All,
This past weekend, I got real intimate with my early production '13 X3. I hand washed and waxed it for the first time after 13 months of ownership.
I was shocked how poor the paint quality is when I compare it to my First Gen 2006 X3 and my current '13 128i, which I also just hand washed and waxed this past weekend.
The body/metal/paint of the '13 X3 also appeared thinner/of lesser quality than my previous '06 X3 throughout the car. Hmmm... Has anyone else noticed this? I just mention it because the quality of the two vehicles appears like day and night.
The 128i cleaned up very nicely, but the X3 some how just appeared to be no different than any Asian make (having owned several Japanese cars, their only flaw in my eyes is poor quality paint and thinner metal) automobile, with respect to the quality of the metal and the quality of the paint, or lack thereof. Although my X3 is relatively clean, there are several spots/stains & stone chips that just did not clean up at all. My '06 X3 was blue water metallic, and the new X3 is white. Would that have made a difference? Do metallic colors have a clear coat, and perhaps white does not?
Don't get me wrong, I love my X3, I just question if the quality went down a bit when the production of the car went from Regensburg, Germany to South Carolina???
Cheers/B