bargamon

STrip a car of all wax with liquid dawn, then rub a special "clay" bar with a lubricant. it will pull out all kinds of junk from the paint.

http://www.properautocare.com/claybars1.html

Then .

http://www.properautocare.com/mecarcaki.html

im a big fan of Menzerna products. They go on easy when using a porter cable buffer.

Zaino might be a better product, but its done by hand.

Menzerna is a german brand and is some really really good stuff!

The properautocare.com people are exellent. Althought they live in florida, the site is full of information and the service is geat!

drifter

Thanks very much. I'll check them out. Have you any experience using the bar on a black car? I am concerned that it might leave fine scratches...

subterFUSE

Clay bar, in general, won't leave scratches.

But if you do have fine swirls then you need to use a paint leveller. It's a mild abrasive which is used with an orbital buffer. It cuts a fine layer of clear coat, which levels out the scratches which cause swirls.

Besides that, your only other alternative is to use a glaze. A glaze fills in swirl marks, but only temporarily.



Either process requires you follow with a wax.

drifter

Thank you for the info... I hope that I didn't make huge mistake by getting a black car. :'(

wasupdu

Awesome car! You really keep it looking great.

Another good way to tell if your car needs to be clayed is to put your hand in a plastic sandwich bag (not a thick Ziplock) and run your fingernail over the paint surface. Even when receiving cars on delivery (brand new) they could likely benefit from a clay bar. I have a '02 Honda s2000 in addition to my '05 525i and I've clayed both cars a couple times and wax the cars at least once per month. Everyone knows me as the "obsessive compulsive guy" in the neighborhood when it comes to cars. I agree with them, but I can tell you that I've bought and sold 9 cars over the last 3 years and I've yet to lose more than $450 on a car. I've put a fair amount of miles on them, but I keep the cars looking PERFECT and it really shows when trading in the vehicle.

Check out the wash and wax forum that you'll find on most car message boards (I'm a newbie on e60.net so I don't even know if there's one here, but I'm willing to bet there is).

bargamon

The bar will get out some impurities and make it smooth. Follow directions and you won't scractch.

The Mezerna system will get your swirls out. Using a good orbital polisher won't burn your clearcoat.

Your Black car will shine like never before and be very well recieved.

If your an ego maniac you'll swell in pride thinking the world envoius of your ride.

but your efforts will be apprciated by your neigbors!

There are many fine products. Read thru the site link I gave you. It contains a lot of good information and tips to better understand what to use, and more important Why to use it. Seems objective also.

I have spoken with a few in this company and they really knows their stuff.

I used to use Zaino with great results but found doing it by hand was not easy and was reluctant to put in the time.

Good luck and post pictures!

subterFUSE

All colors get swirl marks. It is just that some colors show them worse than others. Black, Blue, and Green usually show swirls while Silver, White, Beige generally do not. It's not a mistake to get black.... it just takes more attention to detail if you want to keep it looking its best.