Sharm

I was doing a quick lookover of my car and noticed these white "dots" above the wheelarches (not sure if I'm describing the area correctly, but you can see it above). Since this is a widebody 4S that area juts out a little more and is exposed to the elements more so I guess thats why they're there - I used a quick-detailer solution to try and remove them but they seem embedded in the paint slightly. What are they and how do I remove them?! I am by no means an expert detailer..

thanks

ArtF10

Looks like rock chips in the clear film. That's what the film is for. It protects the paint. The film can be replaced much easier than the paint.

chuck911

Doesn't look like paint to me Sharm, it looks like protective film. You can see the edge of the film- the light line on the left, black line on the right. I'm not seeing any spots on the paint, its all inside those lines.

They most likely are indeed imbedded. Your best bet when dealing with anything like this is start gently with detail spray. You can do it twice but that's it, and never use any pressure. Next use clay. Finally, polish. If you polish, wax.

In this case, being film, you can still do those same steps. Understand however that being film what will usually happen is the material will slowly over time fill in those spots. Yes they will disappear over time. But don't worry, I predict plenty of new ones to take their place!

Sharm

Thanks guys, that's what I suspected but I wasn't sure. I tried the Maguaire's quik-detailer twice but it didn't remove those embedded chips. Despite the appearance in the pictures they are hardly noticeable unless bright light is shone on them like sunlight and only up-close. I will eventually clay I guess but for now I'll leave it alone.

chuck911

There are quite a few different films out there, and they all have their own little variations, so if you want to play around you might find something that will help hide those things. Basically though what you will probably find is you are just always going to be accumulating them, and they will always be gradually disappearing as the material fills in, and so even if you do nothing it will kind of stabilize after a while and… you will get used to it.

Powereng

You can order new film, I know sun coast has it as I got my last set through them. If you are good at it, change them out yourself, if not then your local trusted body shop can replace pretty cheaply

Pez D. Spencer

If you have self healing film, pouring hot water over it is supposed to help remove scratches and small dings. I would think less than boiling hot. I saw a demo where they scratched the film with a wire brush and then poured hot water from an electric kettle over it and immediately the scratches were gone.

LexVan

Sharm, are you by chance running wheel spacers??

Sharm

not that I'm aware of ..

plenum

Also just to clarify, what you see aren't "embedded" chips, but rather those are tiny nicks in the protective film. On paint surfaces you would see tiny chips in the color. The film is doing its job.

I have a 4S with spacers, and see those same nicks. The film is very easy to remove, a bit tricky to replace.

You may want to just get the entire panel wrapped in PPF and not worry about it at all in the future....!