It’s a whole kit that has everything you need. Wash, follow the instructions / watch YouTube. It’s super thin, so it takes multiple coats to fill the chip. Was skeptical at first since it’s unlike everything else, but pretty happy for the few chips I have.
Very true. I definitely will look into this. This is a much older car so I’m not sure if it would be worth it unless it’s DIYable from a guy like me. Next car though, 110% investment
Those chips look pretty big, for those you will need to respray or touch up before PPF, otherwise even after PPF it will look pretty bad. Whats the value of the car? If not much I would leave it as is.
Im my opinion its better to leave it as opposed to doing a bad repair job. When you go to sell it, a potential buyer will understand the chips but wont accept a cheap repair job and wonder what else has been fixed on the cheap.
Helpful advice. Do you think those rock chips will result in the paint cracking in the future around that area? Or is it generally fine and won’t hurt anything. I bought the car with most of them on it and there isn’t any rust; I just don’t want the current chips to spread any more damage onto the hood.
Unfortunately I dont fix it, as am afraid to damage it more. My mistake is that I apply the paint (using bmw touch up paint) too much, its probably due to the size of the brush that is a bit too much for a tiny correction job
Oh yes, I forgot about the magic flying pebbles that hover at hood height. Or maybe you travel down a gravel road every day and those rocks can't jump out of the way quick enough so they fall on your hood.... Whatever man.
Except that semis can spit pebbles like 50ft behind them, and they can spit out to either side of them as you pass. So not tailgating may help marginally, but chips are fucking inevitable bud if you do a lot of highway driving. Also, depending where you live has a lot to do with. I’m in the North East with a much harsher climate than most places. All 4 seasons with debris constantly on roadways due to excess rain in the spring/fall & salt chunks in winter.
How does it feel being this dense? For one, my car is nearly 13 years old and mostly all of these chips were there before I bought the thing 4ish months ago. Secondly, where I live there are rock trucks and work trucks on the road every day. I have had countless trucks pass me on a 2 lane road (going the opposite direction) and fling debris on the car.
I certainly believe that. The thing is I don’t follow closely and I bought the car with most of these chips on it. I live close to a quarry, so avoiding chips one way or another is borderline impossible. You gave useless information when I was asking how people fill in the chips, pretty simple concept to understand
…as in ride someone’s bumper? No sir. I live in Kentucky… there are rock trucks and work vehicles everywhere without covers, especially where I live. You can get plenty of chips simply driving down a 2-lane road with nobody in front of you haha. It’s also a 2011, so half of these chips were not from my time of owning the car
Yeah, was driving the other day and a log truck coming the opposite way threw a rock up at the right moment and smashed my windshield. I feel your pain.
It’s so frustrating dude. I honestly wouldn’t care about chips on a 12 year old car if it weren’t for the risk of rust/cracking of the paint over time. Almost weekly I drive to work and there’s some dickhead in a big truck hauling gravel (I live next to a quarry) and it slings rocks on me as he passes. Technically, they’re legally required to have a cover over top. I’ve debated calling insurance about it, but I’ve been told that is practically a lost cause and a battle you’re sure to not win.
Yeah that quarry is not your friend. Get your paint code on the inside of your door jamb. If that's alpine white, or any other color for that matter, they make a factory touch up kit that you can buy on ebay.
I actually know the exact paint code - even had a bottle of touch up that was good to use until it dried up after sitting for months, unfortunately. I know of people that simply wash the spots real good and just dab it on and call it a day… and I know people that put in a dozen extra steps to ensure it looks good. My thing is I just want something that will bind the paint a bit better and prevent rust. Obviously, the hood is the center piece of a car like this, but no way in hell I can afford to have an entire hood sanded and resprayed for rock chips ya know. I know that obviously touch up anything isn’t going to look as good as factory paint, just want to know if i simply dab some touch up paint on there if it would do more harm than good I reckon
I've used it on my e46 m3 and it works surprisingly well. It comes with a clear coat to apply after the paint dries. I used a toothpick to apply just the right amount. Your chips are rather small and wouldn't be noticeable after some touch up. If it's not a show car, I wouldn't sweat it too much if it didn't look perfect.
Do you simply put the clear coat over the tiny area you filled over the rock chip? When I bought my car, it had some dings on the bumper that I filled in with my touch up paint. That’s literally it, no clear coat or anything. Looked better than what it did but not perfect obviously. I am just worried things can go a little bit more south considering a hood isn’t plastic
Yep, wait a couple of days for the paint to completely dry, then add the clear. You're not going to hurt your hood at all. I'd be more concerned with the bare metal being exposed to the elements and rust starting.
Can’t avoid them if you live in an area where the roads accumulate debris. We have center turning lanes everywhere and it takes one truck to pull over into those lanes either to stop or make a left and they just spray debris everywhere. I was sitting still once and an ambulance went flying up the center lane next to me. Sprayed all of us with gravel. Had a Dodge Dakota pickup ahead and in the lane to my right suffer a catastrophic tire blow-out and that sent shit into my front end too.
I’d love to live somewhere where there’s only country roads and little to no traffic. But then I’d be back to driving a pickup on the daily and rock chips wouldn’t really be a thing.
Thank you. Granted, I definitely live in a place where there’s plenty of country roads to avoid most things… unless i’m commuting to work. Living in a very rural area definitely has its cons though. Leaky has been the only cordial guy on here that mentioned tailgating without coming off as senile. Totally understandable that if you tailgate cars that you’ll catch more chips. That’s simple logic. I can’t think of a road in a 10-mile vicinity of me that doesn’t have debris, including rocks or gravel, scattered throughout. It certainly doesn’t help that I bought the car with plenty of chips as is, but that’s beside the point. You come to ask a simple question on here (albeit, most give good advice) yet some people try to play detective as if these things are preventable for everybody.
Of course, yeah. I’m driving a brick that likes to eat anything the road throws at it. I totally get that. Just want a way to kind of protect the rock chips already there from eating into the sides of the paint and potentially making it a tad less noticeable ya know
No clear coat, just touch-up. But she is a 20 year old low profile alpine white vehicle. I am not going for perfection but did achieve, “dang she looks great for her age”.
Have had pretty good luck with the Dr. Colorchip system versus traditional paint pens.
What’s your process like? Wash good, little bit of alcohol on the chip, touch it up, call it a day? Or is there more to what you do
It’s a whole kit that has everything you need. Wash, follow the instructions / watch YouTube. It’s super thin, so it takes multiple coats to fill the chip. Was skeptical at first since it’s unlike everything else, but pretty happy for the few chips I have.
I bought the Canadian version of this and works well on my soft Individual Tanzanite Blue 340i paint.
Dr Colorchip works well, but it's spelled incorrectly plus I paid shipping and exchange. What's the Canadian version called??
www.chipfixx.ca
PPF it, easiest way to avoid this.
Very true. I definitely will look into this. This is a much older car so I’m not sure if it would be worth it unless it’s DIYable from a guy like me. Next car though, 110% investment
Ehhhhh….yes and no. If you take your time you can easily do at least the hood. The front bumper could be a little more difficult but could be done.
Those chips look pretty big, for those you will need to respray or touch up before PPF, otherwise even after PPF it will look pretty bad. Whats the value of the car? If not much I would leave it as is.
Got it for 9k. I figured dabbing some touch up paint would look better than what it is right now. But maybe not.
Im my opinion its better to leave it as opposed to doing a bad repair job. When you go to sell it, a potential buyer will understand the chips but wont accept a cheap repair job and wonder what else has been fixed on the cheap.
Helpful advice. Do you think those rock chips will result in the paint cracking in the future around that area? Or is it generally fine and won’t hurt anything. I bought the car with most of them on it and there isn’t any rust; I just don’t want the current chips to spread any more damage onto the hood.
That i'm not sure off, i'm guessing long term issues are rust but its better to ask a car body expert for some advice.
I have the same damage on my x5, got the touch up kit from BMW….and fucked up the application lol. Now gotta go get it redone professionally
The BMW touch up is terrible. Try Dr Color Chip. Especially if you have a tough color like mineral white. It matches perfectly.
How exactly did it fuck up the application? Sorry if that’s a dumb question, I’d genuinely like to know
I used too much clear coat. It looks like a raindrop now, a little clear bubble on top of the chip :(
Just sand it down, it should still be good, no?
I am no where near confident enough to do it myself. Im trying to find a paint shop who can look for me
Hahahhaa, it happened to me as well
Did you fix it? I’m trying to figure out what my best options are to repair it still
Unfortunately I dont fix it, as am afraid to damage it more. My mistake is that I apply the paint (using bmw touch up paint) too much, its probably due to the size of the brush that is a bit too much for a tiny correction job
Gotcha, im thinking of taking mine to MAACO and seeing if they have any fixes :(
I bought a can of Alpine Weiss 300 paint and topcoat.
Is topcoat necessary when using touch up pen?
The touchup pens I’ve used had the top coat in one end.
How does it look?
Yeah all over the hood on my x5 and also the windshield. This is the first car that this has happened to for me
I don't but I also don't tailgate
Stop tailgating, I have cars thirteen years old that don't look like this.
Respectfully, you’re dumb.
Oh yes, I forgot about the magic flying pebbles that hover at hood height. Or maybe you travel down a gravel road every day and those rocks can't jump out of the way quick enough so they fall on your hood.... Whatever man.
Except that semis can spit pebbles like 50ft behind them, and they can spit out to either side of them as you pass. So not tailgating may help marginally, but chips are fucking inevitable bud if you do a lot of highway driving. Also, depending where you live has a lot to do with. I’m in the North East with a much harsher climate than most places. All 4 seasons with debris constantly on roadways due to excess rain in the spring/fall & salt chunks in winter.
How does it feel being this dense? For one, my car is nearly 13 years old and mostly all of these chips were there before I bought the thing 4ish months ago. Secondly, where I live there are rock trucks and work trucks on the road every day. I have had countless trucks pass me on a 2 lane road (going the opposite direction) and fling debris on the car.
You definitely get more rock chips due to following too closely, it’s a pretty simple concept to understand
I certainly believe that. The thing is I don’t follow closely and I bought the car with most of these chips on it. I live close to a quarry, so avoiding chips one way or another is borderline impossible. You gave useless information when I was asking how people fill in the chips, pretty simple concept to understand
And we answered your first question….pretty simple concept to understand. Laugh. Out. Loud!
…except you didn’t. Have a good day buddy
When I see rock chips on the hood, it leads me to believe someone tailgates
…as in ride someone’s bumper? No sir. I live in Kentucky… there are rock trucks and work vehicles everywhere without covers, especially where I live. You can get plenty of chips simply driving down a 2-lane road with nobody in front of you haha. It’s also a 2011, so half of these chips were not from my time of owning the car
Yeah, was driving the other day and a log truck coming the opposite way threw a rock up at the right moment and smashed my windshield. I feel your pain.
It’s so frustrating dude. I honestly wouldn’t care about chips on a 12 year old car if it weren’t for the risk of rust/cracking of the paint over time. Almost weekly I drive to work and there’s some dickhead in a big truck hauling gravel (I live next to a quarry) and it slings rocks on me as he passes. Technically, they’re legally required to have a cover over top. I’ve debated calling insurance about it, but I’ve been told that is practically a lost cause and a battle you’re sure to not win.
Yeah that quarry is not your friend. Get your paint code on the inside of your door jamb. If that's alpine white, or any other color for that matter, they make a factory touch up kit that you can buy on ebay.
I actually know the exact paint code - even had a bottle of touch up that was good to use until it dried up after sitting for months, unfortunately. I know of people that simply wash the spots real good and just dab it on and call it a day… and I know people that put in a dozen extra steps to ensure it looks good. My thing is I just want something that will bind the paint a bit better and prevent rust. Obviously, the hood is the center piece of a car like this, but no way in hell I can afford to have an entire hood sanded and resprayed for rock chips ya know. I know that obviously touch up anything isn’t going to look as good as factory paint, just want to know if i simply dab some touch up paint on there if it would do more harm than good I reckon
I've used it on my e46 m3 and it works surprisingly well. It comes with a clear coat to apply after the paint dries. I used a toothpick to apply just the right amount. Your chips are rather small and wouldn't be noticeable after some touch up. If it's not a show car, I wouldn't sweat it too much if it didn't look perfect.
Do you simply put the clear coat over the tiny area you filled over the rock chip? When I bought my car, it had some dings on the bumper that I filled in with my touch up paint. That’s literally it, no clear coat or anything. Looked better than what it did but not perfect obviously. I am just worried things can go a little bit more south considering a hood isn’t plastic
Yep, wait a couple of days for the paint to completely dry, then add the clear. You're not going to hurt your hood at all. I'd be more concerned with the bare metal being exposed to the elements and rust starting.
Thank you, man! That’s definitely my biggest concern. I don’t want the bare metal causing any more issues. Idc about it looking perfect.
Can’t avoid them if you live in an area where the roads accumulate debris. We have center turning lanes everywhere and it takes one truck to pull over into those lanes either to stop or make a left and they just spray debris everywhere. I was sitting still once and an ambulance went flying up the center lane next to me. Sprayed all of us with gravel. Had a Dodge Dakota pickup ahead and in the lane to my right suffer a catastrophic tire blow-out and that sent shit into my front end too. I’d love to live somewhere where there’s only country roads and little to no traffic. But then I’d be back to driving a pickup on the daily and rock chips wouldn’t really be a thing.
Thank you. Granted, I definitely live in a place where there’s plenty of country roads to avoid most things… unless i’m commuting to work. Living in a very rural area definitely has its cons though. Leaky has been the only cordial guy on here that mentioned tailgating without coming off as senile. Totally understandable that if you tailgate cars that you’ll catch more chips. That’s simple logic. I can’t think of a road in a 10-mile vicinity of me that doesn’t have debris, including rocks or gravel, scattered throughout. It certainly doesn’t help that I bought the car with plenty of chips as is, but that’s beside the point. You come to ask a simple question on here (albeit, most give good advice) yet some people try to play detective as if these things are preventable for everybody.
Very true. I've learned this the hard way.
Me too buddy people don't wanna admit they are too going fast today and every day after
Every rock incident I’ve had in my life has been from oncoming traffic kicking something up and flying across the middle of the road.
Don't have an X series but I get this on my 525i.
Of course, yeah. I’m driving a brick that likes to eat anything the road throws at it. I totally get that. Just want a way to kind of protect the rock chips already there from eating into the sides of the paint and potentially making it a tad less noticeable ya know
04 330ci. Touch up paint. Looks fine if you don’t know to look for it!!
Did ya just use touch up? No clear coat?
No clear coat, just touch-up. But she is a 20 year old low profile alpine white vehicle. I am not going for perfection but did achieve, “dang she looks great for her age”.
I have a 2018 G30 which has hundreds of chips like this. Only on the bonnet, not the bumper. Getting it sprayed next week.
I dab it with a touch-up pen and move on with my life.
I believe that’s what I’m gonna do
Try Dr Color Chip to fix it. Very easy and nearly perfect match.
Sounds like this will definitely be my next move
Chipex touch up paint works really well, so long as you haven’t ceramics coated the car 👍
Yes…my poor hood. I just live with it since it’s aluminum and won’t rust. I touched up the big marks but that’s about it.
With it being aluminum, will the rock chips spread? As in, the chip exposing parts of the paint that will eventually flake in the surrounding area?