Detail my 2014 328I BMW Mojave Metallic

[borderman01]

Hi all,
First excited to joining this forum. There is so much to learn here and read. It can be overwhelming sometimes. I have read alot of Mike Phillips write-ups. Mike if you are reading this, thank you very much for that. It has helped me greatly to understand some of the important concepts to detailing. First time detailing. I have used other rotary machines before but not those for auto as polishers. So before I get to my question, alittle intro to what I plan on using in order to get feedback if Im on the right track. Obviously there is nothing that substitutes experience but at least with good information I can make informative decisions. So here what I have so far;
HF DA 6" Polisher
LC 5.5" Force pads, 3 orange, 2 white, 1 black & 1 red
5" Meguiars backplate
Meguiars - M105 & M205
Meguiars D300
Polyclay bar from Pinnacle

The car currently has some light scratches and some deep ones as well. The deep ones which I have done the finger nail test wont come out with compound. They can be enhanced but Im not too concerned with them at all since this is my daily driver. So Im not looking for showroom results. The car also has some touchups done which are ok done by the dealership. This car was a lease before I purchased a few months ago. I have only washed the car 3 times using adams car soap along with the three bucket system. No claying has been done. My intentions is to first test an area on the car to see how the paint reacts. I will test the top part of the trunk. Divide it in two areas. So wash the car first and during say the second wash use the claybar along with car soap to clay the trunk only. Rinse car again and dry it off. I will move car into the garage. Then take one half of the trunk using D300 with LC Orange pad using 4-5 sectional passes. Stop and review results. I will also compare it to the other side of trunk to see how much of an improvement it is. Maybe after 2 sectional passes inspect the pad to see if the paint is indeed hard. If it is soft which I doubt then possibly switch to the polish M205 and LC white pad. I will prime the pad as Mike has indicated in his writeup. Use the proper IPA mix to wipe down area to reveal true paint results. Since this is subjective to each, if I like the results then move on to the next area and finish with the polish. If the light scratches dont come off then switch over to the M105 and again finish with M205.
Couple of things that I have come away with from what many detailers have all stated are that
1. Leave as much clear coat as possible.
2. Start with least aggressive first.
3. Always test a spot first.

So now my questions, the car has paint touchups to it. So do I need to take caution when using the compounds when working in those areas?
If I needed to switch compounds with the orange pads, do I need to start out with a new pad. Or can simply washing the pad throughly and be able to reuse it again with a different compound?

Thanks for taking time in reading my post. Feedbacks would be most appreciative.

Tony

[LEDetailing]

Yes, use caution around the touch up areas. It all depends on the touch up paint. It sounds like the touch up area should be cured and probably won't give you any problems.

As far as compound and pads. Just clean the pad throughly and you won't have any problems. Fine polishing pads and AIO pads I would consider dedicating the pad to one product. For me compounds seem to clean out of pads very easy.

[borderman01]

Thanks for the info. The touchup paint I assume was done at least a year ago. I found no accident on the carfax. But this could have been done anytime though.

[borderman01]

Update on the detail. I found the MF pads much better in terms of better removing some of the scratches. Did like 4-5 sectional passes using D300 with moderate pressure using slow arm speed. Broke the areas into 2X2 space. Only did the trunk and hood. Its possible I didn't apply the adequate pressure to remove all the scratches. But again this is not a show piece car and I wanted to make sure as a beginner Im leaving as much clear coat as possible. Maybe I can switch up to the more aggressive M105 and see how that turns out. Btw I did use Pinnacle PolyClay before using D300. But it def seems this paint is hard like a rock. Just need to progress slowly and try different things to see how the paint reacts. For now I finished with Menzerna CL wax.

[borderman01]

Would the following be considered RIDS?



This is my daily driver so not concerned with them but after a good car wash a few months ago I have noticed more scratches appearing. At first I didnt understand but after reading much here I do now. I assume the dealership just like many use glaze polishes to hide defects. With the wash I basically removed the glaze to show the true paint. I knew of a touch up they did and after a wash the touch up seems to fall off.


I also noticed these scratches as well. Now my fingernail does catch the edge on a few spots on some of the scratches. Dont know if D300 would get them off but Ive got M105 which I believe would. Just would be looking to enhance the look.


Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks