I was just doing some work on some scratches on my front bumper this weekend, and M101 did the trick nicely with my Griot's 3" and a teal pad. Damn car wash brushes!! Never again!!!
As far as the orange peel goes, from rubbing my fingers across the paint, it feels like the orange peel is in the clear, not the base coat. Now, of course, I could just be imagining that I was feeling the texture as I have doubts as to whether or not orange peel is something that can actually be felt... We'll see once my velvet and denim Car-Pro pads show up Wednesday. I figure with a DA and some flex backing plates that the cut will be far less than with a rotary. And yes, I know I'm treading on thin ice here (or clear coat for that matter) here. That's why I plan on testing behind the rear license plate. I ordered the denim because the velvet wasn't available in a 3". Maybe I could cut a 5.5" velvet down...
Also, keep in mind that foam pads and compound will do nothing to help the orange peel as it will remove clear from both the peaks as well as the valleys... In the end, you'll have less scratches and swirling, but the same amount of orange peel. I did a sample area and you could see a recessed area where I was polishing, but there was no reduction in orange peel, hence my theory above.