Here is my dilema....i am on my second M3

[AEsco48]

my 1st one was steel gray and i took very good care of the paint...it was in immaculate condition...you could put a halogen light up to the paint and you could not see any type of micro scratches in the clear coat...car was only washed by me...



Just got a new Alpine White M3 that i did had the dealer deliver it as it came off the truck from the VPC...to the point it still has some cosmoline...so i washed it with a mix of kerosene and hot water by hand (using my hand) and then with a MF mit... so i am sure the paint was perfect after the kerosene water wash...no imperfections...



the other day i went to get a clear bra installed i pulled the car into the installers bay...i saw he had a bunch of MF towels around so i figured he was going to wash the areas where the clear bra was going...i had to go use the rest room...when i walked back out to the bay he has already washed basically the whole lower side of the car and the hood with a huge brush on a stick...to late...nothing i could do....



I washed the car the week end after and i was right...the brush did leave micro scratches....and its really getting to me that my old car was 2 years old and had no micro scratches or swirl marks and all i ever did was hand wash it and hand apply Zaino...and now my new car with less then 1 month and 6 washes has swirl marks....



So what do i do... what do you guys recomend....



with a Porter Cable ROB with a very fine finishing pad and the "softest" polish or w/e you want to call it liquid and very light pressure....after i do that if i put the car in the direct sun light and put my face 3 inches away from the paint...will i see any type of milli micro scratches



am i correct in thinking that any type of ROP with ant pad and liquid will simply scratch the paint in a very very fine manner?



If this would have happen i would have never had the need to use any type of power tool on the paint bc it would have never got any type of micro scratches....so is the ROP my only alternative?

 

[HeavyChevyBoy]

Hi,



I think whoever installed your bra and used those brushes in your car should pay for your detailing/scratch repair. Since, the dude doesn't know any better. My friend also have white M3 (2002) but I never had a chance to clean it. I just drove it. Then he traded it in for a 2003/04 Black M3 with the paddle shifting. That car I get to wash, AIO & Sg then he traded it in for a Mercedes Benz 600sl. Because the M3 have problems with the engine blowing up or something. Now, he traded the SL600 for a 375 Ferrari F1. I want to get my hands on it but I am kinda nervous to touch it though.



Ricky

 

[Accumulator]

While some people do OK by hand, yeah, IMO you should use the PC ROP. As you don't seem to be worried about the expense, do it that way. The learning curve is nothing to worry about; you'll do fine.



No, you won't inflict marring to the finish, if you do things right (not too hard to do), you'll end up with a virtually flawless finish. You have the general theory right (replacing the current scratches, which you can see, with finer ones), but in practice you can get the finish so smooth you won't see *any* marring, even under magnification. You just have to keep polishing until you get it good enough for what you want, checking your progress under different (and very demanding) lighting conditions. Since your description makes the marring sound "not too bad", I think this is perfectly doable (it usually is).



In your case, since you're using Zaino, I'd get the Menzerna polishes. You might only need the Final Polish, but get the stronger one too so you have it if you need it; most people seem to underestimate how hard it is to remove marring. Use them both with the PC and polishing pads (*not* finishing pads, those are too mild to remove visible scratches, though you could follow up with one if you like). Work the polish(es) a *long* time.



Post back if there's something we can clarify.