I would appreciate any further details that you could provide. I'm surprised that the clear coat over the carbon fiber cloth would be porous since water isn't supposed to reach the carbon fiber. Did you have to wait a month after the sealant was applied before the roof could be painted? What sealant was used?
Shortly after buying our 2021 i3, our BMW dealer referred me to their 2 certified body shops to have the roof painted a light color. Neither body shop would do it, both claiming that painting CFRP wasn't approved by BMW. They didn't want to jeopardize their BMW certification by doing something not approved by BMW. Sheesh!
I sold our 2019 i3 with its light gray vinyl wrapped roof and have been trying, so far unsuccessfully, to have the roof of our 2021 i3 wrapped. The shop that installed the light gray vinyl 2 years ago is swamped with full vehicle wrap jobs and won't wrap the roof unless I choose a vinyl film that he has in stock. None of the colors that he has are appropriate. He referred me to a different shop.
This shop is down on vinyl film which they claim is poorer quality and thinner, almost translucent, than before the pandemic, even the big brands 3M and Avery. They claim that the adhesives used now are lower quality as well. He told me that removing degraded vinyl film on horizontal surfaces now can cost as much as installing it due to the difficulty in removing it and the paint damage that can occur (not a problem with our CFRP roof). He is advocating painting the roof instead, but he doesn't have experience painting CFRP. He told me that he would discuss this with his paint supplier and with others who are more familiar with painting CFRP.
I never imagined that this would be so difficult. Your experience gives me hope.
