My first ever paint correction - 2011 BMW z4

[EVOxdetailer]

This was my first ever paint correction so I just went with a 1 Step polish considering the car is fairly new and just wanted a learning experience. Please feel free to give me tips and criticize(constructively) as I am expecting I probably made a few mistakes.

PRODUCTS USED

WASH: Meguiar's Wash and Wax
Wheels: Sonax Full Effect w/ wheel brushes(dont know the brands)
Decontaminate: Clay Bar
Polish: Griot's DA Polisher and Wolfgang Total Swirl Remover
Sealant: Turtle Wax Super Hard Shell

Before:




Wheels:




"Full effect" in full effect


Looks alright


50/50.



Taped up and ready to polish


Here's a nice shot of the polished paint before sealant was applied.


Reflection shot after sealant was applied.





This whole process took about 4 hours with two people but most of the time only one of us was working at a time. So I reckon it would have taken me 5.5 to 6 hours to do alone.
Thanks for any feedback!

[davey g-force]

Looks pretty good!

Looks like the TSR either didn't quite remove all the swirls or created some of its own.

But big improvement - especially for your first attempt.

[Hazcat]

Looks really good. You're well on your way. Just keep doing as many as you can. Especially dark cars.

[BobbyG]

I'd say you did an awesome job at removing swirls and other like defects. Your before and after shots, tape line, show how much improvement actually took place...

Unless you have a true show car, you'll always have some level of finish defects. Show cars are just that, kept for shows and never see hot sun, wind, rain, bugs, etc. Keeping a daily driver in tip-top shape is what we all strive for and I'd say you've achieved that and more!

[EVOxdetailer]

I forgot to mention that I was using a white polishing pad.
I think the ideal route i could have taken would have been a 2 step correction.
1. TSR with orange cutting pad because there was a decent amount of deeper scratches
2. Some finer polish with white pad.


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using AG Online

[sproketser]

id a great job mate ! Keep it on .

[EVOxdetailer]

I'd say you did an awesome job at removing swirls and other like defects. Your before and after shots, tape line, show how much improvement actually took place...

Unless you have a true show car, you'll always have some level of finish defects. Show cars are just that, kept for shows and never see hot sun, wind, rain, bugs, etc. Keeping a daily driver in tip-top shape is what we all strive for and I'd say you've achieved that and more!

Thank you! I really appreciate it. Possibly my favorite thing about detailing is the community behind it

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using AG Online

[swanicyouth]

It looks like you did a fine job there. Nice car!

If your looking for some tips, I'll tell you how I would have approached it. I would have used TSR probably on an orange pad. IME a white pad with TSR won't get all the swirls cut out of BMW paint.

Secondly, I would have done a second step. A car like that deserves it. A follow up finishing polish with a white pad will add all the gloss and bling.

But. It seems you already knew that.

For your first time you did much better than my first time. My first time I made the paint worse.

[EVOxdetailer]

It looks like you did a fine job there. Nice car!

If your looking for some tips, I'll tell you how I would have approached it. I would have used TSR probably on an orange pad. IME a white pad with TSR won't get all the swirls cut out of BMW paint.

Secondly, I would have done a second step. A car like that deserves it. A follow up finishing polish with a white pad will add all the gloss and bling.

But. It seems you already knew that.

For your first time you did much better than my first time. My first time I made the paint worse.

Much appreciated. Do you have any recommendations on finer polishes?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using AG Online

[swanicyouth]

WG Finishing Glaze or Optimum Finishing Polish.