[scutt]

havent read the whole thread but IMHO i think if u want to avoid stone chips then dont ride other cars asses, if u were far enough back the stones would fall short of ur car and u wouldnt have chips. makes sense huh.........

 

[10CopperRed]

I would opt to get my car painted with the BMW formula of paint. My BMW is almost 3 years old and I can count the rock chips on one hand. That paint is durable.

 

[Vince8739]

I've also found that the paint on the 3 just doesn't seem to be as durable as paint on my other cars. I did do a lot of highway driving for about 11 months, and not so much anymore. But my damage was really limited to the very lower portion of the doors and the side sills where there were a multitude of chips, but mainly everything in that area was "hazy and cloudy" until I hit it with Meguiars medium cut and my hand buffer. But that stuff cuts fast; stay away from door edges!! anything less abrasive wasn't cutting the film/grime etc.., I touched up the worst damage and left the rest of it. But really limited to the very lowest portion of the doors and sills.
I think I got the worst of it over the winter with all the sand and gravel on the roads coupled with following too close and driving too fast, but I really think it was unavoidable and the fragility of the paint.
I added the front mud flaps from Autozone (ext mods) and don't seem to have a problem any longer; highly recommended.

 

[everett-m3s]

All ill add to this is if anyone remembers the 90-93ish White Mazda Miatas, they had paint that flaked horribly. Mazda said it wasnt a defect, but just look at any white 90ish Miata, and I guaruntee that it will have paint "flaking."

Could be weak/bad paint on the M3 as well.