2011 535i - Black - Need help! Finishing tomorrow

M

Matador

New member
Joined
Aug 30, 2015
Messages
216
Reaction score
0
Hi everyone!

Long time lurker but still a newb when it comes to detailing.

I am working on my mom's BMW which after washing/nanoskin 'claybarring' and taking off tar and rail dust/crap all over the paint, made me realize how much work this car needed.

I decided I was going to tackle it all on the Holiday (for gov workers like myself :)) and do it tomorrow.

I started 'polishing' it a bit, I went at the trunk with Menzerna FG400 with the meguiars terry pad. I have a GG Random Orbital buffer. It had REALLY bad water spots that it took me using HARD pressure to take out and about 4-6 passes. Afterwards though, I noticed it left the trunk 'hologramed'. What did I do wrong?

I know black paint is a pain in the butt, but now I am stuck on what to do! I am scared to do the rest of the car because I don't want the rest of hte car to hologram up!

I have some 'knicks' in the car that I am going to try to go at, but for the whole car, the paint isn't TOO bad that I was going to go more 'easy' on it--my fear is it won't be HARD enough.

Can I just go with a 1 step polish? I have PF2500, but I am not sure if that's good enough for these scratches. Also kinda freaked it's going to hologram like it did the trunk! :(

epihwO.jpg


z2CcxB.jpg


Or should I go with FG400 on the whole car and use a stiff foam pad so the cut isn't too bad? Will that help with holgraming?

Here's the pads I was thinking of using.

The softer of the two:

1iqbsV.jpg


The harder of the two:

RiXybr.jpg


Thoughts/Advice? Much appreciated! :)
 
To much heat from polishing or dry buffing ,maybe get rid of spots before polishing ,or try a different pad,there are so many variables when this situation occurs.The one thing I can tell you is that removing water stains or etching can be tough to remove wit polishing.
 
Thanks! I actually got rid of the BAD water spots on the trunk with the terry pad and FG400. But that resulted in Hologramming. Thankfully, that's the only spot on the car that had that.

How do I get rid of the holograming? Will the PF2500 do it?
 
Veterans Day is a government holiday where the close Veterans hospitals. I think the Veterans should get more medical rather than less. Sorry for hijacking your thread, it was just eating at me.
 
Matador said:
Thanks! I actually got rid of the BAD water spots on the trunk with the terry pad and FG400. But that resulted in Hologramming. Thankfully, that's the only spot on the car that had that.

How do I get rid of the holograming? Will the PF2500 do it?
Click to expand...

Try medium foam with pf2500 at 5 or six speed not so much pressure,if halo comes back,revert back to orange foam pad on 5 or 6 speed.
 
PF2500 has more than enough power in it to remove whatever holograms were instilled into the paint from the first step.

I would re-polish the trunk with it along with the green polishing pad and continue on with the rest of the vehicle with this combination.
 
Soooo...pf2500 is working great...but there's holograming still present. :(

I don't know what else to do.

5xCAh6.jpg


RqIM9O.jpg


Aee2Hn.jpg


Th2BaJ.jpg
 
This is the best I could do. It's not a scuff although it may look like one...it shifts when I move and is very very light.

H449eM.jpg



Little holograms see on the hood. They've lessened with the pf2500 but they're still there.
Thanks for the help so far!
 
OK....so I don't know what the hell to do now. lol

Somehow...the water spots came back or I didn't polish them out how I thought or I didn't see it??

Anyway--I just said screw it and left them as is after my ton of passes with a terry cloth pad, FG400 and A TON OF PRESSURE...it's clear they didn't go anywhere.

I applied Menzerna powerlock after passing through the whole car with PF2500 and that green pad. The paint looked great from what i could tell...but the day was ending by the time I was finishing up.

Pics of the waterspots...yuck.

yUvQAl.jpg


sSGjOi.jpg


I am assuming they probably need to get wet sanded out? :(

Anyway--I just need to clean the exhaust pipes and the outside is set! :)

Will try to have pics later today or tomorrow. Depends on how late I have to stay at work.

Thanks again, everyone!
 
Matador said:
OK....so I don't know what the hell to do now. lol

Somehow...the water spots came back or I didn't polish them out how I thought or I didn't see it??

Anyway--I just said screw it and left them as is after my ton of passes with a terry cloth pad, FG400 and A TON OF PRESSURE...it's clear they didn't go anywhere.
Click to expand...

a Ton of pressure on a GC won't produce much since it will stop pad rotation, draw a line on your backing plate to see the pad rotation.

IMO you need to start from the beginning, do a test spot and work on it until you are satisfied with the results, then you apply the same sequence to the rest of the car
 
My hunch is the heavy pressure with a slightly dirty pad is what led to the holograms but again that is just a hunch.

My reason for replying at the moment is in relation to the statement, "I have some 'knicks' in the car that I am going to try to go at." I assume you don't mean rock chips or heavy scratches and by heavy I mean being able to feel them with a fingernail.

When I started this hobby, obsession, I thought I could go after every scratch equally. In my experience with my daily driver in a very urban environment, Oakland CA, many of my knicks would require Dr. Colorchip to get effective results. If you think of a rock chip or knick as a valley - the only way to eliminate a valley is to fill it with something or abrade the sides sufficiently to make the valley smooth(er). In the latter case that is removing a lot of paint for the sake of one valley.

For those forum members with a LOT more experience than me - if I am incorrect let me know.
 
What terry pad are you using with FG400?

Also how many pads are you using? Are you cleaning the pads between each use?
 
octane said:
a Ton of pressure on a GC won't produce much since it will stop pad rotation, draw a line on your backing plate to see the pad rotation.

IMO you need to start from the beginning, do a test spot and work on it until you are satisfied with the results, then you apply the same sequence to the rest of the car
Click to expand...
Thanks! I did the 'line' trick already on the pad. It's rotating...I'm just putting a good amount of pressure on it!
irvsmith said:
My hunch is the heavy pressure with a slightly dirty pad is what led to the holograms but again that is just a hunch.
Click to expand...
I think you're right. I will try it again and report back hopefully this weekend.

irvsmith said:
My reason for replying at the moment is in relation to the statement, "I have some 'knicks' in the car that I am going to try to go at." I assume you don't mean rock chips or heavy scratches and by heavy I mean being able to feel them with a fingernail.
Click to expand...
No rock chips. Feint 'slashes' in the paint that didn't come out with the pad/PF2500.
irvsmith said:
When I started this hobby, obsession, I thought I could go after every scratch equally. In my experience with my daily driver in a very urban environment, Oakland CA, many of my knicks would require Dr. Colorchip to get effective results. If you think of a rock chip or knick as a valley - the only way to eliminate a valley is to fill it with something or abrade the sides sufficiently to make the valley smooth(er). In the latter case that is removing a lot of paint for the sake of one valley.
Click to expand...
Thanks! What's Dr. Colorchip? And yes--this car has a ton of rock chips on the hood and bumper...as you'd expect cause of highway driving. :(
irvsmith said:
For those forum members with a LOT more experience than me - if I am incorrect let me know.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the insight, Irv!
The Guz said:
What terry pad are you using with FG400?
Click to expand...
Meguiars terry pad.
The Guz said:
Also how many pads are you using? Are you cleaning the pads between each use?
Click to expand...
I had 2 in rotation. I did the 'terry cloth' clean after each pass. Kept the pad nice and clean, only thing showing up on the pad though was the spark clear. The pads themselvs were pretty clean outside of the 'sparkles'/flake lol
 
Maybe post some pictures of the faint slashes so we can get a better sense of the strategy for tackling those.

Dr. Color chip is a paint repair kit sold by Autogeek which is supposed to reduce the complexity of filling in rock chips in comparison to OEM paint and clear coat solution.

Best of luck and keep us updated.
 
Matador said:
Meguiars terry pad.

I had 2 in rotation. I did the 'terry cloth' clean after each pass. Kept the pad nice and clean, only thing showing up on the pad though was the spark clear. The pads themselvs were pretty clean outside of the 'sparkles'/flake lol
Click to expand...

I don't see a terry pad. Is it a microfiber pad?

Perhaps a photo of the pad would help. Terry is pretty aggressive.
 
irvsmith said:
Maybe post some pictures of the faint slashes so we can get a better sense of the strategy for tackling those.

Dr. Color chip is a paint repair kit sold by Autogeek which is supposed to reduce the complexity of filling in rock chips in comparison to OEM paint and clear coat solution.

Best of luck and keep us updated.
Click to expand...

Thanks! Dr. Color Chip sounds interesting...may have to use it on Mom's car because there are like 1 or 2 rock chips to the metal. :(
The Guz said:
I don't see a terry pad. Is it a microfiber pad?

Perhaps a photo of the pad would help. Terry is pretty aggressive.
Click to expand...
Sorry--I meant I used a terry cloth towel to clean the foam pad every pass.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top