tiny black spot on white paint

[kevinf]

Hello. I have been detailing/washing my own car for a while now. Recently I performed a detail on my white 2016 BMW. I discovered a tiny black spot a couple inches below my passenger rear view mirror. When I tried to clay bar the spot, it would not come off. I am NOT able to feel the spot with my finger or nail no matter how much I try. I have heard that it could be tar? But I would imagine that I would be able to feel the spot if it were tar. I can take a picture to show later but any guesses or thoughts would be appreciated.

[WRAPT C5Z06]

Hello. I have been detailing/washing my own car for a while now. Recently I performed a detail on my white 2016 BMW. I discovered a tiny black spot a couple inches below my passenger rear view mirror. When I tried to clay bar the spot, it would not come off. I am NOT able to feel the spot with my finger or nail no matter how much I try. I have heard that it could be tar? But I would imagine that I would be able to feel the spot if it were tar. I can take a picture to show later but any guesses or thoughts would be appreciated.
Did you buy the car brand new?

[kevinf]

yes the car was brand new. I am pretty sure it was not there when I got the car.

[Kamakaz1961]

I would try Iron-X and see if that would get that off. It is possible it could be iron deposits. I would give that a go. If that doesn't work you have a great wheel cleaner or at least an iron remover to your paint if it is really dirty.

[kevinf]

so it could be iron deposit even though that area is completely smooth to the touch while running my finger across the paint? Will wheel cleaner damage the paint? I do plan on buying wheel cleaner to clean brake dust so I might give that a try. Again, I understand its hard to judge without a picture and I will provide one.

[rlmccarty2000]

If you can't feel it at all it must be under the clearcoat. How it got there I haven't a clue.

[Belair]

^^ Agreed. Since it's a new car you might consider taking it back to the dealer to see if they'd repaint the area; talk about it being a defect. And examine the rest of the paint to see if there are other spots like it.

[wing commander]

Stay away from the dealer if it is just one tiny black spot (speck) if it is under the clear. If it is on the clear the forum members will help more than the dealer.

[Mike Phillips]

Stay away from the dealer if it is just one tiny black spot (speck) if it is under the clear.

If it is on the clear the forum members will help more than the dealer.




Dead on accurate with this advice.


Sorry to say, but letting any dealership work on the paint of your car has historically been a recipe for disaster.


:)

[Mike Phillips]

Hello. I have been detailing/washing my own car for a while now. Recently I performed a detail on my white 2016 BMW.

I discovered a tiny black spot a couple inches below my passenger rear view mirror.

When I tried to clay bar the spot, it would not come off. I am NOT able to feel the spot with my finger or nail no matter how much I try.

I have heard that it could be tar? But I would imagine that I would be able to feel the spot if it were tar. I can take a picture to show later but any guesses or thoughts would be appreciated.




If you cannot feel it then it's likely not tar but some form of stain in the paint not on the paint.


Here's the skinny.... defects are either,

On the surface - topical

Or

In the paint - below surface


The next thing I would try would be to apply a quality compound by hand to the affected area with a foam or microfiber applicator pad and see if this will remove the defect. A simple compound that uses great abrasive technology is the Meguiar's Ultimate Compound.


Rubbing a compound over the surface will abrade the top portion of the clearcoat and hopefully abrade off the black spots revealing nothing but white paint. You can then apply some wax over this area.

If this doesn't fix the problem that would indicate the black spots somehow penetrate DEEPER into the paint. At this point, since they are under your mirror you might want to just forget about them. I know they probably bug you but it's real easy to turn a mole hill into a mountain.


:)

[Mike Phillips]

Check this out too....


Black spots on my truck - artillary fungus (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/ask-expert-featuring-mike-phillips/20183-black-spots-my-truck-artillary-fungus.html)



i have " Artillery Fungus" on my truck. it is a from a mushroom that shoots the crap out 20ft into the air.

i can sometimes scratch them off with my finger and easily clean it off. other times i can just take it off the top of the spot. what could take this off?

here is a picture i just puled off the web.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/gallery/data/722/ArtillaryFungus.jpg



Half of my forum work is simply remembering where stuff is.... -Mike Phillips


:laughing:

[GSKR]

Maybe tire dressing staining. That really stinks.Bring it to a highly qualified reputable detailers and let him give you the answer if it can be fixed.Do your homework on finding someone qualified because they will reel you in and saying to you they are.If it were me I would nib it with 2500 or 3000 grit and see what the problem is.

[kevinf]

Thanks for all your help guys. I am a bit nervous/uncomfortable about abrading the surface of my car. I've been more comfortable with waxing and claying. I will be taking my car to a highly rated detailer this weekend who said will use a magnifying glass to take a closer look to see what it is. I agree that it is just a small spec (plus it's also a lease), I won't let it bother me too much if it ends up being a big job.

As far as I know, I've never had tire dressing applied to my car before. I also don't think this was on the car when I first purchased the car, but I could definitely be wrong about that.