I just purchased my first black car (used), the paint looked pretty good but had some swirls in it. So I though my first weekend with it I would do the 3 step wax (Clean, Polish, Wax). It looked great until I pulled it out in the sun the next day. I tried some Meguiar's rubbing compound on it, but it didn't change it at all. It looks ok in the shade, but in the sun you can really see some smudges or haze (not sure what to call it). PLEASE HELP, any suggestions on how to fix this?
Looks like you may have marred the surface.
Did you do it by hand? What products did you use?
(Oh, and don't stress - it's fixable!)
Originally Posted by Blueline
The first day I used "Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner", followed by "Deep Crystal Polish" and lastly "Deep Crystal Carnauba Wax". I applied them by hand using new foam applicators and removed it with microfiber towels.
The second day I tried the "Ultimate Compound", again by hand using foam applicators and removing it with a microfiber towel.
Reminds me of this thread.
http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums...=Cheetah+spots
Ok, so was the haze there after the DC Paint Cleaner? Or just after you used UC? Or both?
It was there after the DC Paint Cleaner, so I tried to "fix" it by using UC.
Ok, so it sounds like the DC Paint Cleaner marred the paint. You went the wrong way by using UC to correct it, since UC is more agressive, but that's fine.
DC Paint Cleaner is not that agressive, so you either have very soft paint, or your technique was not correct. Have a read of the thread which The Guz posted above - it will show you the right and wrong techniques for working by hand. Then, I would go back to the DC Paint Cleaner, using the correct technique and foam applicator pad and see if that cleans things up.
I should have mentioned - try the above on a test spot first - just to see if its giving you satisfactory results before repeating on the rest of the car.
Also, check your test spot in the sun if possible.
Looks like you applied it like a wax. UC and DC Paint cleaner has to be worked into paint, and not allowed to dry to a haze. It will cause severe marring like what you experienced. It can be fixed, it will take time, but lesson learned, megs paint cleaners should not be allowed to dry.
Welcome to the wonderful world of Jet Black BMW paint
This paint is notorious for being extremely soft and delicate so it is incredibly easy to mar it, especially when working by hand as you are. When polishing with a DA buffer it's extremely easy to create a lot of haze if you use even a slightly over aggressive process; for example, our DA microfiber system tends to correct defects very quickly on this paint, but it also hazes it significantly.
In the article that The Guz linked to you'll see that we recommend using a hand pad with our 4" Soft Buff pads to avoid creating pressure points with your fingers. You can see this being used in the image below, next to a typical foam applicator pad:
On paint like this that is so touch sensitive, it is extremely difficult to work by hand without creating pressure points, and in turn very noticeable marring, without using this setup. We know this is extremely frustrating because you've bought this beautiful car and now the paint looks, well, less than beautiful. But, as Davey points out, this is definitely fixable although doing so is going to be a challenge. We hate to say it, but you've got some of the most finicky paint available on the market today.
Now, you may be considering picking up our DA Power System to use the smaller pads on a drill you already have, but we're actually recommend that you not do that with this car. The small forced rotation footprint combined with the sensitivity of this paint is likely to be a poor match. We've seen just a couple cases of this (and honestly, some of the issue may have been down to the technique of the car owner) so it's quite rare, and that tool usually does a great job for not a lot of money. But in this case, with this paint, it may not be the best choice.
Read through that article if you haven't already, and compare the suggestions in it to the technique you used and see if it correlates. We're pretty sure it will. The key is to approach this paint with a light touch and not get overly aggressive on it.
Finally, I'm in a pretty good mood today, so shoot me a PM with your contact info and I'll see about sending you one of those hand pads and some foam pads, gratis.
Michael Stoops
Senior Global Product & Training Specialist | Meguiar's Inc.
Remember, this hobby is supposed to be your therapy, not the reason you need therapy.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
