I am cleaning up my R56S to sell in anticipation of my incoming F56S. Overall the car looks nice, a few blemishes in the black plastic areas but that's about it. Until I remembered a small magnet on the boot. It has been there so long I forgot it was a magnet. Anyway I got it off fine but there is a ghostly image left behind. Kind of like a water ring on a coffee table. If I get it wet it disappears but as soon as it dries I can see it. It is mostly grey. I have done a quick wash and dry of the area and it faded but was still visible. Then I clay barred it, and it faded a bit more but not completely. Wondering if anyone had suggestions or should I just keep clay barring it? Oh, this is a Horizon Blue so a darker, metallic paint. In the pic, it is the almond shaped area below the license plate bracket and above the bumper protector. Center. Annette
I'm not seeing it in your pic... Use a good wax the day before you trade her in, and hope for the best? To get rid of it totally, you would have to bust out the buffer and a good compound.
I can see it in the pic. Like Dick said, I'd hit it with my buffer, orange pad and Prima Swirl. If you don't have a buffer, I'd recommend using a microfiber cloth with a little ScratchX and some elbow grease - should buff out.
Probably nothing you can do. Over time, paint exposed to the sun will shift color slightly. Pretty sure what you've got now is actually two shades of the same color. I had to replace bonnet stripes some time back and there was 'ghost' stripes on the bonnet where the old stripes had been. Made alignment and replacement easy but if I'd wanted them off there'd have been these two different shades of pure silver.
The weird thing is I'm the only one who notices it. I took my husband and daughter outside and told them to see if they could find the spot that is making me crazy and they both pointed out the little ding on the edge of the bumper but not that. I will try the suggestions and will post back with results. Need to run out and get some fresh orange pads. Annette
What I see in that pic doesn't look like faded paint, it looks like hazed clear coat under where the magnet was. If that's what it is, a little polishing should fix it.
Warm the area with a heat gun slowly and see if you can release the watermark from the paint. This also works on tables. Go nice and slow on low. You can get a cheap Wagner heat gun at Lowes or Home Depot. Remember to go slow as it will not only let the condensation to evaporate it will also allow the paint to self level. Open the hatch half way when you do it so when the heat rises is does not melt your license plate frame. FYI this also little trick works great light scratches and white flex marks on interior parts. You just have to go low heat and slow. The next step if that does not clear it up for you is find someone that can wet sand with 3000 grit and buff the very light sand marks out. Then it will look brand new again. If you where near the Philly area I would fix it for you.
Dave, thanks for the help. Oddly enough I was thinking that tomorrow I would leave the car out in the driveway and see what the summer sun would do for it. Georgia sun should be good for something. I go by lowes daily so will grab the aforementioned heat gun. I was born in Philly but alas I'm not there anymore. Would love to visit again. Annette
The key word was "magnet".... I'm assuming it was one of those flex magnet stickers... The way they make those things is to compound iron oxide, vinyl and plasticizer and other things like processing additives... The vinyl is the binder, the iron oxide particles get magnetized and the plasticizer makes the finished product flexible.... If used on.... say.... a MINI (but could also happen elsewhere), over some period of time and exposed to heat (like the sun), the plasticizer will migrate to the surface it's in contact with (painted surface). That hazy mark you are seeing is the plasticizer that's migrated into the clearcoat.... It's not coming out.... about the only thing you can do now is to put a nice coat of wax on the MINI.... You really don't want to wear through the clear coat or you will have a much bigger visual issue... As a side note.... That foggy film you keep cleaning off the inside of the glass in your MINI... That's the plasticizer that's out gassed from all the flexible vinyl inside your MINI and deposited itself on the inside surfaces of the windows.... It's accelerated especially by the sun heating up the inside of the car.... The foggy film I'm referring to is not tobacco exhaust expelled from smokers... That has more of a brown tint to it....