Has anyone picked up their M3 and found it riddled with paint defects? Detailing/PPF?

[HPHunta]

Hey,

So I collected my Blue M3 from Stockley Park a couple weeks back and it was riddled with paint defects. There was sanding marks all over the car and the lacquer had etching on the bonnet i'm guessing where a bird had crapped on it whilst being sat outside.

Whilst it's not the end of the world I was just wondering if anyone else had experienced anything similar and knew of any good companys in the London/Greater London area that good give the car a good machine polish?

I am also toying with the idea of putting PPF on the front end and ceramic coating the whole car as I hear that PPF can enhance the look of the paint not to mention protect it from light scratches and stone chips. I'd rather spend more time driving my M3 than cleaning it (I'm a lazy tw8t in that respect!) and a friend of mine said that it helped him keep his AM Vantage clean.

Obviously a Vantage and an M3 are miles apart on price so depends what it costs. If anybody has any suggestions it would be much appreciated?

 

[Adopado]

In answer to the question ... I have to admit, no. My own M3 in MSM had no paint defects at all. I know this is of no help to your own serious issues but it has to be known that the way your car was delivered is clearly not normal! I do hope that you manage to get things sorted out to your satisfaction ASAP.

 

[Jason71]

Hey,

So I collected my Blue M3 from Stockley Park a couple weeks back and it was riddled with paint defects. There was sanding marks all over the car and the lacquer had etching on the bonnet i'm guessing where a bird had crapped on it whilst being sat outside.

Whilst it's not the end of the world I was just wondering if anyone else had experienced anything similar and knew of any good companys in the London/Greater London area that good give the car a good machine polish?

I am also toying with the idea of putting PPF on the front end and ceramic coating the whole car as I hear that PPF can enhance the look of the paint not to mention protect it from light scratches and stone chips. I'd rather spend more time driving my M3 than cleaning it (I'm a lazy tw8t in that respect!) and a friend of mine said that it helped him keep his AM Vantage clean.

Obviously a Vantage and an M3 are miles apart on price so depends what it costs. If anybody has any suggestions it would be much appreciated?

Some insurance companies seem to dislike PPF. They consider it a mod and not an acceptable one in some cases. Be sure you speak to them before you go that route.

 

[pgkevet]

Obviously the first thing is getting tesla to sort things properly. After that it's case of the fox who lost his tail - folk who spend lots on ceramic coatings or PPF will tend to sing it's praises just like iphone owners. How often your car gets dirty depends on where you live and where/how you drive and whether you wash it yourself, get the folk in tesco carpark to do it , get it valetted properly or just get your man/OH/kids/neighbour at the end of a cattle goad and train them properly. - Leave it to my wife and there'd be moss growing out of the panel joints in six months.

 

[HPHunta]

In answer to the question ... I have to admit, no. My own M3 in MSM had no paint defects at all. I know this is of no help to your own serious issues but it has to be known that the way your car was delivered is clearly not normal! I do hope that you manage to get things sorted out to your satisfaction ASAP.

Thanks Adopado.

I thought it was just my bad luck getting a "Friday afternoon" car. That said the issues are only aesthetic the car drives and handles superbly so am super happy with my choice and with a little bit of tinkering the DBM paint will look awesome so am happy with my choice on the whole.

So far I have got quotes from 2 companies in North West London but they want 1200 quid just to machine polish the paintwork :S Seems a lot.

 

[Adopado]

So far I have got quotes from 2 companies in North West London but they want 1200 quid just to machine polish the paintwork :S Seems a lot.

Won't Tesla be rectifying such obvious defects?

 

[HPHunta]

Some insurance companies seem to dislike PPF. They consider it a mod and not an acceptable one in some cases. Be sure you speak to them before you go that route.

Hi Jason, great point, so just did that. I insure with admiral and they said that they have no problem with it. Seems that PPF is something they have dealt with on other customers cars.

Some positive feedback from them, all they require is an invoice from the supplying company confirming the cost. In the event someone dings my M3 (touch wood they wont) and it damages the film but not the paint or panel underneath then they will cover replacement. Obviously at the fault drivers expense or up to 50% of the invoice value in the event of a hit and run and no increase to my premium!

Happy Days.

 

[HPHunta]

Won't Tesla be rectifying such obvious defects?

Spoke to Tesla Chiswick who I ordered the car from and they have said that they would contribute £500 or send it to a 3rd party bodyshop to take care of the sanding marks and etching but there is a 1 month wait for a booking with the one they suggested.

Found out that if someone were to damage any of the panels on the car they come shipped from the US already painted hence the limited colour choices!

 

[Jason71]

Thanks Adopado.

I thought it was just my bad luck getting a "Friday afternoon" car. That said the issues are only aesthetic the car drives and handles superbly so am super happy with my choice and with a little bit of tinkering the DBM paint will look awesome so am happy with my choice on the whole.

So far I have got quotes from 2 companies in North West London but they want 1200 quid just to machine polish the paintwork :S Seems a lot.

I've always wondered how much difference it might make dependant on if you car was made in the factory or in the tent. Since there is no reliable way to find out I guess we will never know.

 

[Mr Miserable]

These problems are purely cosmetic.
Like this one..

 

[Durzel]

Why did you accept the car if it was in that much of a state?

 

[MrBadger]

I could have made that jump in a Ferrari

 

[Mr Miserable]

Air suspension?

 

[Adopado]

T-Cut?

 

[Obliter8]

My M3P came with the added feature of a million bugsplats on the rear bumper. Not hugely visible at pick up given the hurried experience, and waxy crap all over the paint. Only visible when the detailer started work for ceramic coating.

 

[m3p_uk]

These problems are purely cosmetic.
Like this one..

View attachment 500447

Where did you see that?!

 

[HPHunta]

Why did you accept the car if it was in that much of a state?

As mentioned it was superficial. Having sold my previous car needed wheels asap. It's not like the car had bodywork damage, or mechanical issues. Just poor finishing from factory. Happens with all manufacturers to a more or lesser extent.

 

[HPHunta]

I've contacted these guys having seen this video online.

I'm just waiting on a quote so if it's competitive i'll send it there.

 

[HPHunta]

My M3P came with the added feature of a million bugsplats on the rear bumper. Not hugely visible at pick up given the hurried experience, and waxy crap all over the paint. Only visible when the detailer started work for ceramic coating.

What ceramic coating did you get and how are you getting on with it? We have been getting crap weather and roads are covered in crap so it's the perfect time to put the product to the test I suppose. : )

 

[HPHunta]

These problems are purely cosmetic.
Like this one..

View attachment 500447

This is brilliant. The driver has a totally bewildered look on his face! I bet that Tesla will get tidied up and handed over to the customer none the wiser! I'm forever the optimist : )

McLaren did something similar. They could not source carbon monocells for the production of a highly sought after 6xx series vehicle they were producing so subsequently stripped the monocells from crash damaged older mcLaren models that shared the same design and used those! Stuff like this is common place in the Automotive industry.