Menzerna is Great!

[Greg]

I tried out the twins today, that is Menzerna Intensive Polish and Final Polish. The most abrasive product I had ever used before this was 3M SMR, but that just wasn't cutting it. My car is a 92 so naturally it had some swirls. I washed my car with Dawn because last week I had just put Clearkote products on it, clayed with Pinnacle Poly-clay, then used Intensive.

1. I used yellow compounding pad for the intensive
2. At first, I was using too much product which took a while to break down.
3. I used Eagle One wet wipe n shine for lubricant as opposed to water, turned out great
4. Used quite a bit of Water/Alcohol solution to remove intensive along with about 5 green MF towels- car is non clearcoated black- after finishing, the towels were black too
5. I had a really tough time getting the residue off and it hazed quite a bit.
6. After just using the Intensive, I was freaking out because it looked like someone had dumped milk on my car and let it dry overnight
7. I could tell, even through the murky surface, that great things were underneath

Now, I was a bit anxious to say the least to get to the Final Polish because the Intensive left the surface so hazy
1. I used the white polishing pad for the final polish
2. Learned not to use too much product
3. Again, used 1 spray EO WWS p/ section on the pad
4. Removed with MF towels- no water/alcohol this time- not so much paint came off this time
5. Very easy to come off, much easier than SMR
6. The gloss is amazing
7. Absolutely not a swirl to be seen- it was like magic
8. Residue comes off windows/trim very easily

This two products are great IMO. I am completely satisfied with these two polishes and will definitely keep my BMW beautiful. I had to detail another car today, so I stopped after the final polish, but tomorrow will top with VMW, Souveran and P21S. I will certainly post pictures. Unfortunately- I don't have any before/after polish pictures. I never tried to accentuate my swirls. (Edit: I lied, pics are down a couple of posts)

Cliff Notes- great polishes, I would recommend.

[AMP01]

Greg,

I agree about Menzerna! I also had success with using Vanilla Moose after the intensive polish applied with a white polishing pad.

For the first time, I used a Lambswool cutting pad with Menzerna intensive to take care of some scratches that I wanted to get out once and for all.

Cheers,
My Black 7 Series

[jgv]

Great review Greg.

Are you guys sure you can't buy their Fast Cut polisher? While not leaving the surface hazed, it guets rid of those scratches in no time. If I see certain types of scratches, I go directly with the FC and only then the IP and FP (2 x or more).

[Dr. Jones]

how long did it take to use both products?

[Greg]

Before Menzerna- you can notice the swirls

[Greg]

After- very nice reflection- no swirls

[Greg]

Dr. Jones- it took about 1 1/2 hours to use both of the products. I hate rushing during a first time, so I took my time and took notes while doing the whole process. I would say, one could do a regular sized car in probably half that time to an hour.

[FNG]

It looks like more orange peel in teh second pic.

[Jademonkey]

Originally posted by FNG
It looks like more orange peel in teh second pic.

Isnt orange peel caused by the clearcoat?
If so, then that is not possible since in his first post he said that his is single stage paint, meaning he does not have a clearcoat.

[Greg]

Yes, there is a little bit of orange peel on that panel. I guess it's not the best panel to look at. Orange peel happens and I'm still happy given it's 11 year old paint.

[geekysteve]

Hmmm. I hate to throw a monkey-wrench in to the works, but I've had less than stellar results with Menzerna. I even emailed CMA to make sure I was using it correctly - perhaps some of you can offer some suggestions?

Here's the situation:
Vehicle = 2002 Chevrolet Tahoe, dark blue

Washed, clayed, and re-washed. Using PC7424 with yellow foam and white foam pads, plenty of microfiber towels, and a bottle of 50/50 water/alcohol available.

Grabbed the yellow foam pad, set the speed on the PC to 4, misted a little EO Wet QD on the pad, put 2-4" 'thin lines' of Menzerna Intensive Polish on the pad. Started working on the hood.

Noticed that the polish: (a) Hazed nearly instantly, required a few shots of QD to keep "workable", (b) stained trim white, (c) didn't remove the minor marring I had (I really worked it in), (d) left a residue that was nearly impossible to remove, (e) when cleaned/buffed away, left a smeary residue that when brushed with my finger left a streaky trail (like oil).

Same problems with the Final Polish, but instead of staining trim white, it stained it chalky grey.

I tried everything I could think of to remedy the problems, but all-in-all, found that it was really difficult to work with. I PM'd a few folks who confirmed that they had similar problems, so I'm curious how/what you're all doing to get it to work so well.

I know how to use the PC and/or Rotary pretty well, been using them with all of my other products with great results. As soon as I switched to FI-II/SMR, results were stellar.

Just curious.

[TortoiseAWD]

geekysteve,

I had similar problems, especially the smeary residue. Pesonally, I will still reach for 3M P-III Machine Glaze as my preferred swirl remover . . . easier to use, IMO, and removes swirls as well as or better than the Menzerna.

Others may have had better experiences, and I'll admit, it was my first time using the product. It took probably 4 cars before I really got the hang of using FI-II; maybe my technique isn't quite right with Menzerna yet (it was quite similar to what you described, except with a CMA orange pad).

Tort