Paint issues black parts

[lovemyi3]

Hi all,

We're very (very!) happy with our i3 (driving around the Netherlands). Only thing I've noticed is how delicate the black paint (mostly on the hood and the back) is. The hood already has quite some severe spots by damages from outside influences (chipping / corroding) , even though we clean it in an appropriate manner on an almost daily basis.
Anyone else recognize this issue?
I passed by the BMW dealer and for them it wasn't a commonly known issue. And it's also not part of the warranty. (Even though I would gladly debate that even with the worst kind of use, this type of outside influence damage is not to be expected after only 2 months.)
Anyone else seems to notice these special issues with the black parts?
Thank for letting me know.

 

[joni3s]

Hi all,

We're very (very!) happy with our i3 (driving around the Netherlands). Only thing I've noticed is how delicate the black paint (mostly on the hood and the back) is. The hood already has quite some severe spots by damages from outside influences (chipping / corroding) , even though we clean it in an appropriate manner on an almost daily basis.
Anyone else recognize this issue?
I passed by the BMW dealer and for them it wasn't a commonly known issue. And it's also not part of the warranty. (Even though I would gladly debate that even with the worst kind of use, this type of outside influence damage is not to be expected after only 2 months.)
Anyone else seems to notice these special issues with the black parts?
Thank for letting me know.

i have some small rock nick issues, but nothing that probably can't be touched up with a pen kit. BTW what is corroding?

 

[Fisher99]

The black hood and hatch on my 2013 still look good, although I do notice fading on the black roof.

 

[alohart]

The black hood and hatch on my 2013 still look good, although I do notice fading on the black roof.

The roof isn't painted, so it's not like other black i3 body parts. It's CFRP with a clear resin coating that doesn't seem to age very well when frequently exposed to strong sunlight.

 

[Fisher99]

Interesting note about the roof. Thanks!

 

[trumpetdoug]

Could it be since the hood (bonnet) is plastic, the paint is different? Perhaps a softer version of "regular" paint. I have no idea really, just a thought.

Doug - out

 

[lovemyi3]

Thanks all! And with corroding I meant to write corrosion (I think mostly from bird poop).

 

[Anonymous]

After every wash, I treat the roof and bonnet/hood with a UV blocking car detailing spray. So far no fading, no roof bubbling from sun damage to the roof clearcoat, no bird-poop corrosion on roof or bonnet/hood) .

 

[jadnashuanh]

BMW, and probably every other manufacturer, uses an additive in their paint when used on flexible materials like plastic parts or flexible things like bumper covers. This allows it to flex a bit more than needed on rigid metal parts without breaking its bond to the underlying materials.

My i3 is over 5-years old now and I've not noticed anything unusual WRT the paint. It rarely gets parked inside, so it sees the full effects of weather from direct sun, snow, and rain.

A good sealant or wax is important for keeping the paint looking good. Luckily, where I park, bird poop isn't usually an issue. I do try to remove it when that does happen.

Black does show defects probably more than most other colors, though.

 

[trumpetdoug]

True that! My Prius looked amazing in black 15 years ago. Not so much now!

Doug - out

 

[tliet]

Hey fellow Dutchie!

The black paint is not really sturdy, if the rest of the car has metallic paint, the black parts don't have this. An idea good be to wrap the bonnet, this is what I've contemplated but ultimately didn't choose to do.

 

[808Pants]

The black hood and hatch on my 2013 still look good, although I do notice fading on the black roof.

The roof isn't painted, so it's not like other black i3 body parts. It's CFRP with a clear resin coating that doesn't seem to age very well when frequently exposed to strong sunlight.

I'll preface by saying that Art & I both live & occasionally drive in Honolulu. I've had my i3 for a couple of months now, so I don't know whether I'm seeing something new, or something I just didn't notice previously - but the clear over the CFRP on my roof has a sizeable -though very thin - blister that's visible in reflected light. Art, what's the source of the info you cited regarding the clear resin coating? I do like the 'see the works' look of the gray carbon-fibers showing through, but God himself can't seem to develop a truly UV-proof clear coat, at least for 15 or less degrees of latitude. (I hasten to add that I cover the car virtually always, though it is parked outside.)

I'm not in a panic (yet) to do anything about this, but it is disappointing. At least in the case of CFRP, this does NOT indicate (as it would for steel) that there's major hidden rust pushing the whole paint system off...but then again, I'd imagine the next stage would be a tendency for it to soak from rain, and from there, it'd be a rapid descent, so I do need to plan some kind of remedy.

Thanks for any suggestions - particularly any developments in wraps...

Dave

 

[alohart]

Art, what's the source of the info you cited regarding the clear resin coating?

That's merely my description which might not be accurate. However, in May, 3 i3's were parked at the shopping center next to our apartment. All of them had degraded roofs. The clear top layer was pealing off one of them in pieces. The owner had taped down the edge of one of the pieces to try to prevent it from tearing off in the wind. Another had big chunks of the clear layer missing. I talked to the owner of the third i3 which had no clear layer remaining on the roof. He had painted the naked CFRP with black paint which probably protected the CFRP somewhat. His was the most run-down i3 I have seen, so he didn't care about the roof. He bought his 2014 i3 for only $6k from a military man who was being transferred out of Hawaii, so he didn't have a big investment to worry about.

If you've never seen another i3 roof, I'd be happy to show you the roof on our 2019 i3 which still looks like new. I plan to wrap it in a gray vinyl film to match the Frozen Gray trim of our i3. I hope that this wrap would protect the roof from UV degradation.

 

[808Pants]

Good stuff, as usual, Art! (and as usual, I got no notification...)

I keep not having time to check with the makers of a rather miraculous water-borne coating called "Break-Through" to see if they'd warrant an application to the CFRP surface, whether that means sanding past the failing clear over the whole of the roof, or just the poorly-adhered areas (eg by judicious use of a pressure-washer, followed by sanding.) I'd definitely DIY this, though by no means have I written off the i3's appearance as you described (re the former-military EV hooptie...) It's about as severe of a test against yellowing and adhesion concerns as I can imagine... Alternative of a 2K clear still seems, even after decades of the industry trying, to be doomed to fail, though perhaps I'd get a few years out of it. But that stuff is solvent-based, slow-drying, expensive, and without a LOT of luck, would demand a spray-booth for a clean application, while the Break-Through wouldn't...necessarily...

But yes, a wrap would be SO much easier. I've never worked with wrap, but thought I'd understood that it will telegraph defects right through, so my existing blisters would need to be deleted, somehow. Seems like there ought to be some amusing graphics options for this application, no? (Is there a PV-module pattern?)

 

[tongsli]

It's not an I3 but it is a BMW Carbon Fiber Roof. I had a wrap put on my roof last year as a preventative measure.