No e60 yet, still in production - but I have read many topics on detailing and decided that I am going to wash/polish, etc my car when it gets here. My car is deep green so I am concerned about the appearance. Today I went out and bought a bunch of stuff for detailing and decided I would experiment on my wife's black Excursion and now have many questions. I bought all mirco tek syntheic rags - for everything form washing to polishing and meguires polymer wax.
1. What are swirl marks? I thought they were the circular "scratch" marks left after waxing, but I noticed after waxing the truck today there were swirl marks - not the typical "scratch" type I am used to seeing but areas where there was more shine and less shine.
2. The car felt really rough after I washed it. How can I make this go away?
3. Sould I get a power buffer?
4. When applying wax do I still need to used the small circuar strokes like my dad taught me to do on the old hard waxes? I am using meguires something or other - it is a polymer. Can I just put it on and cover and let sit?
5. This is an observation, but since I have never waxed my wife's truck before I noticed Ford does a relly bad job painting cars.

 

Since you are using Meguiar's products, take a look at their website. They have a good FAQ section that answers all the above questions in detail.

For the rough paint you need to clay the car - try Meg's Quick Clay detailer.

 

I spent lots of time at their website and got it all figured out. Now my question is whether when my e60 arrrives (BTW went to product not shipped today) do I need to clay, clean, or polish - or can I just put the wax on becasue I assume the car will already be clean?

 

Ok since your car is new this would be my procedure

Wash: Whenever you so desire
Wax and Polish: month or two after driving the car
Clay: Im not sure how bad your winters get up there but every couple of months

You can tell when your car needs claying. you will notice the cars surfice may have bumps of tar or what not when you wash the car.. when washing have the surface wet and jsut run your hand which should also be wet and jsut feel if the surface is smooth, now if you jsut feel one or two spots you really don't need to clay the hole car just clay that spot..

Wax can also be done when you so desire but since the car is new I don't think you will need it till about 3-4 weeks of driving


1. Swirl marks are scratches within the paint. they are not deep you can't even feel them with a finger nail.. they jsut cut into the clear coat and when light hits them they look liek then are lines or webs.. polish is the solvent for this problem

2. When your car is rough like I stated before that is when you should clay your car it does not need to be done every time you clean jsut when you notice surfaces are rough

3. you can power buff or not user preference.. I do both depends on the mood..

4. NO. Never go in circular motions.. you want to go in Up or Down or Left to Right motions.. Thats with application and when removing..

5. Start practicing on the Ford and be ready for your E60

 

As far as I know the approach of using straight lines in one direction & then again at 90 degrees to this direction, is good when using an orbital polisher.

But I don't think there is anything wrong with using a circular motion when hand waxing. Provided you use a good applicator pad.

 

As far as I know the approach of using straight lines in one direction & then again at 90 degrees to this direction, is good when using an orbital polisher.

But I don't think there is anything wrong with using a circular motion when hand waxing. Provided you use a good applicator pad.
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When applying or removing wax (or drying your car) you want to use back and forth strokes, from front to back of the car (as the wind travels over the surface). Never use circular motion. The reason is, no matter how careful you are, or how clean your microfiber towels are, the reality is any time you touch the paint surface you risk--and likely are--creating surface scratches. Surface scratches made using the straight line method are less noticeable by light reflecting off the scratch grooves than circular swirls.


Do not get a power buffer--you'll burn your paint in no time unless you really know what you're doing. If your finish is really bad, you can consider getting a random orbital machine, such as the Porter Cable 7424--this site has good prices:
http://www.coastaltool.com/cgi-bin/SoftCar...ea01+1131405266

 

Thanks all
You guys are great

 

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4. NO. Never go in circular motions.. you want to go in Up or Down or Left to Right motions.. Thats with application and when removing..

[/quote]

As far as I know the approach of using straight lines in one direction & then again at 90 degrees to this direction, is good when using an orbital polisher.

But I don't think there is anything wrong with using a circular motion when hand waxing. Provided you use a good applicator pad.
[/quote]

When applying or removing wax (or drying your car) you want to use back and forth strokes, from front to back of the car (as the wind travels over the surface). Never use circular motion. The reason is, no matter how careful you are, or how clean your microfiber towels are, the reality is any time you touch the paint surface you risk--and likely are--creating surface scratches. Surface scratches made using the straight line method are less noticeable by light reflecting off the scratch grooves than circular swirls.


[/quote]

I get what you are saying, but then by extrapolation one should also not use orbital buffers.

Yes/No?