New M340i - Help me decide what to use!

gofast182 said:
I'm zeroing in on these choices: TAC System Moonlight, Xtreme Solutions Poly Seal, or Power Lock.

My priorities are (in order):
1. Gloss
2. Dirt repellency
3. Durability
4. Hydrophobicity
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You must be watching a lot of Apex detailing's channel haha.

Check out this video from forensic detailing channel. It has three of the lite coatings you are interested in.


gofast182 said:
The more I research coatings the less inclined I am to buy into the multi-step process with coatings and toppers. I'm all for the benefits of Si02, but to me it doesn't make sense to need a sacrificial layer to protect your sacrificial layer that takes other maintenance on top of that to keep going. I'd rather use the 'light' coating or topper standalone and have to refresh it every 6-9 months without the same worries of special maintenance wash and stripping before reapplication.
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You don't have to do a multi step process. You can coat over the surface when you find the level of your paint to be "perfect" that you are satisfied with.
 
jmorlan said:
May I suggest WGDGPS? Some great stuff.

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I have this already. The initial gloss level is fantastic but I find that after 1-2 washes that gloss is gone (even though overall protection still remains). I know I ranked durability third but for the gloss to go so quickly is kind of a letdown.
 
The Guz said:
You must be watching a lot of Apex detailing's channel haha.

Check out this video from forensic detailing channel. It has three of the lite coatings you are interested in.




You don't have to do a multi step process. You can coat over the surface when you find the level of your paint to be "perfect" that you are satisfied with.
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Haha yes I have been watching a lot of Apex Detailing's channel and also some Forensic Detailing as well. Thanks for posting this, I haven't seen it yet so I'll check it out.
 
Good comparison. Of those four it would be between Moonlight and CarPro Lite for me.
 
Well I got CQuartz UK 3.0 for my wheels and then decided I will use it for the whole car even though I wasn't planning on going in that direction and am still suspect of everything involved with maintaining coatings.

I have some light factory-installed scratches that I need to remove. I have Menzerna SF4500 but I'm considering getting CarPro Essence to help maximize effectiveness of the coating. Does anyone have experience with Essence? Everything I've seen/read is excellent.

Also does anyone have experience with Reload immediately following CQ UK 3.0? They suggest applying this over the newly-installed coating to help prevent water spots. My questions are: 1. Is it worthwhile? 2. If you have a coating that is curing and you apply a product with its own carriers/solvents before the base is fully cured won't it harm the original coating?
 
I have experience with Essence. My best experiences for best gloss would be in line with completing your light polishing first with Menzerna, then use soft finishing pads to massage Essence on. The gloss is great and I’ve seen good durability of anything ceramic I put on it. I’m sure your CQ UK will be happy on it... same brand, match made in heaven.

I have no experience with Reload.
 
My goal is to do one polishing step. I figured that would be with Essence just to help the coating that comes after unless someone tells me using just the Menzerna is 100% better.
 
Just use Reload on the wheels with UK, since they are just wheels, no need for Gliss.

But do a coat of Gliss V2 over the 2 coats of UK on the car. If you don't you will wish you did not much later.

I redid my daughters 2008 328XI with UK and Gliss just because I didn't do a Gliss topcoat and went for Reload instead.

On my 2008 535XI I did both right (UK & Gliss) out of the chute.

Final polishing step was with Essence and on my daughters car the second time that was the polish I used before the recoat.

I used Menzerna 3500 for the first step on mine.
Don't forget Eraser wiping before the first layer of CQUK3

If you are really hankerin down, coat the glass with Flyby30 or Forte
 
gofast182 said:
My goal is to do one polishing step. I figured that would be with Essence just to help the coating that comes after unless someone tells me using just the Menzerna is 100% better.
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OK. New car, light swirls. Do the one polish with Essence. I assume you’ll use the equivalent of LC white light/medium polishing pad. When you do your test pass, try with as few passes as possible and go up from there. I’ve seen my gloss decrease when I was trying to over-work (too much pressure, too many passes). Either way though, you’re going to get the Essence/CQ UK courtship I’m sure.
 
Essence for sure. I went CQUK3 over essence. Two coats. I wasnt sure about Gliss when I applied as v1 had issues. Topped with Gyeon Cancoat so i could maintain with it. Worked well as a combo.

You can really use any topper to keep from spotting right after. I used Shine supply clutch. Now to add gloss and depth maintain with Polish angel Cosmic


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gofast182 said:
Well I got CQuartz UK 3.0 for my wheels and then decided I will use it for the whole car even though I wasn't planning on going in that direction and am still suspect of everything involved with maintaining coatings.

I have some light factory-installed scratches that I need to remove. I have Menzerna SF4500 but I'm considering getting CarPro Essence to help maximize effectiveness of the coating. Does anyone have experience with Essence? Everything I've seen/read is excellent.

Also does anyone have experience with Reload immediately following CQ UK 3.0? They suggest applying this over the newly-installed coating to help prevent water spots. My questions are: 1. Is it worthwhile? 2. If you have a coating that is curing and you apply a product with its own carriers/solvents before the base is fully cured won't it harm the original coating?
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If you have light defects then Essence will work. Give it a test spot. It will fill in minor defects but it will also remove light defects. It is pretty straight forward to use. I don't like Menzerna polishes as they are on the oily side so the oils may not be completely removed from the prep wipe. I would recommend letting Essence sit on the paint overnight to let the SiO2 in it cure after wipe off of course. Come back the next day with a light Eraser prep wipe to remove any residual polishing oils and then coat. I would actually recommend using Eraser even if you don't have time to let Essence cure.

With regards to Reload, CarPro recommends using it to protect the coating from water spots during the 7 day curing time. Get the small bottle and use it for only this purpose. I am not a fan of Reload to maintain. It lacks in overall performance and its hydrophobic properties don't last that long. It will tend to make it appear as if the coating has failed but the coating is fine and will be back once Reload is gone. I would choose Elixir over Reload for maintenance. It is just not recommended until after the first wash. Reload will not harm the coating. Follow the manufacturers recommendations and you will be fine.

You have the option to top CQUK 3.0 with Gliss and you won't need to follow up with Reload. Gliss is the product protecting the base layer during that 7 day curing time. I would choose Elixir for maintenance. Gliss is good as it will add some nice slickness to CQUK 3.0. Gliss goes a long way and you will more than likely have left over to play around with.
 
The Guz said:
If you have light defects then Essence will work. Give it a test spot. It will fill in minor defects but it will also remove light defects. It is pretty straight forward to use. I don't like Menzerna polishes as they are on the oily side so the oils may not be completely removed from the prep wipe. I would recommend letting Essence sit on the paint overnight to let the SiO2 in it cure after wipe off of course. Come back the next day with a light Eraser prep wipe to remove any residual polishing oils and then coat. I would actually recommend using Eraser even if you don't have time to let Essence cure.

With regards to Reload, CarPro recommends using it to protect the coating from water spots during the 7 day curing time. Get the small bottle and use it for only this purpose. I am not a fan of Reload to maintain. It lacks in overall performance and its hydrophobic properties don't last that long. It will tend to make it appear as if the coating has failed but the coating is fine and will be back once Reload is gone. I would choose Elixir over Reload for maintenance. It is just not recommended until after the first wash. Reload will not harm the coating. Follow the manufacturers recommendations and you will be fine.

You have the option to top CQUK 3.0 with Gliss and you won't need to follow up with Reload. Gliss is the product protecting the base layer during that 7 day curing time. I would choose Elixir for maintenance. Gliss is good as it will add some nice slickness to CQUK 3.0. Gliss goes a long way and you will more than likely have left over to play around with.
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I kind of read your reply two different ways. Do I want Reload or Gliss to protect from water spots?
 
To me, optimum gloss coat is an oldie but a goodie. One thing I like about it is that it does not have a strong odor like CQuartz up or Gyeon. And you can use optigloss as a maintenance / drying aid product that will extend life of coating.
 
The Guz said:
Depends if you are going to invest in Gliss or not.
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My intent was to only have one companion product to help with this. I suppose I could get both if you tell me it's going to make a massive difference but as I mentioned before all these support products for coatings that are supposed to be so strong and high quality on their own really makes me question...
 
gofast182 said:
My intent was to only have one companion product to help with this. I suppose I could get both if you tell me it's going to make a massive difference but as I mentioned before all these support products for coatings that are supposed to be so strong and high quality on their own really makes me question...
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I use the 'Merlins' elixir mix of Reload and Ech20 to maintain/drying aid of the UK/Gliss car and UK wheels on my 535.
Rarely ever do I use straight Reload on a dry car.

If you are looking for a 1 trick pony to maintain the UK or UK/Gliss ( whichever you choose) get Ech20 for washless or rinseless washes.

It also works great as a detailer.

I am trying to keep it simple for you.
 
Again, my primary question right now is about mitigating potential for water spots in the first week.
 
gofast182 said:
Again, my primary question right now is about mitigating potential for water spots in the first week.
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My idea is Reload, no matter Gliss or not. Better to play it safe ya know.
Get er dun
 
ntwillie1 said:
To me, optimum gloss coat is an oldie but a goodie. One thing I like about it is that it does not have a strong odor like CQuartz up or Gyeon. And you can use optigloss as a maintenance / drying aid product that will extend life of coating.
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Gloss Coat gets the ease of use but it lacks in overall performance compared to any cquartz coating.

gofast182 said:
My intent was to only have one companion product to help with this. I suppose I could get both if you tell me it's going to make a massive difference but as I mentioned before all these support products for coatings that are supposed to be so strong and high quality on their own really makes me question...
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If you are going to use Gliss then don't even bother with Reload. Gliss is designed with anti-water spotting. It is going to come down to whether or not you want to take the time to apply Gliss and the wait time to apply it. If you go with Reload then don't invest in a big bottle.

spazzz said:
My idea is Reload, no matter Gliss or not. Better to play it safe ya know.
Get er dun
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Sure one can do this. Nothing wrong with it until one sees the terrible water behavior degrade after one wash with Reload.

If it were me, CQUK topped with Gliss maintain with Elixir. Reload is not that good in self cleaning either besides water behavior. It does do a good job of filling.
 
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