Should I compound?

[Akash_Hegde]

I will be detailing my e46 soon and im trying to see if I need to use something like meguiars compound on my paint or will polish be enough to get my swirl marks out. The car was always garaged by the previous owner and the paint looks pretty good other than the swirl marks. I also have some weird water spots with didn't come out with washing and drying.
Sorry if this is a dumb question, im very new to detailing my own car.

Note, these are pics of the hood.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-HfuA6R44-38/VU-6y28SJRI/AAAAAAAALHE/g-rKSNLp7QA/w667-h889-no/IMG_20150510_160745.jpg
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-v2MN5MZPcx0/VU-7KimSrWI/AAAAAAAALH0/YH1jb-cykn0/w1185-h889-no/IMG_20150510_160903.jpg
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-eZU3lO4Dh1k/VU-7LalT5fI/AAAAAAAALIA/B-nC4w6VQxc/w1185-h889-no/IMG_20150510_160907.jpg

[trekkeruss]

The way to determine what products you need to use is to do a test spot, starting with the least aggressive polish. If that removes the swirls, you've successfully corrected the paint while removing as little of the clear coat as possible. If not, then more to a more aggressive polish or compound.

People say BMW's (and German cars in general) have hard paint ...I've neevr worked on one ... maybe you do need to compound. But it's still best to try a polish first.

[Kamakaz1961]

IMO Based on the pics you will need to compound and then polish. BMW is hard paint and the pics show more than just minor swirls IMO. I would look into Menzerna FG400 and SF4000 or any of the Wolfgang polishes or Megs 105/205 would be good too.

Do a test spot 1st, however, IMO it looks like you need a 2-Step.

[Akash_Hegde]

Alright thanks a lot guys! Ill make a test spot and see what I need.

[Paul A.]

My former car, Orient Blue E46, was medium-hard to correct. I would compound and finish polish that paint about once a year. Shortly after getting my new E92 in 2007 Megiuars came out with M105. My E92, in Black Saphirre, proved to be equally hard on the paint correction scale and M105 did wonders for my annual corrections. I would follow that with M205. I now use Menzerna FG400 and find it even better than Megs M105.

I have worked on several BMW's over the years and have always found a compound needed after a test spot and many looked like your hood. As mentioned above however, always try a test spot or 2 (or 3) to determine what might work best for you.

[asalesagent912]

In my opinion a light polish will not get those swirls out. You should use like some of the above mentioned menz fg400. it is a great product and fairly easy to use. Im sure megs 105 is a great product but if you are a beginner its not for you. I tried it and it is not easy to work with. I am not knocking the product just saying it isnt beginner friendly

[Akash_Hegde]

My former car, Orient Blue E46, was medium-hard to correct. I would compound and finish polish that paint about once a year. Shortly after getting my new E92 in 2007 Megiuars came out with M105. My E92, in Black Saphirre, proved to be equally hard on the paint correction scale and M105 did wonders for my annual corrections. I would follow that with M205. I now use Menzerna FG400 and find it even better than Megs M105.

I have worked on several BMW's over the years and have always found a compound needed after a test spot and many looked like your hood. As mentioned above however, always try a test spot or 2 (or 3) to determine what might work best for you.

I had an orient blue coupe before this jet black sedan (was rear ended :/). It was pretty hard to get the swirls out and even after I was left with some water spots.
I was and still will be using the Meguiars Power system with ultimate compound and polish. Do you all think that should be enough or should I go for the Megs 105 or Menzerna FG400 or just stick with the beginner friendly ultimate compound?

[lawrenceSA]

Having detailed my fair share of BMW's I would assume (can't know for sure as we have no way of definitely knowing how hard the paint on YOUR car is, or how DEEP the swirls actually are) that UC is not going to be aggressive enough to remove those swirls and water spots.

Being an avid Menzerna fan, I would suggest FG400 followed by SF4000 to clean up any hazing from the initial cut.

If the damage is not that deep, and you want to add to the above 2 polishes, I would look into Menzerna PF2500

That way you will have a fine, medium and heavy cut polish, and once paired with the appropriate pad(s), will allow you to sort out pretty much anything....

[HateSwirls]

Meguiar's Ultimate Compound along with an orange pad should remove most of them.
FG-400 is some really good stuff, I now love it.
Also hard to beat Meguiar's Correction Compound System.

[dlc95]

If Ultimate Compound isn't working, try experimenting with your technique. There is a tendency to jump to a different product when you really don't "need" to. Check your arm speed, make sure you're cleaning the pad regularly with a pad conditioning brush, or a terry towel to remove excess moisture. Make sure you're not using too much pressure. There is a fine balance of backing plate rotation, and pressure (which slows rotation) that yields the most efficient cutting. If the backing plate isn't rotating, you're cutting is drastically reduced.

If these things aren't working with Ultimate Compound, and you've extinguished all options, I would then consider a different pad.

If it were me, I'd start with a polishing pad and Ultimate Polish.

[Akash_Hegde]

Alright, thanks for all the feedback and advice! I will start out with ultimate compound and the cutting pad that comes with the Meguiars power DA system. I may go and get a harbor freight DA polisher with a new backplate and quality cutting pad if the Power DA system doesn't work.