Newbie - want to make sure I`m on the right track

[ebg338]

Hello All,



Great website. Just purchased a used M3 and it is in dire need of a good detailing. Here is my plan. Please let me know if anyone has suggestions:help: .



1. Wash with micro fiber mitt and Meguiar`s Deep Crystal wash

2. Clay with Meguiar`s clay kit

3. Meguiar`s Paint Cleaner (#1)

4. Meguiar`s Polish (#2)

5. Meguiar`s Carnuba Wax (#3)



I`m using only the micro fiber and 100% cotton terry cloths. I`m on step 2 and am amazed how much crap (pardon my French) the clay picks up.



Thanks much.

[LazerRed1]

Hello All,



Great website. Just purchased a used M3 and it is in dire need of a good detailing. Here is my plan. Please let me know if anyone has suggestions:help: .



1. Wash with micro fiber mitt and Meguiar`s Deep Crystal wash

2. Clay with Meguiar`s clay kit

3. Meguiar`s Paint Cleaner (#1)

4. Meguiar`s Polish (#2)

5. Meguiar`s Carnuba Wax (#3)



I`m using only the micro fiber and 100% cotton terry cloths. I`m on step 2 and am amazed how much crap (pardon my French) the clay picks up.



Thanks much.



These will all work, but get a microfiber pad to apply the products and some good microfiber towels to remove polish and wax, not cotton. Too hard anymore to get good quality soft cotton. You may end up putting scratches back you took off with the polish. Also, Meguiars Gold Class Wash is much better, but you`re past this stage, just keep in mind for next time.



I used much the same on my BMWs, however, read around on here and I think you will find that as good as Meguiar`s is, there is better stuff available.

[MatrixXRS]

I`ll substitute a few steps and move around some others, but still with the Meg`s line to give you some other options to consider.



1. Wash with Meg`s Gold Class

2. Clay with Meg`s clay kit

3. Meg`s Deep Crystal Paint Polish (with ScratchX for heavier defects)

4. Meg`s Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner

5. Meg`s NXT Tech Wax (paste or liquid)



Other products to consider would be Meg`s ColorX (one-step polish/wax) and #26 carnauba wax (in place of or as a topper to NXT). Since you`re working by hand, I`ll definitely second the microfiber applicators. I also like the handi-grip foam applicators.



Good luck!

[imported_Jakerooni]

3rd on the microfibers. and I personally love the megs clay. I`ve tried 3 other kinds so far and the megs has honestly to my suprise outperformed everything else I`ve tried.

[Accumulator]

Hello All,



Great website. Just purchased a used M3 and it is in dire need of a good detailing. Here is my plan. Please let me know if anyone has suggestions:help: .



1. Wash with micro fiber mitt and Meguiar`s Deep Crystal wash

2. Clay with Meguiar`s clay kit

3. Meguiar`s Paint Cleaner (#1)

4. Meguiar`s Polish (#2)

5. Meguiar`s Carnuba Wax (#3)



I`m using only the micro fiber and 100% cotton terry cloths. I`m on step 2 and am amazed how much crap (pardon my French) the clay picks up.



Thanks much.





Welcome to Autopia!



If your M3 is an E36 series the clear will be *hard* (mine sure is).



A few comments on your choice of products:



DC #1- OK paint cleaner, won`t do much for marring (scratches/swirls/etc.).



DC #2- Non abrasive polish, will hide some marring but won`t correct it.



DC #3- So-so wax you will probably want to replace. Not too durable for one thing.



*EVERYBODY* has their favorites and their also-rans and you could go nuts deciding what to use. But here`s my $0.02 anyhow :D



If you`re working by hand, I`d *ABSOLUTELY* use 1Z brand polishes (sources: Welcome to Exceldetail.com! (http://www.exceldetail.com/) or Aloha & Welcome to Our Oasis for All Your Auto Detailing Supplies & Accessories (http://www.pakshak.com/index.html) ). Then I`d put Collinite brand wax on top of the 1z polish (same sources).



I`m utterly certain that the 1Z/Collinite approach would be no harder than the Meguiar`s Deep Crystal approach and that the results would be incomparably better. Yeah, that`s a pretty strong opinion but I`m *that* certain. There just aren`t all that many user-friendly products that work OK by hand and 1Z is at the top of the heap. They could offer a money-back satisfaction guarantee on the stuff and they`d never give back a penny. Not just for newbies either, some very experienced people are still using 1z.