Not getting a sharp reflection on the car

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Anthony199

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Hello everyone,

I have a 13 years old BMW e90, and the hood and roof were a bit swirly. I tried using a white pad from Chemical guys with meguiar's Ultimate polish, and it wasn't enough. I used the orange pad with meguiar's Ultimate compound, and then all the scratches disappeared. I followed with the white pad and some polishing to have a better finish. I don't have any swirls or scratches anymore, however the reflection is not super sharp, it's very slightly blurry or hazy.

Same on my newer 2012 E class, I cut with a wool pad and finished with a white pad, and the reflection is not as sharp as other panels, or glass.

What can be done to improve the reflection quality?
 
Switch up product and pad maybe. Black soft pad and some fine polish. Menzerna 3800 or Griots Perfecting Cream or Wolfgang Finishing Glaze or M110.

Odd the white pad wont give you what you're after. What is the color of the vehicles?

Others will chime in I'm sure.

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Will the black pad have any polishing capabilities? It's so soft I feel it only spreads sealants or wax.
The BMW is dark metallic grey, the Benz is metallic silver. The reflection on the Benz is slightly better than the BMW's, since I used a wool pad compared to the orange pad, which i think is less aggressive. And I forgot to mention, wool pad on rotary. All foam pads were used on DA.
 
Black has little to no cut. Typically. However, it can "refine" paint and really bring out gloss.

Perhaps the haze is leftover rotary... not quite polishing all of that out maybe. Or not working your white pad long enough.

Did you do a test spot to dial everything in before proceeding?

I've used wool or microfiber before... followed by white pad... followed by black pad...

Typically red pads are for just "spreading" product...

We will get it figured out...

Ryan

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So for the BMW, the swirls and haze were pretty bad since i haven't applied sealant after polishing last time (long story). So i had to use the compound to get them out. With the white pad, i might have not worked it for long enough. On the Benz tho, i use the rotary wool for just long enough, and did many passes with the white pad. I also put Adam's spray-able ceramic coating on top so I might have to stick with this reflection for another 6 months. But I am still curious why I wasn't able to get that car show reflection on the hoods and trunks. I will try to get pictures soon.
 
Pics would help. Polish will remove the coating.

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Goonie75 said:
Pics would help. Polish will remove the coating.

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Click to expand...

This picture is the reflection of the gas station LED on the hood, zoomed in from my phone. I know there is a some orange peel but its not that obviously in real life.
View attachment 65940

This is the reflection on the glass. I couldn't get a better picture, but the reflection on the glass was much clearer and sharper. I could see each individual LED and the borders of each LED. On the first picture, I can probably count the LEDs but with some concentration lol. There is obviously no waves or orange peel here, but that's not really what I care about anyways.
View attachment 65941
 
These are normL characteristics of the paint used on some hoods & roofs, especially silver and gray tones. I’ve seen this on everything from Cadillacs to Mercedes Benz. The paint on the hood will never shine like the paint on the fenders or any of the other vertical panels.
 
Oh wow I never knew that. I'm assuming it has something to do with sunlight and rays and the life of the paint? Thanks for the info!
 
Anthony199 said:
Oh wow I never knew that. I'm assuming it has something to do with sunlight and rays and the life of the paint? Thanks for the info!
Click to expand...

I don’t know the exact reason why they chose to do it, but I suspect it has something to do with the life expectancy of the paint. I wish I knew their exact reason.

Here’s a picture of the paint on my car. The color is light bronzemist [similar to gray] Notice how the paint on the fender is perfect, compared to the paint on the hood which doesn’t quite have the same clarity and sharpness. [excuse that the car is dirty]

bbfa5af5a8cb0396a09657dae477c95e.jpg


It’s noticeable on the trunk as well...

49edc0cda4bd8813b9bb3092dcd7cb88.jpg


There’s nothing I can do about it. No amount of polishing will make the trunk shine like the quarter panels. It’s just different paint.
 
I've noticed that too on other cars too Eldo... it is odd. Also... when things are really polished, the gas tank cover is also a different "shade"... I've seen this on 3 Jeeps now... lol

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That makes me feel relieved hahaha
Thank you for the pics!
I guess the reflection on the car is pretty good then. I actually used better products on the Benz, they're from Sudzbox, not sure if anyone have heard of them. Check them out on Instagram, they have pretty good products and throw out good sales.
 
Goonie75 said:
I've noticed that too on other cars too Eldo... it is odd. Also... when things are really polished, the gas tank cover is also a different "shade"... I've seen this on 3 Jeeps now... lol

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Click to expand...

Now that would be enough to bug me. Lol.

Anthony199 said:
That makes me feel relieved hahaha
Thank you for the pics!
Click to expand...

No problem.
 
Anthony199 said:
That makes me feel relieved hahaha
Thank you for the pics!
I guess the reflection on the car is pretty good then. I actually used better products on the Benz, they're from Sudzbox, not sure if anyone have heard of them. Check them out on Instagram, they have pretty good products and throw out good sales.
Click to expand...

I have a 2008 335xi (Platinum Bronze) and it's exactly as Eldo described - the hood is different than the rest of the car. One of life's mysteries.
 
I dont find a difference in horizontal panels. Imo it BMW paint. Of the luxury market I dont find many of thier painting schemes up to some of the others.

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All metal panels are painted at the same time on BMW, the plastic bumper covers are painted separately. I've done a lot of BMW's and it is very common to have the hood repainted due to rock chips/ road rash, they are notorious for this. The horizontal surfaces usually look different because they reflect light different than vertical or rounded surfaces. OP have you taken pictures of the vertical surfaces and compared them to the hood? This will give you a better comparison than taking a pic of the glass
 
Your first pic albeit a little fuzzy looks to me like it has water spots/etching on the paint?
 
I don’t think it’s a matter of car make, I think it has more to do with some shades of silver. The paint on the hood of my brothers silver CTS was very noticeable that the paint was simply different. I’ve seen the same exact thing on a hood of a silver Mercedes Menz S class.

Then there’s the hood of my 97’ Cadillac [the hood is actually from a 94’] and it shines perfect.

92178373d4e15f1a8039ea03de7efe86.jpg


And the trunk, which is the original paint shines perfect as well.

bea935410a2c2f30f1ad759f9088aa59.jpg


I think it mainly happens to some silver paints. But I’m not sure why.
 
vobro said:
All metal panels are painted at the same time on BMW, the plastic bumper covers are painted separately. I've done a lot of BMW's and it is very common to have the hood repainted due to rock chips/ road rash, they are notorious for this. The horizontal surfaces usually look different because they reflect light different than vertical or rounded surfaces. OP have you taken pictures of the vertical surfaces and compared them to the hood? This will give you a better comparison than taking a pic of the glass
Click to expand...

Yeah but I've owned a few and follow the forums still. Lots of complaints about orange peel and poor quality paint, especially a decade ago. May be different today on new ones. My wife has had some MBZ and they tend to be a bit better. Just my observations. My Audi was like a mirror except around the rear license plate area where it did have a touch of orange peel. My Infiniti is not as sharp. Good but not great. Wife's Lincoln is pretty awesome though. I think Ford does a good job with their tinted clear coats.
 
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