White paint and rust colored spots
 

The other day I was closely examining the paint on my alpine white 2009. I found these little rust colored spots mainly on the lower driver and passenger side door, and on the trunk.

Googled around and found a lot of other people (especially with white cars) had the same issues. Turns out to be brake dust particles, environmental pollution, etc. Most people said they used a clay bar and the things came right off. I apparently am not so lucky. Tried using a clay bar on the spots but they would not budge. In some cases I could get a spot a tad smaller, but it did not dissapear by any means.

I'm starting to think that maybe there's a layer of wax on top of the spots which is making it difficult to remove them. Has anyone had a similar experience? I read some people used Goo Gone to get the spots off but I'm worried it might damage the paint. Do you guys have any advice? I've attached some pictures as well.

I was detailing my white X5 this weekend and took care of all spots with a clay bar. You probably may need to resort to polishing if washing & clay bar don't work.

You will need to use a clabyar to do this. A product called IronX from detailers domain will remove these on your aliminum running boards as well.

Is there anything special I need to do with the clay bar to get them out? I was following the normal procedure of flattening the clay into a disc, sprayed detailing spray on the paint then ran the clay back back and forth until the clay didnt glide easily anymore. They didn't seem to budge.

call phil at detailers domain for advice or buy some ironx.

IronX for sure

We have the same thing here on white vehicule, but here it's also caused by calcium on the streets.

When I've started to work in dealers, they used a stuff called fallout gel. I don't even know if it still exists.
It was indeed a gel, and could reack very tight areas.

I remember that they applied it with gloves and had a very strong smell, so I dunno how good it was for the paint.

To help you out, you should maybe debadge your X5.
Easier to reach corners when there's none ! :thumbup:

Never heard this... I find that as particulates are removed the clay glides EASIER... and I always add lube to keep it sliding.

Curious to know if your technique was recommended somewhere...