Disapointed in my results... any BMW specialists (or anyone) who can help?

[Scottwax]

with all the funds ive already used up i cant afford pc.. is there a cheaper alterative? i think i saw a some type of buffing utility at pep boys for 37?

In that case, just pick up some Meguiars #9 at Pep Boys and polish your car out by hand. There is no cheaper alternative that will actually work well.

 

[imported_Brock]

My brand new 328i needed a good polishing before wax. It was more apparent because my car is Jet Black. I could see all the micromarring under just about any light.

I would have thought BMW dealers would do excellent detailing jobs but my car looked like it had been washed a few times with a brillo pad. I think the stupid detailing dept uses those fricken motorhome brushes. I almost wish I'd ordered mine so I could have avoided all the marring....



Anyway, I did a couple passes with OP and got most of the minor stuff out. Looks a lot better than it did with just a coat of wax over Klasse AIO.

There's still plenty of deeper scratches on the hood and fenders but I'm saving that for Spring (if I decide to tackle those at all).

To really get an idea if your car needs polishing I would put some high wattage halogens on it. Marring isn't as obvious on a light car like yours but it does impact the "gloss" even if you can't see the damage.



p.s. I'll second Scottwax on the Meguiars #9 for polishing by hand. I've tried a bunch of similar polishes and that was the only one I could get any results with manually (of course, I'm no expert detailer).

Or you can just wait till Spring and save up for a PC. I finally got one after years of wanting one and I can't imagine how I did any polishing before. It's still a lot of work but nowhere near as much as you'd have to do by hand.

 

[Accumulator]

For polishing by hand I recommend 1Z brand polishes, hands-down, no question. More aggressive than #80 (let alone #9), *VERY* user-friendly, and they leave wax behind so you can skip the LSP until after the next wash if you're tired after all that polishing.



I'd hate to do a whole car by hand, but if I had to do it I'd use 1Z topped with Collinite and shoot for "much better" rather than "perfect".