Best Combo

[MattyL]

Hello all.

I am somewhat of a newcomer so please bear with me.

First things first: it’s good to make your acquaintance. Heard this was the place to come for all things detailing so I wanted to reach out.

Just picked up a '00 BMW 540i. Paint is in above average condition, but not stellar. It gives all the indications of a weekend washer who threw a quick coat of carnauba on every season and prob parked in the garage every PM. Nothing drastic, just swirls from casual hand washing/waxing techniques and minor to moderate scratches from usage as a DD.

I will be taking a rotary to it eventually and was wondering what product combo do you recommend to accomplish the following while working w/the BMW's "hard" paint:

(a.)clean up 2000-2500 WS marks from scratch removal
while at the same time
(b.)then remove the swirls I won't be WS on the rest of the car

Thinking maybe M105 followed by a 4or5 and a 2 polish (according to this chart: http://www.auto-geek.net/charts/wax-chart.pdf) to remove ws scratches and then just a 4or5 followed by a 2 for the swirls on the rest of the car. Are there any 6or7 and a 2 combos for removing both ws scratches and swirls, thus skipping the m105? I have a standard variety of pads i'll be working with.

Still uncertain even after quite a bit of research.

Any input, info, wisdom is much obliged, so thanks ahead of time!

[Evan.J]

Well if you have sanding marks from 2000-2500 grit you will want to use M105 with a wool pad to remove those marks. Once that is done follow up with M205 finishing polish with a foam polishing pad to refine any mirco marring or holograms that may still be in the clear from the cutting process.

Once that is done you can option for something like M07 Show car glaze or just add your choice of wax.

[MattyL]

[QUOTE=Thoryamaha919;749137]Well if you have sanding marks from 2000-2500 grit you will want to use M105 with a wool pad to remove those marks. Once that is done follow up with M205 finishing polish with a foam polishing pad to refine any mirco marring or holograms that may still be in the clear from the cutting process.


Thanks for the reply Thor.

Prob going w/105/205 combo for the ws marring, but what about swirl removal on areas not being ws? Being a compound, 105 seems like overkill for the swirls yet 205 seems a little under-powered with it being a finishing polish. Looking for that happy medium.

So do you recommend a particular polish for tackling the swirls on the bimmer's paint?

[Divine Details]

Try some Menzerna sf4000(106fa) instead of the 205. Menzerna polishes give unbeatable shine imo.

Good luck

[WickedLou9]

M105 + M205 will work in just about every situation.

M105 is great. It will work on the tough stuff as well as the swirl marks. Just don't use as much pressure or speed on the areas that don't need much work. I find that M205 alone doesn't do all that much. It will clean up the surface very well and get rid of micro-imperfections leaving a nice glossy finish... but if there are visible swirls and holograms and tiny scratches, you want to go with the 105 and then the 205. Whenever I try just using 205 on a car with swirls and such, I end up going back over a second time with 105 and then coming back a 3rd time with 205 all over again. save yourself the hassle and start with 105. My Volkswagen has pretty hard paint. It laughs at me in German when I try to use 205 alone. If BMW paint is at all like VW paint, 205 won't cut it.

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

First off what color is the BMW? Also do you have a D/A? If so I wouldnt use the rotory at all but on the sanding marks. For the rest of the car I think a mf disc with compound will be enough to tackle just about any swirl or defect in the paint.

[Waxy]

Wash - any good car shampoo
clay - Mother's clay bar kit
polish - Menzerna SIP IS-1500
finishing polish - Menzerna Ultimate Finish UF-4500
seal/protect - Blackfire Wet Diamond/Midnight Sun
Quick detailer - Finish Kare 425

[SON1C]

wash
clay
105 cyan pad
205 tangerine pad
sealant
wax

[StephenK]

Since you stated you gonna attack it with a rotary i am just guessing you already have some products on hand. If so what products do you already have? And do you jave a DA?

[MattyL]

First off what color is the BMW? Also do you have a D/A? If so I wouldnt use the rotory at all but on the sanding marks. For the rest of the car I think a mf disc with compound will be enough to tackle just about any swirl or defect in the paint.

Just picked up DA and rotary. Honing skills on old mustang fender I have laying around.

Bimmer is Anthracite Metallic.Beautiful color, just begging to shine!

So you recommend going w/ the compound for the rest of the car also. Would you do this on softer paint or just b/c of this being BMW paint?

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Just picked up DA and rotary. Honing skills on old mustang fender I have laying around.

Bimmer is Anthracite Metallic.Beautiful color, just begging to shine!

So you recommend going w/ the compound for the rest of the car also. Would you do this on softer paint or just b/c of this being BMW paint?

Since you just picked up the tools what pads and products do you have to use for the job? That will better help us decide where to go for your situation.

Don want to be ignorant but you wont have nearly enough skill to rotory the BMW just by doing one or two panels. You will be better off with the D/A.

[MattyL]

Since you stated you gonna attack it with a rotary i am just guessing you already have some products on hand. If so what products do you already have? And do you jave a DA?

Just a rotary. Figured that would suffice b/c I had planned on applying any LSP by hand, thus rendering the DA unnecessary if I have the rotary for correction. Might consider a DA though if it saves time!

I have ~ 1/4 bottle of 3m compound and even less of their Perfect-It (guy I work with had them laying around).

Not much of a selection yet, but I want to familiarize myself w/the machines b4 I start laying out $ for the products to use on the new car. I have an extra mustang fender i'm practicing on.

[MattyL]

Since you just picked up the tools what pads and products do you have to use for the job? That will better help us decide where to go for your situation.

Don want to be ignorant but you wont have nearly enough skill to rotory the BMW just by doing one or two panels. You will be better off with the D/A.

So you're telling me I won't be a pro after just 1 mustang 5.0 fender?!?! ha!

Purchased a foam 6 pack (Lake) and chose their yellow, orange (2x),green,blue, gray. No red b/c applying any LSP by hand.

No go on the rotary, huh? Damn, I was working with a friend's porter cable that he's letting me borrow and bought my own rotary thinking I could learn on the pc and then step up to the rotary relatively quick.

Prob got ahead of myself w/the rotary then.

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Borrow your friends PC when you are ready to go and then do the car with those pads and PC. I would hate to see you burn paint with the rotory on accident.

Find a beater and practice on that with the rotory before you touch a nice car with it.

Let me put it this way, I will go through the ins and outs of the PC in 20 minutes and let you do my BMW's but I will go through an hour of use with a rotory and not let you touch your neighbors car with it.

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Take a look through my thread on what products were used to turnaround the Corvette. It was all done with the Meguiars G110v2 D/A.

This way it will give you somewhat of an idea on what works and where to start.

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/show-n-shine/56236-victoryred-s-corvette-meets-mikes-detail-shop.html