knfeparty

Hello all,

About a year ago I polished my girlfriend's 2003 330i in Imola Red.

The car had some average swirls but nothing too bad:

I did a 2 step polish with A DD Green pad (medium polish) on menzerna IP followed by a DD blue pad (finishing polish) with menzerna micro polish.
I had good success with this on my 325, which had significantly less swirls, and the swirls didn't come back.

On this car, though, the paint now looks almost identical as before I polished it. My gf knows how to properly wash a car although it does get ONR'd primarily when she is at school. I ONR'd my cars all the time and didn't get any swirls so I doubt that is the problem.

So what's the deal? I'm finishing with Einszett synthetic wax but the pictures are before wax so I can't figure out why I'm getting beautiful smooth paint turned swirly again in just a year.

TOGWT

What are you using as application / removal for ONR? There must be a problem with the method used to wash or dry the paint for scratches to ne formed, try to find the cause (surface scratches don't just appear) although it may feel that way with a black car

beentherebaby

Anything that touches the paint can cause swirls. I would expect the need to micro-polish most any DD car annually even if it's properly washed. ONR is good but you can still get swirls with it IME.

detailersdomain

are you washing it for her?
are you towels clean?
is it time for new ones?
are your sponges or wash mitts replaced regularly?
what color are your cars are you sure you don't have swirls or light scratches you can't see?

I agree with the others anything driven daily will get some swirls or scratches over time.

knfeparty

I think it's probably just from it being her DD. She's at school so while it does get to sit in a parking garage instead of outside, it is almost never conventionally washed and gets ONR all the time instead.

My cars are both silver and admittedly the swirls don't stand out as much as on her car.

MoeMistry

It may also be that you didn't correct the paint all the way. From the pad/polish combo you described, and it being a BMW, I would have recommended a more aggressive combo. BMW paints are very hard and need something like Menz SIP with either Orange or Yellow CCS pad. From there, using Menz Sup Finish and a White CCS pad would be recommended. What machine are you using to polish.

From the look of the pictures, it could also be the technique being used to wash, as the paint does look like it has some micro-marring which can be a result of the washing pad/mitt and/or towels being used. I think everyone here has made some great suggestions and starting points to begin solving this dilemma. Hope this input helped.

speedfreak81

My thoughts exactly, you beat me to the punch.

OP, I would also recommend doing at least one IPA wipedown after each compound/polish to get a true idea of the condition the paint is in. Some compounds/polishes have fillers in them and can hide imperfections.

-Brian

AudiOn19s

I'm gonna go +2 on what Brian and Moe already stated.

Anything in the BMW lineup other than Jet Black is fairly hard paint, somewhat difficult to fully correct with just an orbital without alot of time and patience, esp with the relatively mild combo you were using.

I enjoy the Menzerna polishes but when using them it's pretty important to doan IPA wipedown or two to make sure you're seeing the true results after each polishing step.

Andy

knfeparty

I'm using a dewalt rotary. I have been doing IPA wipedowns and did them for the polish on this car. As far as going more.aggressive I have a DD orange pad I could use with IP or power gloss. Would the power gloss be too much? Right now the only polishes I own are micro polish, intensive polish, and power gloss.

Are Porsche paints (like a 996) similar to bmws?

Thanks guys.

TOGWT

Suggestion- try using a LC Purple Foamed Wool pad

speedfreak81

Good call. for heavy swirling I would go PFW on DA, IPA wipedown, and see where that gets you. Make a few passes and if there is still correction necessary you can move to the rotary. Just make sure that after you use the rotary, you use the PFW or at the very least, a yellow or orange pad on the DA, then step down on your pad/polish combo from there. It's very easy to leave marring and holagrams/buffer trails with the rotary so you need to make sure those are removed. Also, if you're using a FLEX (can't remember if you are or not) you can get very good results as the machine is pretty powerful for a DA, and a PFW pad. Just experiment and see what works best for your application.

-Brian

MoeMistry

Porsche paint and BMW paint are very different. BMW paint, last I checked is made by Standox and Porsche paint is made by Glasurit. BMW paint is much harder than Porsche paint making it a little more difficult to polish.

I think we may have found the trouble here. Using a rotary takes a great deal of skill. Please excuse my ignorance, but I assume by you asking these questions and posting here, the dewalt isn't a tool you use everyday.

Based on that, I'd recommend getting a proper DA, such as a flex. Reason being, it's much more user friendly. The problem I see from your posts, you're not finishing down properly and the marks made by the polish/polisher are left behind. To properly polish a car using a high-speed rotary, you need to be in the range of 1200-1500, IMHO. What range are you in?

Using a DA like a flex will allow you to safely and effectively finish down the polishing at the correct speed and flow. Using a more aggressive pad isn't the issue. The swirls pattern on your photo is very fine. This requires a finishing step, or a proper polishing step that fully breaks down the polish. Like I said, to do that, you need to be in the range I mentioned above.

Hope this helps.