Help with hard water stains

[alanG40]

Hi all!
New member here and while Im sure this question has been asked before (well, I know it has, Ive read the articles here on the topic), I wanted to ask again since there are always advanced in technology and of course everyones situation is different.

First off, I was an auto detailer when I was younger.
Learned quite a lot and worked on many cars with worse hard water (acid rain) stains than I have.
But we always used a wheel on the paint when they were bad and I dont want to do that on my car.

I have a 2014 BMW in Alpine White.
I picked it up from the dealer the same day I had sprinklers on well water installed.
Well, needless to say the car got hit by the sprinklers and the water baked in the next day.
This probably happened a couple times before I noticed.

So that weekend I washed and clayed the car and broke out my 16lb Gem orbital polisher.
I love that thing, it really is a fantastic orbital!
But unfortunately it wasnt enough.
While many of the stains came out there are still plenty left.
(though im lucky they are only on the hood)

So I am trying to avoid using a spin buffer since 1) I dont have one, and 2) I dont want to have to do that to a 3 week old car.

The spots are small, do not seem pitted and cant feel them but can see them at the right angle.
I tried to take a picture of them, but its pretty impossible on a bright white car.

So what Im asking is if anyone has tried anything like Meguiars water spot remover or 3D Eraser water spot remover?
Is there anything else I should be looking at instead?

Is there something I can use with my orbital perhaps?
Ive never used anything compound-ish with it, not sure how that would work out with a heavy unit like that.
Is there a more aggressive wax I could try with it that wouldnt otherwise hurt the finish?


Thanks for anything you can think of!

[jamesboyy]

Welcome to autogeek...I see you got your hands full already, the meguiars water spot remover(in the red bottle you get from pepboys) works great IMO it has enough power to remover the most stubborn and can be found locally, though some other alternatives would be CarPro Spotless Water Spot Remover or a one step polish like Menzerna po203

[allenk4]

Here is a good start for understanding what you are up against:

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...-type-iii.html

Here are some more:

Auto Geek Online Auto Detailing Forum - Search Results

[alanG40]

Oh Ive read all the articles already and theres lots a different answers/methods.
Also, Ive removed plenty of water spots in the past as a detailer, but I was specifically interested in a solution that I could use with my Gem polisher.
(or better yet no machine at all!)

My main concern being that it is a 16lb polisher and while that is a great benefit 99.9% of the time in the way it really reduces the elbow grease needed, I have concerns about using anything abrasive with it on the cars tops since that would be extra pressure on the finish. (unless Im just being overly cautious?)

I will pick up some of the Meguiars water spot remover and see how that works with the machine.

[jamesboyy]

I finally seen what a Gem polisher is while its a nice machine I suggest you look into other machines like Cyclo, groits garage, and rupes its a well worth investment and can achieve great results too