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Maintaining “Frozen” paint

15733 Views 21 Replies 12 Participants Last post by bobkalka, May 17, 2022

Sol1

Discussion Starter · Sep 7, 2021

I’m interested in hearing from owners that have experience with BMW’s frozen finishes (or other matte paint finishes I suppose). I’ve read no auto car washes and no wax, but practically speaking for a daily driver, how difficult is it to keep the frozen colors looking good?

I love the Frozen Portimao Blue but will be keeping the car primarily outside as my wife parks in the garage and the other half of the garage is a home gym. I’m in Southern California so very little rain, but plenty of dust and bird poop to go around! If the metallic Portimao is dramatically easier, I’ll probably go that way.

Thanks!

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homerfan

· #2 · Sep 8, 2021

Sol1 said:
I’m interested in hearing from owners that have experience with BMW’s frozen finishes (or other matte paint finishes I suppose). I’ve read no auto car washes and no wax, but practically speaking for a daily driver, how difficult is it to keep the frozen colors looking good?

I love the Frozen Portimao Blue but will be keeping the car primarily outside as my wife parks in the garage and the other half of the garage is a home gym. I’m in Southern California so very little rain, but plenty of dust and bird poop to go around! If the metallic Portimao is dramatically easier, I’ll probably go that way.

Thanks!

Welcome to the forum! I have been meaning to create a post to ask the same question. I have never owned a matte color car before and to be honest, I have never really taken care of the exteriror of my previous non matte paint cars. So I have little knowledge about how to best keep a car clean. haha

I really like the Frozen portimao blue and decided it was the color for me when I visited my local dealer and viewed their “color wall”. Because of how amazing the color is, this time around, I want to make sure the I keep the car clean and spectacular.

As for your question, so far youtube has given me some leads.

This video talks about how to wash a car with specific soap for matte paint.

This one talks about a product to help “protect” the paint.

I am no expert here so I can’t vouch for the products used in the videos.

The last thing I have read about to help protect your paint is a paint protection film. There are so many out there that I do not know which would work best for matte paint. You also you run the risk of the film giving your matte paint a glossy look.

Hope some of this helps. I too am very interested in hearing other suggestions.

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Baker Canada

· #3 · Sep 12, 2021

homerfan said:
Welcome to the forum! I have been meaning to create a post to ask the same question. I have never owned a matte color car before and to be honest, I have never really taken care of the exteriror of my previous non matte paint cars. So I have little knowledge about how to best keep a car clean. haha

I really like the Frozen portimao blue and decided it was the color for me when I visited my local dealer and viewed their “color wall”. Because of how amazing the color is, this time around, I want to make sure the I keep the car clean and spectacular.

As for your question, so far youtube has given me some leads.

This video talks about how to wash a car with specific soap for matte paint.

This one talks about a product to help “protect” the paint.

I am no expert here so I can’t vouch for the products used in the videos.

The last thing I have read about to help protect your paint is a paint protection film. There are so many out there that I do not know which would work best for matte paint. You also you run the risk of the film giving your matte paint a glossy look.

Hope some of this helps. I too am very interested in hearing other suggestions.

My wife has a Smart Fortwo electric artic white matt color, the car stay outside because I don't have a garage. We got it for closely three years now and the paint is still like new and it is much easy to keep it clean. Of course Smart is a plastic ca body so I don't know if it will be the same on a regular steel car!

I am located in Quebec Canada with clod winter and hot summer..

bobkalka

· #4 · Sep 24, 2021

Hi, I'm in year three of a 540i lease with Frozen Arctic Grey. I wasn't a fan of the G30 redesign in its base colors, so spent countless hours looking at different colors, and this is the one that spoke to me...and makes the design POP.

I was very worried about the maintenance of the color, but after a couple of years of experience, it is honestly SIMPLE to keep clean. Don't listen to the folks with opinions but no experience, there are a lot of them on the various forums!

1. Use matte paint cleaning chems, Chemical Guys has awesome products for this.
2. I used to clean it weekly, but realized after a year that ever 2-3 weeks is sufficient.
3. A downside is that there is always the risk of someone taking your car through a regular wash, which would be a big problem...so you do have to be on guard against that type of issue.
4. The only other downside I have seen is if you have an accident. I actually had a fender bender and had to replace/repaint the hood. The body shop did struggle in their first try to match the paint, but nailed it on try #2.

Vehicle registration plate Car Tire Vehicle Grille

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Reactions: 5

Sol1

Discussion Starter · #5 · Sep 25, 2021

Thanks @bobkalka! That color is gorgeous!

I’ve poked around some other BMW forums. Some people feel it’s a high maintenance choice but the vast majority echo your sentiments. “Yes it’s special. Yes that means you have to take special care of it. No, it’s really not that big a deal. Yes it was absolutely worth it!”

i think I’m in!

Reactions: 2

homerfan

· #6 · Sep 25, 2021

Sol1 said:
Thanks @bobkalka! That color is gorgeous!

I’ve poked around some other BMW forums. Some people feel it’s a high maintenance choice but the vast majority echo your sentiments. “Yes it’s special. Yes that means you have to take special care of it. No, it’s really not that big a deal. Yes it was absolutely worth it!”

i think I’m in!

Same here! I think you both solidified my choice for Frozen Portimao Blue.

Now I just have to wait for ordering to go live in the US.

Hurry up and take my money BMW!

Reactions: 2

Chas1

· #7 · Nov 14, 2021

Sol1 said:
I’m interested in hearing from owners that have experience with BMW’s frozen finishes (or other matte paint finishes I suppose). I’ve read no auto car washes and no wax, but practically speaking for a daily driver, how difficult is it to keep the frozen colors looking good?

I love the Frozen Portimao Blue but will be keeping the car primarily outside as my wife parks in the garage and the other half of the garage is a home gym. I’m in Southern California so very little rain, but plenty of dust and bird poop to go around! If the metallic Portimao is dramatically easier, I’ll probably go that way.

Thanks!

You can’t polish it. Maybe best to buy in white and wrap in individual Matt colour.

Techwhiz1

· #8 · Nov 15, 2021

Chas1 said:
You can’t polish it. Maybe best to buy in white and wrap in individual Matt colour.

I would say, buy a color close the what.you want and them have a matte wrap done.

dspevack

· #9 · Nov 15, 2021

Is the sunset orange considered a "frozen" color?

Kase

· #10 · Nov 15, 2021

dspevack said:
Is the sunset orange considered a "frozen" color?

No it’s not, but there is a Frozen Orange in the BMW Individual colour range. Pricey and adds a lot of extra lead time to an order.

dspevack

· #11 · Nov 15, 2021

Nah, after hearing about all that is necessary to maintain the frozen paint, I wanted to make sure I was getting a color that was lower maintenance.

JST1963

· #12 · Nov 15, 2021

Every color needs good maintenance!!!
A long time ago, back in 1997, I drove an Opel Vectra 5 doors, Magma Red. It was not a metallic color.
One year later I went to the US for 2 years and when I came back in 2000, that car was still used by another person from my company.
You should have seen that car: it looked as if it was bleached. The shiny layer was completely gone, due to weather conditions but also due to bad maintenance.
Since that time, every car I had is washed (manually) every week.

dspevack

· #13 · Nov 16, 2021

JST1963 said:
Every color needs good maintenance!!!
A long time ago, back in 1997, I drove an Opel Vectra 5 doors, Magma Red.

Funny you should say that. My 2016 435i is Magma red. Still looks good 6 years later. Have it washed every couple months, and rinsed off more often.

JST1963

· #14 · Nov 16, 2021

Picture taken on the 10th of May 1997....when the color was still great.

Tire Wheel Land vehicle Vehicle Car

Well, there was probably a big difference between Magma Red from Opel in 1997 and Magma Red from BMW in 2016 😆

But my point is that a car needs TLC, no matter what. When I turned in my previous car, a 2012 Passat CC, the guy at the garage said "wow" when he saw it for the first time. I think that means something

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Jaanveer

· #15 · May 16, 2022

Can you take frozen paint cars to basic touchless car washes that just have only soap and water and dryer.

Techwhiz1

· #16 · May 16, 2022

Jaanveer said:
Can you take frozen paint cars to basic touchless car washes that just have only soap and water and dryer.

Hand wash only. No microfiber.
I wouldn't take a frozen paint into any automated wash.

I wouldn't want frozen paint. I'd get a regular color, then wrap it.

Waiting on my Tanzanite M50!

Blazesquall

· #17 · May 16, 2022

Techwhiz1 said:
Hand wash only. No microfiber.

Why wouldn't you use microfiber? What would you use instead?

Techwhiz1

· #18 · May 16, 2022

Blazesquall said:
Why wouldn't you use microfiber? What would you use instead?

A good terry cloth towel. Microfiber has a tendency to polish. You don't want anything near frozen paint that might polish it.

Waiting on my Tanzanite M50!

Ken7

· #19 · May 16, 2022

Techwhiz1 said:
A good terry cloth towel. Microfiber has a tendency to polish. You don't want anything near frozen paint that might polish it.

Waiting on my Tanzanite M50!

So much trouble maintaining these matte paints, I’m surprised anyone orders them.

bobkalka

· #20 · May 17, 2022

Ken7 said:
So much trouble maintaining these matte paints, I’m surprised anyone orders them.

Did you read my post above? It hasn't been 'so much trouble' in any way for three years.

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