Hello from MA

**mikorocco** · 07-19-2015, 07:41 PM

Hello all,

Longtime lurker but decided to finally join and learn some more sorry for all the questions off the bat but I want to do this car right!
I am what one would consider a semi-novice detailer but I have detailed a good number of cars in the past probably 30 or so and I haven`t burned through the clear with rotaries yet haha. Recently picked up a 1998 Bmw 540 that is metallic black and needs some help. The car has 220k and paint has a good amount of rock chips.

The main issue is I am getting a chalking coming through, now I waxed the car about 4 months ago and the chalking did not show until recently. Attached are some pictures but it is very difficult to show in person it`s obvious as day.

Car was washed and claybarred with griots clay bar i used m105 with a griots garage da for the heavier swirls followed by m205 and griots final finish, wax was 2 year old p21s should not matter if it was that old?. I think I did this properly I heard that the chalking could be clearcoat falling apart?

Now I have to do it all again as there are tons of swirl marks and I need new pads etc soo here come the questions

Should I stick with the griots da? Or upgrade and if so what is a good used bet?
What are the best pads to have nowadays?

It seems like most companies have pads and compounds that go together. 3M etc I know they are good but really expensive I don`t want to break the bank what would be a good buy? I guess I would like something between the professional and the autozone off the shelf guy maybe closer to the professional spectrum.

Griots has been pretty good so far but I used to use lake country pads that seemed to be much better I just didn`t have them around this time. I do pick up project cars so I would like to be able to do some heavier duty paint correction which I felt the griots stuff wasn`t really designed for.

**Ronkh** · 07-19-2015, 07:44 PM

Hi

Pics would help, but yeah that vintage bmw was prone to cc failure

**Pats300zx** · 07-19-2015, 07:49 PM

Welcome to Autopia !!!

**GearHead_1** · 07-19-2015, 08:35 PM

Welcome to the forum.

**tropicsteve** · 07-19-2015, 08:54 PM

welcome to AF. sometimes heavy compounding can cloud the finish. if the m205 on a white pad doesn`t clear it up, the cc could be failing. the chalking is usually a sign that oxidation is starting. if the clear is failing, not much will help that other than new paint. the griot`s is a good machine, I`d stick with that, but if money`s not a problem, get a new long throw polisher and keep the griot`s as a back up. you can never have too much detailing stuff.