Spec me some car cleaning kit.

mr tommo

mr tommo

mr tommo

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Ive had my Z4 a week now and not really had chance to give it a proper clean yet.

Its metallic black and has quite a lot of swirl marks and just a few minor scratches when you look really closely. The paintwork feels like it hasn't seen a coat of wax for ages.

My car cleaning kit products consist of

Simoniz Shampoo (cheap stuff)
Meguiars Gold class wax ( find this failry difficult to get a decent smear free finish on black for some reason)
Autoglym Super resin polish (white residue annoys me)
Autoglym Ultra deep shine polish (same as above)
Meguiars tyre shine (spray and the gel)

Now first things first, I want to get rid of the swirl marks/scratches.

What should I buy to do this?

Then I would't mind buying some more wax/polish if its going to be better/easier than what Ive got.

Anyone give me some ideas of what I should do to my car and in what order?
 
firstly, http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17888389&highlight=car+cleaning

for swirls/scratches, you're not going to get any serious correction unless you get a machine polisher, but as for hand you might want to try something like meguiars scratch-x for any deep scratches, or going over the car with menzerna intensive polish (a LOT of elbow grease also required).

The best way, without a machine, is probably to just disguise them. Autoglym SRP/UDS does a great job at this, if you want additional filling you might want to try adding a glaze (poorboys black hole).

SRP and UDS are pretty much the same thing, so using them both would be pointless. The UDS is geared more towards dark colours and is more oily in nature so sealants don't tend to bond well to it. In general SRP works better with sealants and UDS works better with waxes.

Personally, providing you aren't machining, I'd do the following:

Wash
Clay (meguiars quik clay kit would do the job)
Auto glym ultra deep shine (layered thinly with a foam applicator pad and buffed off with a microfibre cloth)
Poorboys black hole glaze (foam applicator to apply and microfibre to buff)
Then on top of that a wax, depending on the budget I could be more specific, but for a decent budget wax I'd recommend poorboys natty's blue (foam applicator to apply and microfibre to buff) as it is great and known to work well with ultra deep shine
 
Thanks a lot :)

Going to get ordering later on, hopefully get it all before saturday. Anyone reccomend places to buy the stuff from with decent delivery times? Im presuming most of the stuff suggested is online only?
 
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added 4 applicator pads by accident...and a drying towel and wash mitt :D
 
you arent going to get the swirls on a bmw out by hand, if i was you id get onto detailingworld and see if you can get a local pro and then maintain it afterwards yourself
 
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TBH if the paint actually feels anything other than glass like on something as valuable as your Z4 I'd be tempted to shell out a few hundred quid to a pro to get it spot on perfect (or at least as good as possible) so you start your ownership of it with a clean slate. Will just be a case of keeping on top of it then.

Having said that with the winter roads I think I'd just try and keep it clean until the spring then get it done ready for the summer months.
 
mr tommo said:
Well Im going to give it a go myself first then if Im not happy I will look into getting some help from detailing world.

Token - Just placing my order now... I already have the Meguiars quick detailer spray that comes with the clay kit... And I can't buy that clay bar on its own. Could I use this... http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/detailing-clay/sonus-green-ultra-fine-clay-refill/prod_327.html and still use the Megs Quick Detailer spray as lube?
Click to expand...

something like that would do the job perfectly.

If you want to shell out for a professional to remove all defects with a machine then feel free, but don't be disheartened by the remarks as a simple clay will get the paint feeling like glass (albeit not swirl free) then the swirls etc can be disguised with fillers and a great shine whacked on top with a good wax :)
 
lordrobs said:
TBH if the paint actually feels anything other than glass like on something as valuable as your Z4 I'd be tempted to shell out a few hundred quid to a pro to get it spot on perfect (or at least as good as possible) so you start your ownership of it with a clean slate. Will just be a case of keeping on top of it then.

Having said that with the winter roads I think I'd just try and keep it clean until the spring then get it done ready for the summer months.
Click to expand...

Yeah, well I definately wouldn't consider paying for anything at the moment. Going to have a decent go at it this weekend and that will do me for the winter.

Toker said:
something like that would do the job perfectly.

If you want to shell out for a professional to remove all defects with a machine then feel free, but don't be disheartened by the remarks as a simple clay will get the paint feeling like glass (albeit not swirl free) then the swirls etc can be disguised with fillers and a great shine whacked on top with a good wax :)
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Sounds good to me! Im not too bothered about it looking 100% aslong as it gets a lot beter than it is now. Just ordering this..
Ultra Plush Microfibre Cloths Pkg/3 16" x 16" £9.32
Poorboys Nattys Paste Wax Blue £11.02
Meguiars Foam Applicators Pkg/2 £2.51
PoorBoys - Black Hole £9.32
Sonus Green - Ultra Fine Clay refill

Got everything else that I will be needing I think. Cheers for the help, I'll be following the process in the 3rd post. Going to be a long day Saturday :p
 
Autosol those exhausts. Also be very careful with bmw paint i always try to take extra care due to the softness of the paint
 
Toker said:
bmw's do have a reputation for soft paint, the metallics aren't as bad but the solid colours marr really easily, particularly solid black
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I've always heard BMW paints are really hard. At least my dads 5 series has very few chips on it at 50,000miles. My Leon has plenty though.
 
( |-| |2 ][ $;12979986 said:
I've always heard BMW paints are really hard. At least my dads 5 series has very few chips on it at 50,000miles. My Leon has plenty though.
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yea that's the case for older ones, from around 2001 onwards the paint got poop, with the latest models in their water based paint being softer than soft

edit: although some people will say the latest water based ones have a harder finish than the 2001-2004 ones (apparently the worst years for soft paint)
 
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So my kit all came this morning.

Ive got the Megs quick detailer already and the clay arrived today. Its just a piece of clay in a bag though and I haven't got a clue what to do with it :p

Anyone?
 
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