Paint Correction Help Needed! (Method / Products).

[arix]

Hello, I am fairly new to the forum and currently looking forward on mastering the art of detailing, I love to work on my car and this seems like another DIY challenge.



I have always hand washed my car and at some point polished/waxed it by hand but could not keep the habit of waxing since school was consuming all my time and the free time I had for the car was barely enough to wash it. It has not been waxed since a year ago, lately I have plenty of time to work on it and decided to do a proper and well deserved detail job, prior to inspection under light I noticed it needs more than a simple hand polishing/waxing.



The car is a 99` Silver BMW e46 323i that I have owned since 07`, As mentioned above I inspected the surface under light and noticed that the car has lots of swirl marks on all directions on the clear coat that to the naked eye are not very visible but they are definitely there, on other places the car has some deep scratches that need to be addressed as well. This is why I want to do more than what I typically did in the past.



What I want to do is the following:



1) Remove all wax and contaminants on the surface with a soap/degreaser (Dawn Soap)



2) Clay Bar



3) Wash



4) Wipe with a 50/50 Water/Alcohol solution.



5) Polish with a Random Orbital



6) Wash



7) Apply Sealant (2-3 Coats)



8) Apply Carnauba Wax (2 coats)



I would like to know if this is a good starting point and if I should modify anything please let me know since its my first time doing a correction job.



The tricky part for me has come to what products should I use, they are so many to chose from. What I want are products that works but at the same time wont break the bank, I was thinking about getting as a sealant Klasse High Gloss Sealant or Klasse AIO, as for the wax they are so many options, I would like to get something that works and beads like crazy but at a reasonable price, and for the Clay Bar I was thinking about the meguiars clay bar kit. Please school me on what products work good for this job (Clay Bar, Sealant, Wax, Pads) as mentioned before at a reasonable price.

[Accumulator]

arix- Welcome to Autopia!



I`m not sure if your e46 clear is as hard as the e36 clear I`ve worked on, but it just might be.



Short answer:



-ClayMagic Blue clay

-Griot`s Garage 6" Random Orbital set up for use with 5-5.5" pads (I`ll let somebody else suggest which pads are best these days, ditto for the polishes as these choices depend on the paint`s hardness)

-The Klasse twins are good, but so is the combo of Zaino All In One topped with FK1000P

-I myself wouldn`t top the sealant with wax but would rather be able to reapply more sealant later