Pad and polish suggestions

beanie · Post by **beanie** » Wed Aug 19, 2020 12:40 pm

Hi all, I’m looking for some pad advice/general recommendations for getting a really clean, marr free finish.

A bit of background-
A good few years ago I went to town on the Z and got some very good results. I used a DAS 6 together with some 3M pads (yellow and blue) and iirc, some meguiars fine compound (205??) and something heavier which I don’t remember. Possibly Farecla G3 as it was knocking about

The time came to refresh a few panels but I have really struggled with the final stage and getting out some micro marring. I’ve cleaned the pads and tried several times but I just can’t get the results like I used to and in certain lights there’s an incredibly fine haze. It’s definitely not wax or residue as I’ve cleaned it off and tried again with no luck.

I need to get some more polish and thought it about time for new pads too so any thoughts and advice are appreciated.

The paint is in decent shape and for most people very tidy, but you all know what it’s like! It’s got the odd light scratch but is largely free from swirls apart from the recent bout of micro marring.

pvr · Post by **pvr** » Wed Aug 19, 2020 12:46 pm

After the course polish / pad combination, did you go over it again with a finner grade pad and polish?

I have found the Menzerna polish to work well on BMW paint.

PDJ · Post by **PDJ** » Wed Aug 19, 2020 1:05 pm

: D96E9F0E-2EDE-4715-BB8D-CDCD8894962B.jpeg (200.63 KiB) Viewed 1026 times

Guide for pads

PDJ · Post by **PDJ** » Wed Aug 19, 2020 1:15 pm

I have used meguir’s mirror glaze 105 with an orange pad then Meguir’s ultra finishing polish 205 with a white or black pad then sealed with Menzerna power lock sealant with a red pad.

However I have just bought some Poor Boys Black Hole show glaze for dark coloured cars and some Poor Boys EX sealant but it is too damp in Manchester today to polish my car have tried but the drizzle well not stop....

beanie · Post by **beanie** » Wed Aug 19, 2020 1:30 pm

pvr wrote: ↑Wed Aug 19, 2020 12:46 pm After the course polish / pad combination, did you go over it again with a finner grade pad and polish?

I have found the Menzerna polish to work well on BMW paint.

The first round was with the G3-I know some don’t like it but I found it was working well at removing finer marks and light hologramming (left by a detailing company, but that’s another story) My final stage was the 205 with a blue pad. This combo was fine first time round, after a bit of fiddling but I may have got my pads mixed up this time.

PDJ- does black hole have fillers in it?

I was thinking of going for some microfiber pads to at least rule out worn foam pads being the issue.

PDJ · Post by **PDJ** » Wed Aug 19, 2020 1:45 pm

beanie wrote: ↑Wed Aug 19, 2020 12:40 pm PDJ- does black hole have fillers in it?

The shop did suggest it has dark colour in it and it is almost black in colour straight out of the bottle, there is an other for white cars too.

enuff_zed · Post by **enuff_zed** » Wed Aug 19, 2020 1:45 pm

How old are the pads?
Maybe they've dried out/hardened a little since you last used them?

R60BBA · Post by **R60BBA** » Wed Aug 19, 2020 1:57 pm

Menzerna PO85RD or 3M Ultrafina should sort you out.

beanie · Post by **beanie** » Wed Aug 19, 2020 2:10 pm

enuff_zed wrote: ↑Wed Aug 19, 2020 1:45 pm How old are the pads?
Maybe they've dried out/hardened a little since you last used them?

Pretty old now-must be 6 years or more. They’ve hardly been used though.

R60BBA wrote: ↑Wed Aug 19, 2020 1:57 pm Menzerna PO85RD or 3M Ultrafina should sort you out.

I’ll have a look, thanks

R60BBA · Post by **R60BBA** » Wed Aug 19, 2020 2:14 pm

beanie wrote: ↑Wed Aug 19, 2020 2:10 pm
R60BBA wrote: ↑Wed Aug 19, 2020 1:57 pm Menzerna PO85RD or 3M Ultrafina should sort you out.
I’ll have a look, thanks

Forgot to add, make sure you hit the paint with something like CarPro Eraser in-between stages.

https://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/carpro-e ... h-cleanser

Good luck

pvr · Post by **pvr** » Wed Aug 19, 2020 2:33 pm

I can sniff that CarPro Eraser forever, love the smell

beanie · Post by **beanie** » Thu Aug 20, 2020 1:53 pm

I think I've got some gtechniq panel wipe which should do the job.

Angelus666 · Post by **Angelus666** » Thu Aug 20, 2020 2:44 pm

For me, on black bmw paint, it’s more the time spent on the refining polish. I reckon you need 3x the time spent on refining the paint compared to cutting.

ph001 · Post by **ph001** » Thu Aug 20, 2020 3:31 pm

Angelus666 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 20, 2020 2:44 pm For me, on black bmw paint, it’s more the time spent on the refining polish. I reckon you need 3x the time spent on refining the paint compared to cutting.

I found the opposite! Top coat seems very hard so you need a heavier cut pad than you would expect and a good cutting compound like Sonax Profiline Cutmax, otherwise you will be there for ever. I've often found just that single stage to be more than adequate for a very good gloss level although I do usually finish with a Sonax Profiline EX04-06 and an orange hexlogic pad.

: D6F273D2-F171-46F1-9825-BF8A8C0615A3.jpeg (410.03 KiB) Viewed 940 times

Z4M-2006 · Post by **Z4M-2006** » Thu Aug 20, 2020 5:20 pm

Microfibre cut pads all the way on BMW clearcoat...

Sorts it out without mither.

Z4-forum.com

Z4-forum.com