Bought an old BMW M3, filled with regret...

sigma said:
Given your usual high standards, you should be ashamed to even be posting that photograph :p;):o:eek:

Son, I am disappoint.
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Harsh :(

Can I redeem myself with a mint engine bay picture?


Clarkey said:
That happens every time I dry my car with a MF, no matter how perfect it was before. What suggestions do you have because it seems to me that it doesn't make any difference what brand MF I use, or with/without QD. Does my head in beyond belief, takes a good half a day to polish it up nice and then it only lasts until the first time it gets washed :/
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I think it's unavoidable on these dark colours. Everyone always says how hard dark metallic is to keep spotless and I'm realising how true this is. The saving grace is that I've yet to apply a full coat of SRP to the paint which is designed to mask away swirls and release a deep gloss. Then that's protected with a thick wax like 476s. This is how I had the 318Ci for 5 years and that car looked so glossy and swirl free. Just top up the 476s layer once or twice a year to keep the SRP doing its thing. Obviously this will only help so much, but at least it won't offend the eyes in the sun!

I usually always make sure my drying towel is damp before beginning to dry the car. This stops the dry parts of the towel from potentially swirling the surface. Due to being in a rush as of late I've neglected this part and a couple times used another MF as my main one got dirty or fell on the floor etc.

slick rick said:
Good excuse for a respray! :p
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:o
 
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You must have used a contaminated cloth or wash mitt - mine has some occasional very feint swirls but nothing that bad. Black is a right sod though. That's for damn sure. I've got some sections of slight wax hologramming where I reckon I went on a bit thick and buffed off too quickly. Not bad enough to make me want to clay it all off and re-wax though.
 
Yeah Howard, as I say a couple times it has dropped and I've had to use another MF! Schoolboy error.

Tripple looks absolutely amazing? Looks like a mix of all the good bits of everything. Safe to apply 476s after?
 
Use rags you don't mind binning, they will start out one colour and end up black :D

I use s dab of chemical guys trim gel on the black bits and damp cloth on everything else, wedge your fingers in there tightly and have a rummage to loosen any old gubbins and wipe
 
mrk, sorry to ask what has likely already been answered, but does the Asteroid work with your steering wheel controls? If so, did you need any additional harnesses?
 
mrk said:
Not me :p

Have I missed my 5 minutes of TV fame? :o

Also, here's why you should never use the wrong MF cloth when wiping dry or buffing!

Look at the bonnet! thankfully it's mostly the bonnet so will machine polish that easily enough and learn from my mistake.
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Firstly, never wipe a car dry...

This is the stage where the majority of damage to paint is caused because it is very easy for the towel to pick up a little dirt and then you'll be dragging it all around the car.

As you're car is waxed, I'd go for the open hose drying method first to get the majority of the water off. Then just pat the car dry with the towel so that it never actually moves across the paint.

Any remaining water marks, go over with a QD like Done & Dusted.

[TW]Fox;28195545 said:
That right there is why I absolutely cannot be bothered with dark paint, you've had it properly corrected, you wash it properly and STILL it ends up like that.
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He hasn't if has ended up like that. I've got incredibly soft paint after a front end respray, and a year of weekly cleaning has left very few swirls (black with gold metallic paint).
 
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When I say "Wiping dry" I mean wiping it dry (from wet), not wiping it when it's dry :p

It was on cloudy weekends too so completely couldn't tell until the sun started to come out properly.

Autofinesse Tripple should sort it out though I'm sure, waiting for the end of the working week.

paradigm said:
mrk, sorry to ask what has likely already been answered, but does the Asteroid work with your steering wheel controls? If so, did you need any additional harnesses?
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It works yup, you get volume, voice command via the mic button and skip tracks. The RT button doesn't do anything though but I think if you get the official Unika steering interface module then it can be remapped to do something else.

I have have a non unika one which does essentially the same thing but cost half as much. It sits between the Asteroid and BMW harness and essentially replaces the standard BMW<>ISO harness.
 
Ah yes, I've never had a towel that large before (never needed one) - But Carbon Black is a different beast of a colour so will use that method now.
 
Already bought one sadly! Though I checked the reviews beforehand of course so don't worry :p

Sonus Blue Perl Drying Towel and the Ultimate Ultra-Plush towel set.
 
mrk said:
It works yup, you get volume, voice command via the mic button and skip tracks. The RT button doesn't do anything though but I think if you get the official Unika steering interface module then it can be remapped to do something else.

I have have a non unika one which does essentially the same thing but cost half as much. It sits between the Asteroid and BMW harness and essentially replaces the standard BMW<>ISO harness.
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Have you got a link to your adapter?
 
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