Touring roof tracks

[Unregistered]

I have a 1996 525i touring in calypso red. Paint work is immaculate but the fitted roof tracks are bubbling up. They appear to be made of alluminum and then covered in a black plastic coating. They are spoiling an otherwise perfect car. Anyone out there come across this problem and open to suggestions as to retify.
Gavin

[harri525ixT]

paint bubbling but not yet peeled. I guess the big question is
whether the rails come off without taking off the headliner
from inside. I remember seeing a post where some dude had
repainted his rails, but didn't say whether he had them
removed first. it should be possible to repaint without
removing them, but that looks like a job for extremely
patient folks only...

harri
525ixTA -95

[Elekta]

Why can't you just touch it up? I have some scratches from sliding my load bars, back and forth, but I just left them alone.

If you have bubbled paint that's certainly a different issue. That would imply standing water to me. Are you sure your channel drains are clear? When you rinse at the car wash, spray the nozzle closely into the channel at the front block and see if soap bubbles up in the back channel, and vice versa. That's what I do to make sure they stay clear. If you don't use load bars, then I'd definetely keep your rubber inserts in.

I've read that blocked drains can be cleared with weedeater filament, but have never tried it.

hth

[WarrenBrown]

Bubbling of the paint on the rails is a common problem, a long time ago, Scott had said he painted his to match the body color. However I could not get any details as to how they are removed. I think it is from the inside. Someone said the rails are fiberglass. Mine have bubbles that seem to be bigger when damp or wet. Been that way since at least 2000 when we bought the car. None have popped yet.

Warren
91 318is
95 525iT