E90Post
 


Coby Wheel
 
BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > E90 / E92 / E93 3-series Technical Forums > Wash, Wax, Detailing and Cosmetic protection/repairs > Some helpful info on current paint technolgy



Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
      01-28-2009, 01:32 AM   #1
Innovative Detailing
Second Lieutenant
United_States
17
Rep
236
Posts

Drives: 08 M3, 06 Denali, 53Ford F100
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Orange County

iTrader: (0)

Thumbs up Some helpful info on current paint technolgy



Here is some current info that I picked up in one of my trade journals.....

thought I would share this great knowledge if you havent seen it yet.....


The return of harder clears!


So now, many manufacturers have gone back to a harder version of clear coat to gain more scratch resistance. The term of these new generation of clears is simply called "scratch resistant clears" One common name for them is a brand called Cerami-Clear which simply uses nanno, or very tiny particles of ceramic that migrate to the very top portion of the clear coat and give it more scratch resistance against car washing and normal everyday abrasions. It's a better version of the old Melamine clear coats which are also very hard. But...some of these hard clear coats are very hard and very difficult to remove imperfections. You will need to be fairly aggressive to get anywhere with some of these newer, harder clears. I have also seen scratch resistant clears that once you buff through the very thin nanno section of ceramic particles that are at the very top of the clear, it turns into a softer clear underneath and can still swirl and mar very badly, even though technically it's a scratch resistant clear. So this can be very confusing and demoralizing for a the detailer as well.

In addition, not all vehicles are using these newer, harder clears. Some car manufacturers are using the scratch resistant clears on ALL their vehicles such as Mercedes. Some manufacturers are using these clears on some of their cars but not all of them. For example, BMW uses scratch resistant clear coat on all vehicles made in Germany. However, on their vehicles made in the US such as the Z4, X3 and X5, they are still using the softer powder clear coats at the plant in South Carolina. And a couple of years ago, before all the German made BMW's made the change to scratch resistant clear, some plants would still use a soft clear while some plants had already switched to a harder version. So it was not inconceivable to see the same year and same model vehicle, in the same color with one having a soft clear and one having a hard clear. That will make buffing rather interesting, wont it?

Some other car lines are still exclusively using soft clears. So, it's not so easy being a detailer these days as you can see. There are many different types of clear coats still in use with almost all of them having their own buffing characteristics


So you can understand how even for the professonals out there, paint technology is always changing.

Dave @ Innovative Detailing
Appreciate 0
      01-28-2009, 11:09 AM   #2
picus
Brigadier General
picus's Avatar
Canada
124
Rep
4,172
Posts

Drives: e92 SG 335i Coupe
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Toronto, ON

iTrader: (0)

Good info. Which mag is it from? Just curious, I'd like to pick it up. MB has been using ceramic paint for awhile, I know they started using it on all cars in 2008 (C paint code), of course it's easy to tell when working on them too! Hah.

I still haven't run into a 3 or 5 series with ceramic paint. I've worked on over a hundred and so far the toughest one (in terms of paint) has been mine (yay!), but it isn't ceramic. Most of them are pretty weak. It'll be nice to start seeing ceramic BMWs, it'll definitely be an improvement!

If there are some out there it would definitely explain why detailers have such a tough time pinning down BMW paint. Just look at this thread:
http://www.autopia.org/forum/car-det...black-bmw.html
Appreciate 0
      01-28-2009, 11:13 AM   #3
JohnL135I
Donkey Kong King
United_States
89
Rep
1,129
Posts

Drives: 2012 Boss 302
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Sahuarita, AZ

iTrader: (3)

Very good info, thanks Dave......
Appreciate 0
      02-07-2009, 10:12 AM   #4
purplewidow
Lieutenant Colonel
purplewidow's Avatar
United_States
51
Rep
1,928
Posts

Drives: e92 335
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Chicago

iTrader: (2)

that is why i LOVE mercs paint.. the s63 in the family has no scratches..not one swirl and my mom takes it to a hand car wash that i know swirls regular clears but hers not an imperfection to be found.

people refer to them as nano tech clear coats..or ceramic clear coats..they really work.i bet in ten years no more swirls for half the cars on the road..at least new ones. merc has been on this since mid 03'..bmw spent millions on their paint technology and coating in 01' i believe so i bet in 3-4 years time they will change..if not a lil sooner.
Appreciate 0
      02-07-2009, 03:37 PM   #5
drvai
Major
drvai's Avatar
United_States
135
Rep
1,274
Posts

Drives: E92 M3 AW
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: FL

iTrader: (0)

I really can't understand how they haven't been able to come up with a better paint for cars. They are just so sensitive to everything. Even bird shit can ruin the pain in minutes.....

Don't really know this ceramic paint with details, but at least the 3 series doesn't come with it.
Appreciate 0
Reply

Bookmarks

Tags
bmw, detailing, innovativedetailing, polish, scratchremoval

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 11:26 AM.




e90post
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
1Addicts.com, BIMMERPOST.com, E90Post.com, F30Post.com, M3Post.com, ZPost.com, 5Post.com, 6Post.com, 7Post.com, XBimmers.com logo and trademark are properties of BIMMERPOST