Micro-marring spider web swirls?

[IAJack]

I own a 2008 black BMW that I have washed, clayed, and polished with CG's #36 and #38. So far it looks great as you can see in the second pic below. I still have some very slight marks on it though that can only be seen in a very bright light at an exact / extreme angle. I had a hard time even getting a pic of them, and from straight on or with a very bright flashlight I can hardly see them.

I tried going over them again with a new white pad and it wont touch them. I am am wondering if these are through the clear coat, or I am actually worried about going through the clear if I polish any further. I am thinking that for a 10 year old car finish this might be as good as it gets and I need to be happy with it. I don"t even know what to call these, micro-marring, micro-spider web?

Any help and suggestions appreciated. Thank you


Pic: this is the trunk, notice angle of the very bright setting sun.


pic: this is the final view from afar. Even though it is in the shade the swirls cant be seen from here.

[lane5515]

I'd recommend getting some better quality products than CG. Take some measurements with a paint thickness gauge and then try Menzerna, Sonax, CarPro or another high quality polish from AG.

[Calendyr]

Very unlikelly swirls are through the clear coat. If they are, that means you have basically no clear coat left on the car. Swirls are maybe 2 or 3 micron deep at the most. A polish removes about a micron of paint and will usually get at least 50% of them. Your clear should be at least 50 microns thick on a typical factory paint. Some are thinner (like on Mazdas) or much thicker (like on Jeeps). But taking a paint depth reading is the only way to know for sure.

Hard to tell from your picture but if you only have a few left, an other pass of polishing should remove them. Also make sure not to create more when you remove the polish residue, use an Isopropyl alcohol mix to wet the surface and a plush micro fiber towel to clean it. If is very possible you are removing all the swirls with your polishing and creating a few more with your wipe.

Let us know how it went

[FrankS]

What kind or brand of polisher and pads are you using?

[fightnews]

Very unlikelly swirls are through the clear coat. If they are, that means you have basically no clear coat left on the car. Swirls are maybe 2 or 3 micron deep at the most. A polish removes about a micron of paint and will usually get at least 50% of them. Your clear should be at least 50 microns thick on a typical factory paint. Some are thinner (like on Mazdas) or much thicker (like on Jeeps). But taking a paint depth reading is the only way to know for sure.

Hard to tell from your picture but if you only have a few left, an other pass of polishing should remove them. Also make sure not to create more when you remove the polish residue, use an Isopropyl alcohol mix to wet the surface and a plush micro fiber towel to clean it. If is very possible you are removing all the swirls with your polishing and creating a few more with your wipe.

Let us know how it went

What about a polish like 3800 on a waxing pad? That doesn't remove a micron of paint.

[Mike Phillips]

I own a 2008 black BMW that I have washed, clayed, and polished with CG's #36 and #38. So far it looks great as you can see in the second pic below.

I still have some very slight marks on it though that can only be seen in a very bright light at an exact / extreme angle. I had a hard time even getting a pic of them, and from straight on or with a very bright flashlight I can hardly see them.

I tried going over them again with a new white pad and it wont touch them. I am am wondering if these are through the clear coat, or I am actually worried about going through the clear if I polish any further. I am thinking that for a 10 year old car finish this might be as good as it gets and I need to be happy with it. I don"t even know what to call these, micro-marring, micro-spider web?

Any help and suggestions appreciated. Thank you

Take a look at my replies in this similar thread...


Very fine spider webs on black

[IAJack]

Update - It worked!

I figured out the combination and got it right. I first went over the car using a older red pad and Meguire's M1 cutting compound. With the way it hazed it over I didnt think it would come out. I then followed up using CG #34 with a orange pad, #36 with a blue pad, #38 with a white pad and finally CG Blacklight with a black pad. I wiped between using a 50/50 alcohol solution and then put on a layer of Collinite. It came out amazing and what I was looking for. Long story short, I wasn't getting aggressive enough on the first cut to get all the lines out. Thanks for all the help and replies.