is my list sufficient?

[imported_tuffluck]

over the holidays i`m going to be polishing/detailing my recently purchased bmw 530i. i have owned a PC for several years and have plenty of experience with my old camaro, but since i did this last on the camaro, new recommended products have surfaced (no surprise). so in a sense, i guess i am kind of a n00b all over again :P



anyway i wanted to post my list of things i plan on using, and if i am leaving anything out i wanted to get some input and have enough time to order and have delivered by the holidays, hence why i am posting this so far in advance.



so far my setup seems pretty simple. my 530i is monaco blue.



1. optimum no rinse to wash

2. mother`s clay

3. wash again

4. orange pad + swirl x 2.0 for medium-heavy swirls (or should i even consider using DACP?)

5. black pad + BFWD

6. all done?



some people have suggested a glaze with BFWD, but others said it isn`t that necessary. any thoughts are welcome. also i`m going to be buying 6 or so pakshak microfiber towels for this whole process. thanks for any help!

[2005GTPinMD]

What looks great under BFWD is Chemical Guys EZ Creme Glaze. I love using that on my car.

[Accumulator]

tuffluck- I dunno, I suspect the Swirl-X will be to mind and I don`t much care for DACP/M83. And *IMO* neither one will finish out quite nice enough with an orange pad for you to go right to LSP. FWIW, I don`t think DACP finishes out ready-to-wax period.



I haven`t done any recent-vintage BMWs, but my older ones were *so* hard that even M105/orange was barely sufficient, and I`m not talking about really bad scratches either! Harder than my GM clear, which as you know isn`t exactly soft.

[imported_tuffluck]

tuffluck- I dunno, I suspect the Swirl-X will be to mind and I don`t much care for DACP/M83. And *IMO* neither one will finish out quite nice enough with an orange pad for you to go right to LSP. FWIW, I don`t think DACP finishes out ready-to-wax period.



I haven`t done any recent-vintage BMWs, but my older ones were *so* hard that even M105/orange was barely sufficient, and I`m not talking about really bad scratches either! Harder than my GM clear, which as you know isn`t exactly soft.



thanks accumulator. would you suggest i try the M105 or something else? thanks for your help.

[imported_tuffluck]

doing some quick reading, it sounds like i might be better off using the optimum spray products (hyper compound, hyper polish), then topping with BFWD. i can use orange for the compound, and i have a green polishing pad for the polish.



if you have any disagreement with any of that, let me know your thoughts :) thanks again for the help.

[Accumulator]

tuffluck- I can`t really comment on the Optimum Spray products since a) I only bought the compound and b) I haven`t tried it yet. But I`ve heard that it doesn`t cut quite as much as M105, for whatever that`s worth.



So....I dunno :nixweiss M105 really *works* but it can be a bit of a PIA. More of a PIA than using a less aggressive, but more user friendly product? Hard to say. On my `97 M3 *nothing* was more important than the cut (and I did the aggressive work on that with sanpaper and the rotary/3M Extra Cut!) but your situation might not be the same.

[imported_tuffluck]

tuffluck- I can`t really comment on the Optimum Spray products since a) I only bought the compound and b) I haven`t tried it yet. But I`ve heard that it doesn`t cut quite as much as M105, for whatever that`s worth.



So....I dunno :nixweiss M105 really *works* but it can be a bit of a PIA. More of a PIA than using a less aggressive, but more user friendly product? Hard to say. On my `97 M3 *nothing* was more important than the cut (and I did the aggressive work on that with sanpaper and the rotary/3M Extra Cut!) but your situation might not be the same.



thanks, accumulator. i like having the m105/m205 in smaller sizes since i`m not going to use it that often. i constantly ask myself why i don`t just get scottwax to detail my car, because by the time i buy all the stuff myself it`s about as expensive :P but then again it`s one of those things that you enjoy doing and being able to tell everyone you did it...so it`s worth it.



i`ll take some detailed photos of the optimum products and hopefully more people will be interested to see how the stuff compares to other products. mainly m105/m205.

[Accumulator]

... i constantly ask myself why i don`t just get scottwax to detail my car, because by the time i buy all the stuff myself it`s about as expensive :P ...



If I had one of the distinguished Autopians in my area I`d be tempted to just farm out my infrequent corrections.

[Ch96067]

1. optimum no rinse to wash --> I would probably try a shampoo with water for a proper wash (my favourite is FK118SC also Dodo Juice born to be mild is widely accepted).

2. mother`s clay --> sounds good. What is your clay lube?

3. wash again --> This depends on the lube used during claying. If you use shampoo+water as lube then you need to wash, otherwise you may be able to skip this with a QD. I would wash in any case anyway.



you seem to have steps after that figured out but i would go (with LC pads)



4. polish with medium cut on orange

5. polish with fine cut in white/grey

6. IPA wipe down.

7. CG EZ.

8. LSP of choice.



Good luck on your nice motor!!!

[Dan]

1. optimum no rinse to wash

2. mother`s clay

3. wash again - SKIP, no need if you are polishing anyway, if anything wash after the polishes

4. orange pad + Grab some Megs Ultimate Compound, its the consumer equivalent of 105 and $7/bottle

5. Swirlx on black pad

6. hand applied BFWD





Adjusted above...

[David Fermani]

I`d avoid M105 due to the slight learning curve. I`d go with Otimum Spray Compound(orange LS)/Polish(white LC) as they have similar abrasives and are very user friendly. You won`t be dissapointed.

[Accumulator]

.. I`d go with Otimum Spray Compound... You won`t be dissapointed.



Hope that holds true for me...my concern is whether it`ll have sufficient cut to replace the M105.