Some detailing questions...
 

I own BMW 2002 330ci. Its saphire Black. When I first got it almost a month ago. I decided to correct the paint job myself. Now I've heard Autoglym products arnt all that...but I have been using them forever.

I machined the car at high speed with; super resin polish, ultra deep shine and then I waxed it over to seal it.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d7...7/DSC01308.jpg

But now after a month...I have swirl marks and very fine scratches appearing all again....just like I got the car in its orignal state.

So my questions being:

What am I doing wrong?
Sounds stupid but is it okay to repeat the above process every month?
Should I wash the car less often?
Change my the products I use?
Try claying the car first?

Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Haroon.

The reason the swirls are coming back mate is due to
AG SRP & DP having fillers in them. They have no real
cutting qualities at all. If you have the use of a DA polisher
or rotary I would be getting my hands on more focussed
products. I use menzerna myself but there are alot more out there.
Personally would clay a car before I polished merely down
to the fact there is always bonded crap dotted around any car
and these can easily lead to problems when polishing.
Have a read through Polished Bliss' guides, they are an
excellent source of info and shows exactly the right way
to do things.
Craig.

Harry, pretty much what Craig says. If I'm machining I prefer menzerna and finish off with blackfire products to bring the best out of the dark colour. I still ocassionally use autoglym, but not really any of their paint correction stuff.

Again, polished bliss is the place to look

Mike

As above; Autoglym SRP is not a proper cutting polish, more a light polish and glaze with some protective properties. On hard BMW paint it pretty much only fills and hides defects, hence why they shortly return once the fillers start to be eroded by washing/rainfall - on this subject I would suggest your current choice of protective products isn't great, as clearly they are not sealing your finish very effectively for very long. It would be okay to do the above process every 3-6 months forever more, as the rate of paint removal will be minimal, but it would be a lot of work. Choosing better polishes would allow you to correct it the once, and then have little do other than an annual finishing polish session to nip out any fresh wash marring (assuming you nail your wash method and don't inflict swirls again). To finish up on your last question, most cars need claying 1-2 times a year, and you should always clay before machine polishing, just to make sure you are working on perfectly clean surfaces.

Here is a little more info on machine polishing germanic paints effectively. The standard proven way to tackle swirls and light scratches in germanic paint using a dual action style machine is...

To correct swirls and other moderate defects (fine scratches and etching) on your car, you will need to start out with Menzerna RD3.02 using Lake Country CCS Light Cut Pads (6.5" pads on a 5" flexible backing plate for larger areas, and 4" spot pads on a 3.5" flexible backing plate for more awkward areas). Working at speed 4-5 using moderate pressure should see you able to correct ~95% of the defects with a couple of attempts per panel - to achieve a higher level of correction would require the power of a rotary polisher, which are professional tools that need a lot more time to master. With the bulk of the correction done, you will need to switch to Menzerna 85RD using Lake Country CCS Polishing Pads (again, it's best to have both sizes of pad to work with). Working at speed 4-5 with light pressure should see you produce the maximum possible gloss, which you will then want to seal in using either a wax or a sealant.

...or if you are using a rotary style polisher, then instead...

To correct swirls and other moderate defects (fine scratches and etching included), you will need to start out with Menzerna RD3.02 using a 3M Perfect-it III Compounding Pad (ideally on a 3M 125mm flexible backing plate for maximum feel and safer transitioning over swage lines and awkward curves). We usually put 2-3 five pence sized blobs around the centre of the pad and then spread at 900rpm. Working at 1800rpm using moderate pressure should see you able to correct ~95% of the defects with a single attempt per panel; it is worth finishing down with a few slower passes at 900rpm in order to ensure a hologram free finish. With the bulk of the correction done, you would be wise to switch to Menzerna 85RD using a 3M Ultrafina SE Finishing Pad (applied and spread in the same way). Working at 1200-1500rpm with light pressure should see you produce the maximum possible gloss and clarity, which you will then want to seal in using either a wax or a sealant.

I hope that helps and explains things!

:)

Top guys...ordering some stuff from you polished bliss now...

Cheers
Haroon.