpaper will get that right out.

Don't rub too hard or you'll go through the hood.

 

i think a gentle rub... let us know

 

Some of the 07 R56s did have a problem with weeping washer jets that would cause staining of the bonnet stripes.

There is a service bulletin out on this where they will add in a check valve to the tubing which prevents the weeping. If this is the cause, they should also replace the bonnet stripe(s) under warranty. At least this was the case for mine.

The service bulletin was attached to an R53 bulletin when mine went in for service, I do not know if it has been corrected to an R56 bulletin now but it did take my SA a while to find it since it was added to an R53 one instead of creating a new bulletin for the R56.

The good news is that is an easy warranty fix.

PS. By the way, they replaced both my bonnet stripes as it took a while for them to get a fix (3 months or so) for it so I didn't want them to replace one stripe and leave the other with excess fading due to sun exposure.

 

Thanks everyone, but I am almost certain that it is not from a weeping washer, as the stain is almost at the bottom of the bonnet. It appears to be more like a blueberry type stain?

 

Try a fairly abrasive auto polish (Sratch-X, or something like that) on a microfiber towel and rub verrrrrrry gently in a circular motion over that stain.

I had a bird crap on my bonnet last summer on a 97 degree day and it baked on the paint while I was in the office. Took me 20 minutes of gentle rubbing to get that stain out.

And if you're parking near a tree... don't. In fact, if you're going to park the MINI outside on a regular basis, I highly recommend a car cover. You have to make sure the car is clean and dry before you cover it, but it's a small price to pay for having beautiful paint (and stripes) in the long run.

 

chances are that blueberry-type stain is a combination of windshield washer fluid and a substance called "Cosmoline" left over from the transoceanic shipping process that the VDC power wash did not get out. there are threads on NAM that discuss this , so do a search. hell my 2005 S still weeps cosmoline from the rear wiper assembly here 3.5 years and 26K later. It never goes away it seems.

for the stripes, try Klasse AllInOne cleaner wax, very gently, should do the trick. as far as I know, Klasse AIO is the only product that will remove it--until it weeps again.

 

Or just really nasty, vindictive birds with a penchant for dark-colored berries. I'm not sure WHY they target my white truck and my poor MINI, but i'm begining to be a serious bird-hater.

Would a touch of bleach help while working on the stain? (I'm assuming the stripes are white - so don't even think about it if they aren't!)

 

I think the stripes stain and mark up way to easy. I don't think they are the best quality.

 

whatever you do don't get 40 grit sandpaper anywhere near your car!!! 40 grit is totally too abrasive for anything but smoothing rough wood.

 

It worked well on my acne as a teenager.

 

can't think of the exact name, but there's something made by Tide (the laundry detergent) like "Magic Eraser" - I've never seen one, just heard them recommended for cleaning odd things like this... probably can't hurt to try.

I saw it recommended for cleaning palm-print smudges off a MacBook keypad (the area where your palms rest)... when nothing else would clean it.

 

Do not use a Magic Eraser"! It's a very abrasive pad that cleans by removing some of the surface! I would go with the recommendations to try car-specific cleaning products. Try posting your question in the "Detailing 101" forum, you'll get lots of advice.

 

Ok, thanks guys. I'll go post there. Sorry I'm still really new and learning where things belong.

 

mine leaked, got the check valve and the stripes replaced.

 

I had mysterious brown circular stains appear on my bonnet stripes on my 2004 a few days after I got it. Took it to the dealer and they tried to get them out. They claimed the stripes as defective and replaced them there on the spot.