Holograms in my BMW X5

**Goodloe3** · 12-19-2010, 09:38 PM

Anyone got any suggestions of removing holograms from BMW's rock hard clear coat?
I have tried Pinnacle Advanced Swirl Remover, Pinnacle XMT Swirl remover #3, Meguiars Swirl Remover, 3M Swirl Remover, and Optimum Hyper Polish spray. All with Lake country Orange and Yellow cutting pads with my Flex 3401 polisher.
These things won't budge.

Anyone got any other suggestions?

**JonMiles** · 12-19-2010, 09:42 PM

Menzerna SIP on an orange ccs. followed up with 85rd on a white. Jewel with 85rd on a black with a rotary for maximum gloss.

**Dr Oldz** · 12-19-2010, 10:25 PM

Possibly not the products........are you working on a small enough area? Are you applying enough pressure to the machine to work the polishes properly? What speed are you working at? Those are things to consider before you go purchase another product!

**Goodloe3** · 12-19-2010, 10:32 PM

Hey thanks. I'm pretty sure I'm using them correctly. I have been successful in removing swirls and blemishes on other vehicles. Just can't get them out of my own car. I will lower my work area and apply more pressure. The Flex is on speed 5. Anything else you suggest?

**jlb85** · 12-19-2010, 11:00 PM

Are you sure they are not RIDS and, thus, deeper? Is there any improvement after each pass? Was there any improvement after the first few passes? What color is the car? Most BMWs I have worked on have medium to soft paint.

I would not use orange or yellow pads with swirl removers. Step up to M105 or something more aggressive. Keep the orange and above pads to compounds, and use softer pads for the swirl removers (like white or black).

So the holograms can be getting introduced with your aggressive pads. You could be correcting some and adding others. Or the polishes are just too fine for the paint and defects. Try the swirl removers with a black pad and see if the surface improves. If it does, then you are probably adding holograms with the yellow pad. If it does not, then you will need something more aggressive polish-wise for the hard paint. Either way, change to a compound with the orange pad, then back to the black pad with the swirl remover.

**Dr Oldz** · 12-19-2010, 11:02 PM

Of the polishes you have listed I'm pretty sure the Pinnacle ASR has the most cut. If that is not working then you need to go more aggressive. SIP is very good on hard clearcoats but if ASR isn't "budging" like you said, You will need more aggressive than SIP! Perhaps Power Gloss Compound or 105. Megs Ultimate Compound is very similar to 105 and is available locally!

**WRAPT C5Z06** · 12-19-2010, 11:12 PM

Try Megs UC and an orange pad.

jlb, you can induce holograms with a 3401?

**JonMiles** · 12-19-2010, 11:41 PM

Do you have any pics of the problem? It would really assist in laying out a gameplan to remove the problem for you.

**slickooz** · 12-19-2010, 11:45 PM

Sorry but I have a question about holograms, can I make them with DA or it only happens with a rotatory?

**jlb85** · 12-20-2010, 12:36 AM

Holograms are marks from a machine, regardless of how they are made. DA and Flex will have shorter scratches in their hologram "patina", where a rotary would have a more consistent, longer scratch composition in its hologram "patina". From 10 feet away they both look about the same: terrible.

Here is an example of a 7-series we did recently. The owner had a recommended guy local to him who used the Flex DA and his Mail Order products to destroy this finish. Take into consideration this was not done with M105 or 3M Cutting, but with something lighter, with the wrong pad, and no progress inspection. It took a 2 step to remove the damage, and a 4 step to truly clear up the paint like the owner had never seen.