7:00pm sunlight

[nixxofugi]

Hello All, long time reader, first time poster.

It seems i have a special issue on my hands. Allow me to start at the beginning:

I have a 2 year old BLACK BMW 3 series coupe. The car was purchased used, and it has what appears to be micro fine scratches in the clear on both the driver and passenger sides. It seems like it came from washing the car with a sponge and moving dirt and debris in a natural arm motion, from the bottom of the car up and towards the top/rear of the car.

To remedy this issue i had the car buffed with some compound, then swirlX after that, and then a non-abrasive polish after that. But that left buffer swirls, so i had to go back over it again by hand with some UC and some more swirlX. The buffer swirls/holograms came out nicely. But the scratches are still there. Is the clearcoat on this car as strong as Superman, or did I overlook something?

Basically when the sun is lower in the sky around 7:00 pm, I park the car perpendicular to the ray of light. I step back about 10 to 20 feet from the car and have a look. I can see what I believe to be the scratches that I described previously. While looking at the car, If i sway left and right, the scratches appear to animate.

Please tell me what to do, it's such a pretty car at night. but at dusk it looks horrible.

Thanks, ROBERT

[ClearlyCoated]

Re: 7:00pm sunlight

Because you mention buffer swirls, I will assume that you're using a machine. Are you using a rotary, dual action polisher, or something else like one of those 10" car polishers you can buy from the auto parts store? Also, what type of pads are you using with the machine (polishing, cutting?)

[nixxofugi]

Re: 7:00pm sunlight

unfortunately i dont have access to a machine buffer, only my hands at this time.

to remove the buffer swirls i used UC, followed by SwirlX. They came out just fine, but can still see holograms or scratches at dusk... there is not a single buffer swirl on it... just scratches in the clear i suppose

[ClearlyCoated]

Re: 7:00pm sunlight

Did you wipe the UC on and off like a wax, or did you put some pressure behind the applicator pad and work the product into the paint. You're correct about German cars having generally hard paint and it will be a much more intensive job to accomplish without a dual action polisher. There are some excellent threads on the subject of hand polishing a car

Working by Hand

How-To’s
How To Use Scratch-X by Hand
How To Remove Swirls By Hand

Techniques
Circles or Straight Lines?
How To Remove a Bird Dropping Etching by Hand using M105 Ultra Cut Compound
How To Remove Water Spots

and this well written thread just posted by Tuck91:

Tips for removing swirls by hand with SMA Technology

[nixxofugi]

Re: 7:00pm sunlight

I used light - medium pressure behind the applicator pad while applying the UC, and i wiped it off like wax with a microfiber towel, first removing the majority of it, then turning to a clean side to remove the remainder.

[nixxofugi]

Re: 7:00pm sunlight

any ideas???

[Mike Phillips]

Re: 7:00pm sunlight

What did you apply after the SwirlX for a finishing wax?

[nixxofugi]

Re: 7:00pm sunlight

I didn't apply any wax at all actually. I didn't want to waste any of it since I was not sucessful in removing the micro scratches. Any ideas on what else I could possibly try??