PO85RD/SF4500 Question

swanicyouth

swanicyouth

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I plan on doing a "winter detail" for my garage queen BMW soon. The plan is to first wash it. This car has never been clayed, but it has had a paint correction. Oddly enough, I've checked multiple locations with the "Baggie Test" and the paint is silky smooth. The car lives in the garage and only gets driven twice a week if the weather is perfect. It's washed frequently, so it never really gets and contaminants dwelling on the paint too long.

Anyway, the color is Black Sapphire Metalic. When I corrected the paint, I used the Wolfgang Twins, CCS Smart Pads (orange and white 5.5"), and my original 7424 - it was a slow go and took about a week. However, I had none of the problems you hear of about finishing down the polish on Jett Black BMW paint. I finished very well.

The paint is what I would consider very good to excellent shape now. There are no swirls or scratches. I would like to squeeze every bit of gloss out of it and am thinking PO85RD is for me. I guess I would rate the paint somewhere between medium to hard, definitely not "soft".

I'm hoping someone with some experience with this paint or polish could help answer 2 questions:

1. I'll be using CCS Smart Pads and CG Hex Logic pads. They have the traditional color structure: black (finishing), white(polishing), etc... Would you start with a white or black pad?

2. Is PO85RD going to do anything to this medium to hard paint?

Any feedback is appreciated.
 
-I always start my 'test-spot' off with the least aggressive ('cut-wise') pad.

-Although I now almost exclusively use an orbital (PC...I want to try it with the GG)
when "jeweling"...to squeeze out some more gloss...as it were;

I found that using a rotary usually provided a more successful, faster, 'glossier'...jeweling-attempt

But...As is the norm: YMMV

:)

Bob
 
The Sapphire Black Metallic is on the harder side of medium - hard. PO85RD, being a diminishing abrasive finishing polish normally takes a "lot" of section passes to fully break down using a DA polisher. Good news is that working it against a harder paint like Sapphire Black Metallic it will break down with fewer passes than on softer paints but it still is hard to break down with DA polishers. The bad news..It will likely begin to break down before correcting anything more than super fine paint defects.

If you have to remove any type of swirls or super fine scratches, work in very small work sections with your finishing pad and when you think you've worked it long enough...do 4 or 5 more section passes. This is how PO85RD works with DA polishers. The longer you work it the glossier it gets and sometimes it just doesn't show it's true potential via DA polisher.
 
Thanks Dave. A DA is all I have and want to use. I will try it like you said. Small areas and I'm guessing that polish has a long work time.

White or black pads?
 
My mom has exact same color on her BMW and I've detailed it few times. IME, 85rd won't do anything with either black or white pad beside darken and wetten it. I will always go with black pad + 85rd.
 
swanicyouth said:
Thanks Dave. A DA is all I have and want to use. I will try it like you said. Small areas and I'm guessing that polish has a long work time.

White or black pads?
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I'd use the black pad and my goal would be just to gloss it up. The PO85RD has a very long working time. When I did my Buick before applying Opti-Coat 2.0, I did maybe 15 section passes with my rotary and a finishing pad and the product still hadn't dried up.
 
Have you tried HD Polish by chance? After using it I've since dropped 85RD and other polishes.
 
When AG carries the HD lineup:laughing: I'll talk here about my opinion of them. Until then I think I'd like to maintain good membership here by following the rules.
 
tuscarora dave said:
When AG carries the HD lineup:laughing: I'll talk here about my opinion of them. Until then I think I'd like to maintain good membership here by following the rules.
Click to expand...

That's the point of a discussion forum, to talk about stuff. Look at all the products they have added lately, I would assume that some of it is associated with people discussing what's hot.
 
wukin said:
My mom has exact same color on her BMW and I've detailed it few times. IME, 85rd won't do anything with either black or white pad beside darken and wetten it. I will always go with black pad + 85rd.
Click to expand...

That pretty much what I'm looking for it to do. The paint is already pretty close to defect free, just trying to see if I can get any more gloss or shine out of it

tuscarora dave said:
I'd use the black pad and my goal would be just to gloss it up. The PO85RD has a very long working time. When I did my Buick before applying Opti-Coat 2.0, I did maybe 15 section passes with my rotary and a finishing pad and the product still hadn't dried up.
Click to expand...

Thanks I will try that first. I don't know if a test spot would reveal much, as I'm thinking the result would be hard to notice on a comparative basis.
 
rwright said:
Have you tried HD Polish by chance? After using it I've since dropped 85RD and other polishes.
Click to expand...

I only wanted to use a polish that's very low on the aggressive scale, something maybe only slightly more aggressive than a paint cleaner. I think that would be all I need for this car. But, I have heard good things about that product.
 
swanicyouth said:
I only wanted to use a polish that's very low on the aggressive scale, something maybe only slightly more aggressive than a paint cleaner. I think that would be all I need for this car. But, I have heard good things about that product.
Click to expand...

Use it with a black pad just like 85RD or even cut back to a blue pad. Send me your address and I'll send you a sample if you want. The great thing is no where near as much oil as 85RD.
 
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