Hard water spots from sprinkler

[primerate]

Well my week old 325I (grey green) got blasted by the sprinklers at my office and it left nasty white spots/deposits all over the hood. I used a cleaner/wax and it looks better but when you look close you can still see the deposits or rings of the spots. Did I screw up? and how do I fix it? Thanks for the great forum!

[Jasonb1971]

in my professional experience I have found that you have done everything that you can safely do. From here I'd recommend going to a higher-end detail shop and having them remove them for you. They make an acidic water spot remover that isn't available to the general public (at least not in professional strength) that works great but it's best left to the professionals.

Using an agressive polish to rub them out is simply not necessary and is asking for more trouble, like removing more clearcoat than you need to etc.

[coloboardin]

You can easily buff them out with a polish pad, if they are bad you might want to use a cutting pad.

[hal9000]

Use plain white vinegar. Soak a towel with vinegar then place the towel on top of the spots. Let it stay on the spot at least 1 min up to the time needed to redissolve the deposits). Then wash the car to take the acid off (vinegar is a weak acid). You will need to rewax the car as this WILL strip any wax from the car.

If after this you still have etching, you may have to use a more aggresive abrasive polish or possibly rubbing compound to remove the etching.

[tony(topaz,SMG)]

Do what Hal said. Soak the water spots with a towel soaked with white vinegar. Rinse, then wash your car. If the etching is still noticeable, then you will need to use a mild polish, preferably with a PC buffer followed by your favorite wax or sealant. Good luck.

[primerate]

Thanks for the ideas. I did hear somewhere that vinegar is the way to go. I assume the vinegar won't damage the clear coat as long as I wash it off if a few minutes. I'll give it a try this week.

[Jasonb1971]

use a polishing compound and you'll regret it for the duration of your ownership of that car, I promise. Unless of course you don't care that much about the shine and longevity of your paint. The fact that you're even noticing the spots tells me that's not the case, you certainly do care.
I agree that vinegar won't hurt your clearcoat either, just don't use a lot of pressure, let the chemical do the work.