Is Ultimate Compound the better way to go?

[Mc'lovin]

Hi all,

When it comes to a compound, it seems that the forum's favorite (or at least one of the top 3) is Meg's m105.

However after doing a little reading, it seems that UC has a longer working time, less dusting and a much lower price while still providing excellent results as a compound.

So for the enthusiast, wouldn't you conclude UC to be the much better choice?

[RhetoricMixes]

When your detailing the main mentality is to use the least aggressive method possible, so yes if UC will get the job done and its cheaper to use then by all means use it. Ive used it on a few 2 steps here and there and have gotten stellar results. Im just not a fan of the ultimate polish since all it seems to do for me is act as a glaze and not a true polish.

[Marc08EX]

If I can do this all over again, I'd get UC instead of M105 and other compounds. It works extremely well and a lot easier to use than M105.

[jjkacz]

I would tend to agree with you. I really like how easy UC is to work with.

[Mobile detail]

Ill throw another monkey into this. I used to use M105. I could sometimes get it to play well but more times than not, I would have it not want to play well with me. It would turn to cement, I could never get the "white dots" removed from the slinging, or it would stain trim and never wanna come off. I finally tried 3M perfect compound and freekin LOVE it. It cuts super fast, works great by hand, and is beyond easy to clean up. A lot of times I can just spray the vehicle down with the pressure washer and it gets all the spots off from behind the door handle ect..

I know its a little bit expensive but the ease and results are so worth it. I don't even touch my M105 anymore.

[Danube]

Ill throw another monkey into this. I used to use M105. I could sometimes get it to play well but more times than not, I would have it not want to play well with me. It would turn to cement, I could never get the "white dots" removed from the slinging, or it would stain trim and never wanna come off. I finally tried 3M perfect compound and freekin LOVE it. It cuts super fast, works great by hand, and is beyond easy to clean up. A lot of times I can just spray the vehicle down with the pressure washer and it gets all the spots off from behind the door handle ect..

I know its a little bit expensive but the ease and results are so worth it. I don't even touch my M105 anymore.



+100 on this regarding 105 and its cemented dots that are next to impossible to remove from the paint. I find 105 one of the hardest liquids to work with, and I don't believe that the performance of Ultimate Compound is far from 105 however it seems these 2 are the same product with a lil difference in performance, if any.

I suggest you keep away from 105 unless you are prepared to spend (read loose) time in learning the product which is no better that many other product on the market..

I have completely abandoned 105 and switched to Menzerna PG 500 and 1000>> WHAT A RELIEF!!! :xyxthumbs:

Please read this .. looks like there is no-one from Megs standing behind this product (105), even Jason Rose who claimed he was personally involved in the development of the 105... He, he..
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/ask-expert-featuring-mike-phillips/48351-105-205-combo-leaving-white-like-overspray-dots.html

As for UC, that's an excellent product, highly recommended.

:props:

[truckbutt]

Whatever works for you and gives you the results you're happy with, is the better product for you.

[T0RCH3D]

This thread has me thinking of not going with the M105/205 combo. Though I hear its workability is harsh, I hear it offers great results. My question would be how much better is this product than others as compound polish and capabilities? Sorry, if I thread jacked. Kind of on point, may start my own thread or do a few more searches.

[Klasse Act]

I bought Pinnacle XMT #4 and even though its pretty aggressive, it didn't dust as much as I had thought it would and really produced the results I was looking for. That said, Megs UC is going to end up in my bag for sure!

[Capa1970]

105 is hard to work with, unlike UC, but it has great cut, which is why I suppose it is so popular on this forum. To me, UC is more like a medium cutting polish. I've switched to D300.

[Mc'lovin]

Whatever works for you and gives you the results you're happy with, is the better product for you.

A very imporant and true remark there.
However, I think that for new enthusiasts (like me :) ) that pick up this hobby and come to the forum, I would first direct them to the products they could manage more easily and suggest advancing to other more complex products (like m105) after they've mastered the basics.

Thanks for the comments everyone!

[truckbutt]

I started with M105 and I'm happy with it. I think it finishes very well. It is not a product that you can just pop open and use without doing some research on how to use it. Not all beginners are the same and I wouldn't want to lump them all into one basket. Some will want to just open and use a product and be done with it, Some will want to read about and watch videos on how to use a product before using it. I would reccomend UC to the first group and M105 to the second. There are a lot of articles and videos on how to use M105. If you are motivated to learn how to use M105, it's a wonderful product that gives stellar results.

[BobbyG]

So for the enthusiast, wouldn't you conclude UC to be the much better choice?

Both are good but in the case I agree with your thought process and I'd go with Meguiar's Ultimate Compound...

[Mc'lovin]

I started with M105 and I'm happy with it. I think it finishes very well. It is not a product that you can just pop open and use without doing some research on how to use it. Not all beginners are the same and I wouldn't want to lump them all into one basket. Some will want to just open and use a product and be done with it, Some will want to read about and watch videos on how to use a product before using it. I would reccomend UC to the first group and M105 to the second. There are a lot of articles and videos on how to use M105. If you are motivated to learn how to use M105, it's a wonderful product that gives stellar results.

While there is a lot of sense in what you're saying, I still have to disagree a little.

I am still seeing myself as a noob, but I can tell you that before I used my DA polisher for the first time I did tons of research - reading "how to" articles, watching the videos, asking questions at detailing forums etc. Yet when I got to actually using the polisher, I still made a lot of mistakes as you would expect from a first timer.

In my opinion, while there's a good chance that after proper research you could use m105 for the first time flawlessly, I think that there's a better chance of experiencing difficulties with it if you didn't get to practice a lot of technique. This is why I still think that the recommendation for the enthusiast is to at least start with UC.

[truckbutt]

While there is a lot of sense in what you're saying, I still have to disagree a little.

I am still seeing myself as a noob, but I can tell you that before I used my DA polisher for the first time I did tons of research - reading "how to" articles, watching the videos, asking questions at detailing forums etc. Yet when I got to actually using the polisher, I still made a lot of mistakes as you would expect from a first timer.

In my opinion, while there's a good chance that after proper research you could use m105 for the first time flawlessly, I think that there's a better chance of experiencing difficulties with it if you didn't get to practice a lot of technique. This is why I still think that the recommendation for the enthusiast is to at least start with UC.
When I first used M105, I made a mess with sling. Now not so much. For me that's part of the fun, getting better at it. It's like I said. What kind of experience does the user want to have, mastery vs. instant gratification.