How do you guys deal with this? I have BMWs for this. Soft paint on interior vinyl/trim, everytime I detail it, more paint peels off, where it already didn't peel...I usually like to spray and soak the cupholders, where I get most of my soda spills...most of the time I use 1Z cockpit premium which should be safe for this but I still have this issue...should I just soak the heck out of that trim, then carefully remove the entire f***ing thing so I will never deal with it again? Do you guys have this issue? What about if you do customer's cars? Car is '04 325Ci. TIA.
I have this on my 6-series, it's really annoying. I think they fixed it on the new ones though. Let me talk to someone who might know more about this and get back to you.
Apparently it's just something you have to deal with, but it can be replaced under warranty. My 6-series is an '04.
my BMW is now out of warranty, and I'm not paying to have it resprayed. I'd rather strip the whole thing...hmmm....wonder how you guys deal with customer's cars...
With great care. I've detailed several BMWs now, and they've all had this hateful "soft touch" coating on areas like the center console. I've started making sure I notice the peeling first, and tell the customer, "look, this stuff is peeling up pretty bad. I can go hard at cleaning this area up, but be advised that I could make the area worse." I've found that telling them the stuff is already on its way out eases their minds a lot. As to what I do? Soft microfiber, and MS Leather and Plastic Cleaner. I don't rub super hard - don't really need to - and the stuff generally comes clean without peeling up any worse than it already was.
its not re-sprayed .. if a door handle soft paint is peeling .. we replace the door handle .. steering wheel cover peeling, we replace the cover ... etc there was a guy on autopia that had a customer with a e90 .. door handle was peeling .. car was out of new vehicle warranty .. they guy ended up spraying it, came out like new honestly if i had a bmw and the soft paint was peeling .. id just take off all the paint .. under the paint is a nice glossy plastic
cupholders aren't that expensive are they? 20-40? The black soft paint under my ebrake handle is a little scratched as well as my cupholders. i just use cockpit premium to clean the area. Oh, I also soak my cupholder in my wash bucket. Nothing special, just let it rinse a bit then wipe it clean. then apply cock-pit
if its a e46 the cup holder can be replaced by itself, the tray behind the cupholder can be replaced by itself, certain parts of the armrest can be replaced by itself, if its diretly on the console then the console has to be replaced
Weird, I never noticed this before today. I'm detailing an 04' 330xi, and am steaming/cleaning the shit out of the steering wheel (the owner must put on hand cream every time she drives), and I noticed that the coating starts delaminating and peeling off. Glad to know I'm not the only one who has this problem, or that my cleaning technique is entirely at fault (although I'm sure it didn't help).
Be careful on steering wheels with steam cleaners. I burnt a steering wheel once from scrubbing it. And BMW cupholders are very expensive.
Thanks for all the tips/insight in the above posts. My e46 has the peeled coating around the cupholders and it is rather scratched around the ebrake. Somewhat glad to see I'm not the only one experiencing this stuff!
