Black 2003 BMW detailing help

[zr123]

Hello everyone.

My first post here.

I need some help. My car will be coming back this Thursday from the Body Shop after having the right rear 1/4 panel painted (someone keyed it). And once it's back I want to give it a complete exterior body detail.

Here is what I currently own:

Liquid NXT Gen Tech Wax
Quik Detail + Clay
#7 Show Car Glaze (I didn't find it to work too well on my Black Cavalier)
ScratchX
NXT Gen Car Wash
10" Simoniz Buffer ( http://images.canadiantire.ca/media/...60_CC_3280.jpg ) <<- That's the exact same one.

My Goals:
1. To rid copwebbs, swirls, minor scratches
2. To protect the vehicle (waxing?)
3. Have the vehicle be as shiny as possible
4. To protect the vehicle from keeping large water spots when it rains

What I've done already:

I've used Scratch X on certain portions and have clayed the entire vehicle before it went in. I still need to reclay the roof and the trunk. Any alternatives to ScratchX for the whole vehicle?

Also for the interior, I'm looking for something that will return the new leather type of smell... Anything that'll do that?

Problems:
Because of the size of the buffer, I'm unable to find a foam buffing pad that's 10" (Any help or alternatives)

The terry cloth pads leave horrible swirls and I end up changing them about 2-3 times because once they're wet with the wax, they're not as efficient.

I know I shouldn't be waxing over the portion that is going to be painted, so that part I will only polish for consitancy.

Basically any help would be greatly appreciated. I am open to buying any of the Meguiars products I would need. Consumer or professional. Your guidence as to what to use and in which order to use them would be great.

Thanks a bunch.

ZR

[zr123]

Here is a picture of the car before it went to the body shop

[soonercivic]

If you are wanting to remove swirls then that buffer is probably the wrong way to go. To get a swirl free and hologram free finish it would be best to have a DA polisher. I have the Porter Cable 7336 and love it! You can get one for $99 at lowes ( http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...6SP&lpage=none ) and then get the backing plate and pads from meguiars. What i used on my car was wash, clay, #83, #80, #7, 2 coats of nxt. It came out great! here are some pics.
before


after






got almost all of the cobwebs and holograms out. I also used scratchx on some larger scratches. I spent about 8 hours and 200 bucks including the polisher but it was well worth it. Hope this at least gives you some ideas.

[Bigbucks1959]

Nice job.

I pesently have a randon orbital buffer, Black and Decker...it is kinda old....1 speed.

It does a decent job on my Bright Red 2003 Pontiac GTP.

I may go to lowes though and grab the Porter Cable one u mentioned.

But my next job is doing some claying on my hood...hard water spots..amazing how it feels smooth as silk to my normal hand..and when using a plastic bag all kinds of tiny bumps.


Phil K.

[iplayazi]

That must have upset you off when somebody keyed your car!

[LnkPrkSoldier]

do you remember who it was?? ill go and have a good.... chat... with him or her if you want me to anyways, i heard that you weren't supposed to clay/wax your car after it was painted for about a month.. true? and random orbital buffers aren't good for removing swirls? how about for applying #80? oh and i got an 8006 pad, number 80 and a buffer coming in the mail. whats a backing plate and do i need it?

[soonercivic]

Originally posted by LnkPrkSoldier
do you remember who it was?? ill go and have a good.... chat... with him or her if you want me to anyways, i heard that you weren't supposed to clay/wax your car after it was painted for about a month.. true? and random orbital buffers aren't good for removing swirls? how about for applying #80? oh and i got an 8006 pad, number 80 and a buffer coming in the mail. whats a backing plate and do i need it?

1. That is true, you should not do anything to new paint other than run a soft stream of water on it. If you do you could cause clearcoat failure in the future.

2.Random orbital buffers are not good for swirls. You can use the buffer to apply #80 because of its high ts oil content and low abrasive qualities. Typically though, you will cause holograms in the paint by using a random orbital. Dual Action polishers are the way to go

3. The backing plate is made for DA polishers. Unless you have a random orbital with interchangeable backing plates and they happen to be the same size as a DA polisher then you will need to buy bonnets instead of pads. Meguiars does sell a cordless orbital buffer that comes with a backing plate that would work for you. You will not be able to use the Meguiars pads without a velcro backing plate though because they all have a velcro system that makes it easy to switch pads.

[Bigbucks1959]

Awesome job...I have a black and desker random orbital may need to pick up a DA ..

Phil K.