99 BMW m-coupe paint just rocked me :(. HELP!

[imported_artikxscout]

Problem:

1) I was sanding with 3m wet/dry 2000 grit sand paper and I couldn`t get the sanding marks (not the haze) out with HTEC/OP 50/50 mix w/ Megs Burgandy Pad & Makita Rotary (1700RPM).



2) I coudln`t even touch the light swirls with the same combo. I know BMW paints are tough, but is it untouchable?! What do you guys use on the BMW paints???



Possible Solution for Wetsand:

1) I`m going to buy the meguairs 2500 unigrit sandpaper (richard, "redoctane") suggested that 3m wasn`t uniformily gritted so there might be some coarser grit in the paper" and then go over it with a rubbing compound.





Any suggestions would be great.

[imported_Yal]

Maybe 100% HTEC would work better?

[SuperBee364]

Yeah, I think you`re diminishing the HTEC`s cutting ability too much. By adding that much OP, you`re probably bringing the HTEC`s cutting ability down to HTHC or lower. As Yal suggested, try using it straight.



If that doesn`t work, you could try it straight with a wool compounding pad.

[imported_Totoland Mach]

Problem:

1) I was sanding with 3m wet/dry 2000 grit sand paper and I couldn`t get the sanding marks (not the haze) out with HTEC/OP 50/50 mix w/ Megs Burgandy Pad & Makita Rotary (1700RPM).



2) I coudln`t even touch the light swirls with the same combo. I know BMW paints are tough, but is it untouchable?! What do you guys use on the BMW paints???



Possible Solution for Wetsand:

1) I`m going to buy the meguairs 2500 unigrit sandpaper (richard, "redoctane") suggested that 3m wasn`t uniformily gritted so there might be some coarser grit in the paper" and then go over it with a rubbing compound.





Any suggestions would be great.



When I use 3M`s 2000 at the shop, I follow that with a wool pad and 3M Extra Cut compound on their cutting pad @ 1,400 rpm.



The Meg`s burgandy pad (7006 or 7000) should work in an equivalent manner, but I don`t know about the compound mixing.



I`ve done 50-60 Bimmers since the beginning of the year and found their clear coat to be ok, except for black cars which is pretty soft.



I`d trace your problem to the product mixing.



here`s 2000 sanding on one door and wool pad + foam pad correction with 3M on the other door



http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o212/Totoland/May07_BMWs/Paint%20Correction/May07_745_wetsanded_plusCompounded.jpg



Toto

[mikelea4ever]

^^^wow !!! just wow!!!!

[imported_artikxscout]

Ah okay, HTEC by itself should`ve done it. I might be moving a little too fast with the rotary also and not adding pressure to the panel. I might buy another test panel and try it with that. Thanks guys.

[imported_Totoland Mach]

^^^wow !!! just wow!!!!



Thanks: here`s the finished look...



http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o212/Totoland/May07_BMWs/May07_745_DoorReflectionOutside.jpg



artikxscout: the HTEC should do just fine. Try slowing down your movement and increase pressure slightly. I check the surface temp with my forearm and not let the area get too hot (which it can quite easily).



Toto

[Accumulator]

artikxscout- While I hesitate to even *try* to add anything to Totoland Mach`s advice, I found that hard BMW clear can take some pretty high rpms with the HTEC and foam cutting pads. I ran it as high as ~2000 in some places, and I was able to remove worse marring than the marks from that 3M paper oughta be. And yeah, I quit adding the OP to my H-T EC for this application, it just diminishes the cut too much and I`d rather deal with the EC`s sorta-short working time.



Hint: in the future, you might try Meg`s/Nikken Unigrit paper. It doesn`t leave the same type of sanding scratches IME, much easier to buff back to life. My painter says Mirka (?sp?) is also very good.



Totoland Mach- I gotta give my 3M 05936 a try on the M3...that stuff just gives me the willies, pretty much liquid sandpaper. But I bet it`d save me some time if I don`t botch things up. I gotta get back to work on that thing, I think I`ll be selling it soon so maybe that`ll finally motivate me to finally wrap the job up :o

[imported_artikxscout]

Hey Accumulator, thanks for the advice, I think i`m going to go with the htec first and then if that doesnt` solve it i`ll step it up to the megs unigrit 2500 and then just polish it out from there. I`m just afraid that I`ve already cut to much of the clearcoat off of the car already. This is when i really wish i had a paint gauge.