"100s" of stone chips - advice?

[G30M]

so I now recall why i can't drive expensive cars, the paint don't agree with the roads.

i bought a paint touch up kit for a 4000 mile G30 with Bluestone Metallic. i've only ever driven this car on public roads / tarmac.

only to discover maybe 30-40 stone chips around or less than 1mm in size, 1 spot is 2mm and 1 spot is 3mm

should i just leave the small ones? but under the paint looks like white porcelain - is that the primer?

my other M340i that i sold the white porcelain revealed under the paint turned black after some time (not sure why)

what's the best thing to do? (not worried about cosmetic, just want longevity)

[moooza]

Aren't they aluminium bonnets? What's your concern with longevity?

You can get stick on bonnet protectors to prevent more chips.

Don't use touch up paint for the small chips, instead, I forgot what it is called, but it's pretty much a crayon that fills the little chip. Makes it way less visible than touchup paint.

[DrVenture]

I know that my m550 hood is not magnetic.

There are dozens of YouTube videos showing a procedure where you wipe the touch up across the surface with your finger, a rag, or a "squeegee", then polish it to fix tiny chips (road rash). I have never tried it. He appears to be using a foam polishing pad on a rotary machine and polishing compound. The pad and choice of compound will determine the aggressiveness of the polishing/cutting process.

A steady hand and a tiny brush will work on the larger nicks/chips.

Here is an example:

[John in VA]

Dr. ColorChip is popular for this type of repair.

[G30M]

Originally Posted by DrVenture

I know that my m550 hood is not magnetic.

There are dozens of YouTube videos showing a procedure where you wipe the touch up across the surface with your finger, a rag, or a "squeegee", then polish it to fix tiny chips (road rash). I have never tried it. He appears to be using a foam polishing pad on a rotary machine and polishing compound. The pad and choice of compound will determine the aggressiveness of the polishing/cutting process.

A steady hand and a tiny brush will work on the larger nicks/chips.

Here is an example:

thanks this is too dangerous for me to try ;p
will take to a pro one day

[G30M]

Originally Posted by moooza

Aren't they aluminium bonnets? What's your concern with longevity?

my last car the white aluminum turned black - that's oxidixation apparently?

is that not a bad thing?

[Jaizero]

Dr. Colorchip is all you need.

[c1pher]

Like others, I have had a lot of success with Dr. Colorchip. The paint matches perfectly and in most cases you will have a difficult time locating the chip location if you take your time during the repair.

[tracer bullet]

Agreed to the wet sanding afterwards but you do have to be pretty brave and definitely suggest having some experience if the car has a lot of value left in it.

For the touch-up I'd suggest 2 things, 1 is have the finest brush you can buy, don't settle for anything with bigger bristles, even a kids watercolor paint brush - get something with a super fine point that you just barely touch into your paint supply. 2 is use something like a jeweler's loupe, or glass with magnifiers in them, you really want a magnified view to see the detail of what you're doing.

[cooolone2]

DIY requires some knowledge and experience at least with polishing paint, paint correction. But you're basically filling a hole with paint and taking it down to match the surface level of paint to be flat. Issue is you'll impact the clear coat, which needs to be replaced as well if you're going to do that. Otherwise the spots will show and not bland well of you doppling paint into the holes created by chipped paint. Today's Water Based paints just sück... It chips so easily... Hate it actually! Gimme back some good ol' enamel paint, lol!

[CSBM5]

Dr Colorchip is the way to go for 99% of people. It's a quick and easy process. I've used it on numerous cars for more than 15 years. When my E39 M5 had about 50k miles on it, the bumper cover had many small chips from highway driving and track use...way too many to even think of trying to individually attend to each one.

I used DCC and their road rash repair method where (after thoroughly cleaning with IPA) you smear their paint solution all over the area of chips, let it dry, and then use the sealact solution to slowly remove the excess paint. The outcome was amazing, but I think we (my wife is a quasi-dcc expert now) did the process three times since sometimes the filled in chip paint comes partly out when you're using the sealact. We also did the area on the hood on each side and between the grills and also behind the front tires where it made any rash there disappear essentially. Yes, of course if you're close to the surface (say less than 2 feet) and you look carefully you can see filled in chips, but any further away and it looks fantastic. Smooth, glossy appearance, etc. Here's a pic of the M5 before I sold it in 2018 after 15 years. If you zoom in close on the bumper cover area below the foglights, you can barely see evidence of the chip repair. It sure beat all the ugly white chips look by a long shot!

[FrankMstein]

I have used Dr CC and Scratches Happen for Sakhir and the Dr CC was off (and no it wasn't Sakihr II) so I went with SH for wheels and calipers and so far they are 100% color match. I use a syringe/needle, build up, level, polish, technique. Tried wiping and apparently I do not possess that skill.

[cbpip]

Remove the cover and have it resprayed.

[Pippy]

Like others have said dr chip works well

[G30M]

Thanks all, I haven't done anything other than try to go the 3mm chip.

If I leave the rest and the aluminum goes black is that a problem?

[cooolone2]

If extensively chipped, I would remove the front cover and have it resprayed, clear coated and the PPF it to help avoid it later... May take my own advice soon

The "fill" the chip, squeegee, polish method works, but is subjective to the hand that applies it!

Good Luck