Ready to polish and wax, but not sure I need to polish...

[chatoyer]

Good Sunday morning all,

I've got a 2011 BMW 328i with black sapphire metallic paint (a hard paint from what I've heard). The paint itself is in excellent condition. Believe it or not, no swirls, but there are some minor imperfections here and there, of course.

What I do have, however, is some very, very faint water spots on the hood and roof. I've just finished washing and claying, so I'm ready to move.

Here's what I have in my arsenal:

- a 7424xp (with lots of white, black, blue, green and crimson pads from Lake Country)
- Meguiar's M205
- Menzerna SF4000
- Blackfire Gloss Enhancing Polish
- AutoGlym Super Resin Polish

My ultimate goal is to put on a few coats of Collinite 915.

So here's my question: should I even bother with a polish given the great condition of the paint? But perhaps putting some SF4000 on a crimson pad (m205 too aggressive?) will reduce the cut but still take out those minor water marks.

I'm not sure. Any advice greatly appreciated.

David

[silverfox]

Even a new car can be polished with a good finishing polish after decontamination. I'd skip the last two in your list and use a dedicated finishing polish, and either of your first two choices will work. Not that multipurpose products are not suitable, but its hard to beat a good finishing polish for maximum pop if you have them and the time.

I love the HT crimson pads for final polish. You can always use tangerine if your not getting enough correction.

[wdmaccord]

Agreed, I would polish it. M205 and SF4000 are pretty similar in terms of cut, so either of those on a polishing pad should work for a final polish to maximize the clarity of the clear coat. Since you do have some water spots, etc, I would use either of these 2 vs. the last 2 you mentioned.

[chatoyer]

Thanks for the replies. I just did my hood with SF4000 and a crimson pad. Stunning results. Water spots gone it looks just fantastic.

Thanks again. Roof next and then first coat of 915. Then a beer. Or maybe the beer first...