My FMJ, EX-P, and NXT Reviews

BillNorth · 10-01-04, 07:35

My FMJ, EX-P, and NXT Reviews

I had the opportunity to try FMJ, EX-P, and NXT on September 3rd and thought I would share my experience with everyone.

The Car:

A 1997 BMW 318i with Boston Green Metallic Paint.

Recent detailing history:

This car was fully detailed on May 15 prior to applying WG. At the time I washed, clayed, WGPC and WGSG. I subsequently added 2 more layers of WGSG until... roughly 8 weeks ago I spot clayed and FI2'd some trouble areas. After FI2'ing I AIO'd and WGSG'd. So some areas of the car have 1xAIO and 1x WGSG, while other have 1x WGPC and 3x WGSG... until 6 weeks ago when I topped it all off with Souveran.

This detail:

Not much was really done this time around. I washed with Mothers and AIO'd the entire car by hand. My intent was to remove the wax and WGSG in order to provide a nice base for the 3 products to bond to.

For this experiment I divided the car into 4 equal pieces. Drivers side front 1/4 of the roof, drivers side 1/2 of the hood, drives side front fender, and the drivers side front door all got FMJ. Drivers side rear 1/4 of the roof, drivers side 1/2 of the trunk lid and rear, drivers side rear door and rear quarter panel got NXT. Opposite the NXT was WGSG (I threw it in since I had the extra piece), and opposite the FMJ was EX-P.

Application:

FMJ was applied with a dry MF applicator. I really had a hard time spreading the product evenly. I'm not a fan of applying synthetics with dry applicators. But the CMA brochure I got specifically stated to use a dry MF pad, so I did. The product is pink in colour and smelled relatively good. It had a very thin consistency. Similar to WGSG.

NXT was next. I used the applicator that was supplied in the box. I also applied NXT dry as well. This product was much easier to apply than FMJ, and relatively easy overall. This had a citrusy smell to it, reminiscent of the candies I used to eat in grade school.

It was thicker than FMJ but not as thick as EX-P.

Next was WG. I applied it with a dry terry coveed foam applicator. Again, very easy on/off product.

And lastly was EX-P. The back of the EX-P bottle stated that a damp applicator could be used, so I did. The smell of the product reminded me of suntan lotion. Made me think of my vacations

. It also had the consistency of lotion. This product went on very easily as well.

Removal:

WG was the easiest to remove. It just wiped right off. Next was FMJ. This was easy as well, but just a touch below WG. NXT was next. Again easy, but a touch below FMJ. And lastly was EX-P. I let it sit for half an hour prior to buffing off. This product buffed off easily as well in most areas. I noticed some stubborn spots afterwards, similar to KSG, but they wiped off pretty easily when targeted, not similar to KSG.

Slickness:

Initial Slickness

1. WG - I asked a relative (who could give 2 cares about car wax

) to compare slickness, and they agreed that WG was the slickest as well.
2. NXT - Just a touch below WG.
3. FMJ - Not as slick as I was expecting/hoping.
4. EX-P - Even less slick than FMJ. Hmmmm...

Day after slickness:

1. WG - No change
2. FMJ - Wow, much slicker now. This is what I was expecting.
3. NXT - No change
3. EX-P - Again, huge improvement in slickness. About equal with NXT now.

Initial look:

I've heard many users comment, about NXT in particular, that it darkens the finish. I honestly did not notice this, when compared to the other three. The reason for this could be that the NXT didn't darken the finish, or that all 4 products darkened the finish, making NXT's darkening indistinguishable. I'll take the latter. My reasoning; When I had WG on and was parked beside another Boston green bimmer, my paint was noticably darker. I think a lot of these new 'carnuba look' sealants need to provide a darkening effect to get the carnuba look they are after.

I honestly could not tell the difference between the 4 products on my paint in terms of looks. This surprised me because many users have commented how EX-P has a clear look to it. I found it to look identical to the other 3 products being tested.

Overall the car looks great. I like how these products look on my green paint. This is the look I'm after for the green. My only concern is durability. If one of these can step up in the durability dept, then I'll have found a new sealant for winter.

Durability:

I had an opportunity to wash the car on weeks 1 and 2. I used Mothers California Gold to wash.

Week 1:

All 4 sealants repelled water as if they were freshly applied. In terms of slickness, I'd have to say WG & FMJ were neck and neck, while NXT was a close second, and EX-P was a solid third. EX-P definitley lost the most slickness out of the four.

Week 2:

After the second wash, I would rank slickness FMJ, WG, NXT, EX-P. FMJ was a touch slicker than WG, which was a touch slicker than NXT. EX-P felt a lot less slick. The paint didn't feel bare, but it was close. In terms of water repellency, I would say that FMJ, WG and NXT were all similar. I couldn't discern a clear winner. EX-P was definitely dead. The water literally pooled on the surface. Very disappointing. I had high hopes for this product considering how much play it gets. It was interesting to observe the roof of the car where I had all 4 products applied. The water on the EX-P quarter just sat there while the other 3/4 were dry.

Notes:

I noticed the EX-P sections had some white patches that looked like unbuffed product. I know I got everything off. This was a little annoying. I tried wiping the sections off with dry MF to no avail.

Week 3:

I was unable to wash the car this week. It was really dirty as well, so I could not do any slickness testing.

Week 4: (Today)

I had a chance to wash the car today. I used Mothers California gold. In terms of slickness, the remaing three products had very little left. As for water replellency, the WG was still repelling. This result is on par with my previous test. Nxt was also repelling water equal to WG. FMJ looked pretty dead. It still had some repellency, but not much. Over half the water was left on the FMJ portion of the roof after 1 minute. NXT and WG were dry. Based on this I would say FMJ is (at most) is a 6 week sealant. I'm pretty surprised that NXT has lasted this long. I was expecting it to fade at week 2. I'd venture to guess that NXT is on par with WG in terms of durability. I can't see it lasting more than 2 months based on how it is so closely resembling the WG decline.

My final thoughts:

The EX-P and FMJ have really disappointed me. Especially FMJ. For $55 CDN, I was expecting so much more. As for EX-P, 2 weeks of durability is a lot less than I was expecting. I would not recommend either of these products if durability is what you are after. With NXT, I got more than I expected. Regardless, for $30 CDN, I would not recommend this product. Buy a good pure otc carnuba wax for half the price (at least). You'll get almost the same durability.

This test is over. Today I spot clayed and stripped the car down with AIO, then Z1, Z5'd. The colder weather is around the corner, and I need to start getting ready.

Well that's my review, I hope you enjoyed it.

RedondoV6 · 10-01-04, 08:14

Awesome review Bill, I'm very pleased that you are not all done and over!

Interesting results. I've seen some people claim 6-9 months for PB's EX, very impressive until you question them and they inform you that their car is a garage queen, driven one a week and a Carnuba QD is applied once a month!

A few questions I have, did you use the Mothers gold at normal dilution? Was the car parked outside and what was the weather like during the test?

Thanks again for another very relevant and interesting review.

PS. How did your Zaino test go? Well I guess as you are planning to use it?

BillNorth · 10-01-04, 08:29

Quote:

Originally posted by RedondoV6
Awesome review Bill, I'm very pleased that you are not all done and over!

Interesting results. I've seen some people claim 6-9 months for PB's EX, very impressive until you question them and they inform you that their car is a garage queen, driven one a week and a Carnuba QD is applied once a month!

One question I have, did you use the Mothers gold at normal dilution? Was the car parked outisde and what was the weather like during the test?

Thanks again for another veyr relevant and interesting review.

PS. How did your Zaino test go? Well I guess as you are planning to use it?

Thanks Mike, I'm glad you like the review. Though I won't be posting too much anymore, unless I see substantial change here. That's a topic for another day though...

Thank you for the questions. Its important info I forgot to mention.

I did use the Mothers at regular dilution. The car is a daily driver. It's driven approx 40km a day. It's parked outside Mon-Fri from 7am-7pm, and garaged in the evenings and weekends when I'm at home. The weather during the test was gorgeous. Maybe 1 or 2 days of rain. The rest were sunny with temps between 25C-30C.

The Zaino test went well. I now have 2 coats on the car that is parked outside 24/7, and the z is dojng very well. I'm impressed with it. This convinced me to use it on my car for winter.

tkr128 · 10-01-04, 08:30

Excellent product reviews! I thoroughly enjoyed reading your findings.

The only product from your test I've used to the point where I can provide some observations is EX-P and they're not all that different from what you've observed in terms of slickness, application and apperance. However, it has lasted more than 2 weeks for me, but there are many factors that could have contributed to that. I'm not impressed with it, but it still is a nice product for my purposes (applying once every 3-4 weeks).

SilverLexus · 10-01-04, 08:50

Excellent review Bill. Thorough and thoughtful.

Scottwax · 10-01-04, 08:53

Very thorough review, Bill. You rated the beading ability after 4 weeks, but what about appearance? Did any of them look noticably worse than the others?

I've used NXT, WG and EX-P but not FMJ. I'm not suprised NXT did decently, nor Wolfgang. I like and use both products. My experience with EX-P has also been very good, but I have noticed it tends to sheet when you spray it heavily instead of beading. Not sure if that happened for you as well. I do agree that NXT and EX-P will lose their initial slickness quicker than Wolfgang but for me, appearance and beading (when raining) seem to hold up well. Like they say, your results may vary.

I don't have any experience with FMJ, but most initial reviews have been postive. I haven't seen any follow up though. I like the way you waited a while before writing this up. Initial impressions are great to hear but long term results are also important. I don't usually wait a long time after testing a product to write a review, but I do try to revisit the review after some time has passed to give my durability results. Either way works for me.

BillNorth · 10-01-04, 09:07

Quote:

Originally posted by Scottwax
Very thorough review, Bill. You rated the beading ability after 4 weeks, but what about appearance? Did any of them look noticably worse than the others?

I wasn't able to see a difference between the different sections, which is why I used water repellency as my main measuring stick.

Quote:

Originally posted by Scottwax
I've used NXT, WG and EX-P but not FMJ. I'm not suprised NXT did decently, nor Wolfgang. I like and use both products. My experience with EX-P has also been very good, but I have noticed it tends to sheet when you spray it heavily instead of beading. Not sure if that happened for you as well. I do agree that NXT and EX-P will lose their initial slickness quicker than Wolfgang but for me, appearance and beading (when raining) seem to hold up well. Like they say, your results may vary.
[/b]

I never noticed any sheeting with EX-P. The water pooled on the surface. It just sat there.

Quote:

Originally posted by Scottwax
I don't have any experience with FMJ, but most initial reviews have been postive. I haven't seen any follow up though. I like the way you waited a while before writing this up. Initial impressions are great to hear but long term results are also important. I don't usually wait a long time after testing a product to write a review, but I do try to revisit the review after some time has passed to give my durability results. Either way works for me. [/b]

Agreed, long term is important. Many/all products look good/behave well initially.

G35stilez · 10-01-04, 09:10

Bill:

Very nice review

. Boston Green Metallic is a great color! My mom used to have a 94 325is in that color

Interesting findings though. I have had FMJ on for 2 weeks and it is very slick, also beads water very well. I will keep up to date with durability.

NXT lasted a while for me as well, as did Wolfgang, so I'm with ya there.

I have gotten more time out of EX-P though. 3+ months with it, but conditions are everything.

Interesting findings and thanks for posting them.

BillNorth · 10-01-04, 09:22

Quote:

Originally posted by GSRstilez
Bill:

Very nice review . Boston Green Metallic is a great color! My mom used to have a 94 325is in that color

Interesting findings though. I have had FMJ on for 2 weeks and it is very slick, also beads water very well. I will keep up to date with durability.

NXT lasted a while for me as well, as did Wolfgang, so I'm with ya there.

I have gotten more time out of EX-P though. 3+ months with it, but conditions are everything.

Interesting findings and thanks for posting them.

Sean, thanks. I do love the colour. One of my favourite BMW colours along with Topaz blue and Imola Red.

FMJ was good for me after 2 weeks. I could see it losing its legs at the one month point. Definitely did not have much left. I would like to hear how you find durability to be as well.

I projected NXT to be like WG, that being a 2 month product. 2 months is below avg, IMHO. Neither product can be considered for winter duty, IMHO.

As for EX-P, I was hoping for a lot longer. But yes, environmnet plays a role. Who knows for sure though.

G35stilez · 10-01-04, 09:41

Bill:

My gf has an Imola Red Saab...Great color to work with

I don't have access to a hose (apartment) so constant S+W's are necessary (every 4 days or so) to keep clean. I am not stripping it until Thanksgiving so time will tell

You're right though, it's back to Zaino/Klasse/Duragloss for winter.

Scottwax · 10-01-04, 10:03

Bill-a little off topic, but what are your plans for winter on that car? Maybe some Collinite or Meguiars #16 perhaps?

NTTG · 10-01-04, 10:05

Thanks for taking the time to do the review.

There are still many products I want to try for myself but reviews like this really help. I think WGs needs to be added to my list but I may skip the EX-P (yeah right). That'll be after I get to the unopened bottle of NXT though. My Souveran arrvied shortly after getting the NXT and I just couldn't resist the Souveran.

Anyway, hope you will reconsider stopping by and sharing...can never have too much shared knowledge. Who knows, you may just miss us