Clay bar leaving swirl marks

[SS32]

Is this normal? My last car was silver gray, so swirls weren`t as apparent and I`m freaking out a little bit. I know BMW has soft paint, and black is supposed to be the softest, but this seems a bit much. I started with mother`s detail spray for lubricant, but switched to meguiar`s shampoo & water after I noticed the marks, but I`m still getting the same results. I was planning on washing again, using meguiar`s swirl remover 2.0 to get rid of some swirl marks that were already there, and waxing, but I`m scared to continue claying the car.

[armoredsaint]

ouch i used zaino clay myself on my black sapphire and no problems - just use lots of lube - i believe zaino is considered softer clay too, plus the Z-6 spray is fantastic.

[imported_RZJZA80]

you probably need to knead the clay more often, especially on soft black paint. If you see a lot of contamination on the clay, a little extra lube, and constant kneading is a must to prevent marring. Also, I don`t think you can effectively clay bar a car without marring a little, unless you worked on a 2 X 2 area at a time and that`s not efficient for me.

[TSIBrian]

What kind of clay were you using? Whenever I use meg`s aggressive clay, which I only use if I know I will be polishing, the paint looks like that every time. I`m sure there are other kinds of clay that are just as aggressive but that is the strongest I`ve used.

[Patek14]

Are you sure BMW paint is soft? From my observations, BMWs have very tough paint.



I always use ONR at QD strength for my clay lube. I have had no problems and I have a dark grey lexus...talk about soft paint

[armoredsaint]

judging from the reflections, he is using a clay bar holder - i would get rid of that? as others have mentioned, folding your clay over and over is critical with a good quality lube - looks like you have the same model as myself :2thumbs:

[bigjizzles]

Yeah just use lots of lube and keep folding your clay bar so that the dirt on the bar doesnt scratch your paint.

[Legacy]

Are you sure BMW paint is soft? From my observations, BMWs have very tough paint.



I always use ONR at QD strength for my clay lube. I have had no problems and I have a dark grey lexus...talk about soft paint

Never come across a soft BMW paint.

[citizen arcane]

Wow...that`s beyond swirling and looks like abrasion.

[imported_Picus]

Modern BMWs have soft-average soft paint, that looks like an e92 m3, jerez black (I think?), I`ve worked on a few, they do not have hard paint. That said, only aggressive clay should leave marks even near that bad.