Product advice for brand new Mineral White BMW

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Racer20

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In the middle of the initial correction and detail of my Mineral White 2015 M3 and have some questions. I did European Delivery where it was cleaned and prepped at the BMW welt, and has only ever been washed by me using the Gary Dean method. Here's my planned process:

Wash with ONR (Done)
Decontaminate with Iron-X (Done)
Bugs removed with Eizett Anti-Insekt (Done)
Decontamiate with nano scrub sponge (In process)
Polish with ???
Wipe with Carpro Eraser
Seal with CQUK
Reload

So here are my questions:

1. The paint finish is very good already, To my surprise, I don't think the car actually needs any correction. The polishing step is just to ensure there's nothing on the paint to prevent the CQUK from bonding and maybe bring out some extra gloss. So . . . I have a PC, several different kinds of LC pads, and either CarPro Reflect or Sonax Perfect Finish. Any recommendations on a polish/pad/technique combination for hard metallic white paint?

2. The car has a Carbon fiber roof that appears to be clearcoated. Is it safe to use the same combination of polish/pad on the roof?

3. After the wash, I found that the rubber/plastic window trim was stained pretty badly, most likely from the iron-X. I did not let it sit for very long and the car was very cool (70deg evening, no sun exposure, so I'm surprised this happened. Is there any way to fix this? I don't want to cover it up, I want to remove the stain if possible.
 
Congrats on the new M3! Sounds like you had a blast! Did you get in any laps around the Nurburgring while here?

1. With the paint being white minor towel marks from the BMW Welt prep will be very hard to see. In this event I would polish the car no matter what with a mild polish to remove any towel marks from the paint. I don't have experience with Reflect but seeing as you are using CarPro products, I would use this on a white polishing pad.

2. Yes the Carbon roof is clear coated just the same as the rest of the car. Do a test spot on the roof with the same setup and check the results. You may need to step down to a finishing pad.

3. Try a mild dilution of an APC such as Meguiar's APC cut 10:1 to clean up the water spotting.
 
I didn't get to the ring, but I've been there twice before and have about 15 laps under my belt.

Thanks for your suggestions, I'll try that and see how it works.
 
Yes, white makes marring of any kind much harder to see. If you dont have the correct lighting in your garage or wherever you are song this, it can be near impossible. However, once you go to a gas station late at night you may find that there are a lot of areas that should have been corrected. All it takes is the right lighting to see it. So I agree with the above, polish will be needed.
 
conman1395 said:
Yes, white makes marring of any kind much harder to see. If you dont have the correct lighting in your garage or wherever you are song this, it can be near impossible. However, once you go to a gas station late at night you may find that there are a lot of areas that should have been corrected. All it takes is the right lighting to see it. So I agree with the above, polish will be needed.
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I agree, that's why I'm still doing the polishing step. That said, I have inspected it under every type of light I can imagine . . . 1000 watt halogen work light, LED flashlight, Brinkmann dual xenon, noon sun, evening sun, garage fluorescents, and I can't find any micro marring.
 
So I've completed a couple panels and half of the carbon fiber roof using the Reflect and white pads on the paint and a gray finishing pad on the roof.

I'm not sure if the Reflect is having much effect on the paint. Even on a 50/50 test under multiple types of lighting, I can't see any difference between the polished and unpolished side.

Same with the roof. The roof is pretty tricky because it's a dark color, BUT the carbon fiber makes it difficult to see fine scratches or micro marring.

My concern is that on the gloss black B pillar trim, there IS some very fine micro marring that the Reflect is not getting rid of, so I'm assuming its there on the rest of the car too, but I just can't see it.

Should I step up to a pink pad? Or try the Sonax Perfect Finish with a white?
 
You have to do a test spot to see if your achieving what you want to achieve or you are just wasting time & product.

If this was my new BMW I would do what was already suggested. Take it clean to a gas station at night and check the paint for defects under their fluorescent lights. These lights show the most hard to see defects - defects the sun will now show IMHO (especially on lighter colors).

The car may have no noticeable defects under said lights. If that is the case - your test spot won't show much/anything because there are no defects to remove. However, polishing the car is still a good idea IME - because it tends to make the paint just "glow" if done correctly. This may not be able to be seen with test spots - but is noticeable if the car is polished correctly with a fine polish and then looked at from a macro view.

As for the black pillars, I'd just do a test spot there as well with different combinations of pads/polishes to see if your removing the defects.
 
I have an alpine white m3, 2011 and had the same issue. I couldn't see any swirls. BUT, I wasn't looking right. I turned off the garage lights, used a LED and saw swirls (minor, but still there). So, I will be polishing. I have the following questions:
(1) Menzerna vs. Wolfgang...preference? which is easier. Menernza's chart is nice and seems to indicate what each product if for. But there are a lot of wolfgang fans out there.
(2) even if I go with Menzerna polish, it seems that that wolfgang has the better sealant. Is that accurate?
(3) will cleaning with p21 or other paint cleaner help significantly? I heard it does on white cars?
(4) I read several post where people imply that a good sealant on a white car is enough..no need to wax? true?
(5) thought on poorboys "white diamond". A glaze that is supposed to better for white cars.
thanks!
 
tenblade2001 said:
I have an alpine white m3, 2011 and had the same issue. I couldn't see any swirls. BUT, I wasn't looking right. I turned off the garage lights, used a LED and saw swirls (minor, but still there). So, I will be polishing. I have the following questions:
(1) Menzerna vs. Wolfgang...preference? which is easier. Menernza's chart is nice and seems to indicate what each product if for. But there are a lot of wolfgang fans out there.
(2) even if I go with Menzerna polish, it seems that that wolfgang has the better sealant. Is that accurate?
(3) will cleaning with p21 or other paint cleaner help significantly? I heard it does on white cars?
(4) I read several post where people imply that a good sealant on a white car is enough..no need to wax? true?
(5) thought on poorboys "white diamond". A glaze that is supposed to better for white cars.
thanks!
Click to expand...

1. Menzerna make Wolfgang's compounds and polishes. So purchase which ever is the best value.

2. The best sealant is subjective. If looking for a WOWO sealant I prefer 4* UPP.

3.if I am polishing my paint, I feel it is redundant to use a paint cleaner as well.

4. Sealant vs wax debate has been going on for decades. To me wax is old technology meant for beauty not protection if prefer sealants.

5. I skip all glazes, I prefer to correct paint rather the mask it with fillers.

Sent from my HTC One using AG Online
 
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