How hard is BMW silver paint?

[Ferris]

Howdy all,
I just got a rotary buffer and been practicing on older, crying out for help, friends cars and havent had any difficulty with removing swirls and scratches. I have and tried out flat orange foam pad, curved blue foam pad, twisted hair wool pad, and fine wool pad.
I have what i found localy menzerna pg1000, fg400 and just got ff3000.

The beemer doesnt have swirl marks persay mostly random light scratches but the finishing is grainy almost orange peel, i dont want to try the orange foam with pg1000 unless im sure of what im doing. But i tried fg400 with orange pad, and with twisted hair wool also tried fine wool with ff3000. There was no visible correction...

Either the reason is im not buffing during acceptable temp, compound drying without effect, or outdated shelf product or the clearcoat is made of somthing very hard!

[mwoolfso]

PG1000/Orange is less aggressive than FG100/Orange. It's likely hard paint but to not see much of a difference tells me you may not have the right technique for hard paint. With your description I would say FF3000/Orange would be the way to start off; which is least aggressive with the products you listed.

Help us understand how you perform your section passes (qty, speed of motion, speed of device, etc...).

[swanicyouth]

This information is a few years old, so it may still not be 100% accurate.

3 Series down + all cars made in Spartanburg SC = "regular" clear coat paint.

5 series up = ceramic ingredient clear coat paint.

So, in theory, if the ceramic type cc is supposed to me more "scratch resistant" (but some say more chip prone) - then those cars may have "harder" paint.

In reality, you never really know until you do a test spot what will work.

[Ferris]

Well the rotary im using is chinese secam 6 speed with max of 3000 rpm. I usualy dial the speed setting between 2-3, since its a rotary i hardly pass slow, i mean i pass as slow as safely can be, sorta like twice faster than i see users using the pc on youtube. Somtimes i leave the weight of the rotary do the work somtimes i carry it a bit when i feel its speed is being bogged down by the friction.
If chipping is any indication of ceramiclear my front hood is plenty chipped! On paper the fg400 should be more aggressive than pg1000, but pg1000 doesnt break down as fast and feels very gritty i would say pg1000 is either old shelf product or is more aggressive since it feels gritty At first and much more prone to caking, i can hardly use it unless i mist the pad at first and be very aware of outside temp, actualy even by hand its been difficult to use.

Ill try fg400 with the orange foam pad, on the front hood which seems the most in need of polishing, or ill try a rear quarter panel if i find a same grainy looking spot as the front hood.

[Ferris]

If/when i use orange foam with ff3000 would there be any cutting? Whats to be expected when using a Polishing compound with a cutting pad? And vice versa? Cutting compound on polishing pad?