polish for first time .. once a year?

[animescreen]

I been waiting awhile to do my first polish and been seeing lot of videos here and there and will eventually get to this in few weeks. However, I know that clearcoats aren't that thick like 40 microns etc and can use a micron device to check the depth etc but if polishing removes 4-5 microns each time and I plan on keeping my car for long time what happens when all the clear coat goes away? Do I just go to paint shop and get new clear coat?

I have a 2019 x3 bmw that has hard paint and never been polished yet and seem some swirl marks etc. I paid for it so I'll be keeping this for awhile. If clear coat is problem and eventually disappears, I might just sell it . I'm sure person purchasing it won't ask about "how much clearcoat" is left lol

[98CayenneTA]

You should not need to do a aggressive polish once a year.
If you're going for as close to perfection as possible without compromising the clear you should really only need to do it once then light polishes after if need be.

Below are pictures to show severity of damage before and after. To give you a idea, that amount of damage was removed in about 5-7 microns. The damage was deeper than what you would usually see on daily drivers such as yours from normal wear and tare/ automatic car washes.

Black '69 Mach 1






Black '87 Grand National

[animescreen]

Nice ! So first polish probally should let a pro do it then?

Or tackle it myself and do compound and the polish. After i see good results with light i use do light polishes right?

What do you mean by light polishes? Like softest abrasive pads, low speed and then low polish dressing!

And if i dont see results go ahead and redo it right?

How much microns are removed from compound/ polish first time with more cutting pads compare to a light polish

So doing light polishes im guessing extends it too 10 more years? Lol


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[animescreen]

Also that polish looks great is it first time? May i ask what your process was and what you used


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[98CayenneTA]

This is just a rough estimate but I would say a semi aggressive 2 step compound/ polish removes 3-5 microns but there are also many variables.....

Nothing wrong with giving it a shot yourself. It is A LOT of work.

BMW clear is pretty hard and without seeing the amount of damage im going to fire this out there blind but...
Da polisher combined with lake country microfiber pads and Sonax Cutmax for compounding.
Then for the second step, polishing, something like buff & shine white form pad with Menzerna 3500 or Sonax Perfect Finish.

No those were definitely not my first time and had 20+ hrs. into each them.

I use a rotary a lot for cutting but the Mach 1 was...
-Rotary with 3m perfect it 1
-21mm da with Lake County microfiber pads with Menzerna 400
- Polished with Buff & Shine white foam and Menzerna 3500 & Carpro Essence