Status
Not open for further replies.
Soldato
Joined
1 Jul 2003
Posts
6,231
Location
There's a voice that keeps on calling me.
Must be getting old, gave the car a clay,glaze and wax, and im cream crackered, and i still have the boot and roof still, thank god for the rain!

My car is only 4 months old, and was waxed when i had it with FK1000P, and is washed every 2-3 weeks with BSD added after every wash, and yet the clay still removed some serious gunk, i was quite surprised.

Boot,roof and wheels will get sorted next weekend, hopefully the weather holds out.Does give me a warm fuzzy feeling watching the rain bead of it at the mo.....i need help :( lol.
 
Soldato
Joined
13 Dec 2004
Posts
5,398
Location
Stoke-on-Trent
Treated my new car to its first snow foam today. (Forgot to get after shots though :o)
IMG_0664_zpswhtvybys.jpg


The paintwork isn't in the best of condition to be honest. Lots of swirl marks and feels like it needs a good claying.

I have a clay mitt but just wondering how people find the DAS6 Pro polishers? Looks like £150 will get me everything I need to get the card almost swirl free.

Is there any use for them once you've given your car this deep polish? Do people apply polish or wax with them rather than by hand as a top up?

Don't mind forking out £150 but not if it's just going to be used once on every car I own...
IMG_0664_zpswhtvybys.jpg
 
Last edited:
Soldato
Joined
3 Jun 2012
Posts
10,804
The DA can be used to apply Wax or polish too. Not just for cutting compound to remove swirls.

Just so you know, using a DA to remove swirls can take a long time. I have been doing my car and its 1 panel each time. I leave it a week and then go again. 2 Hours on each one.

When its all done i plan to get some nice long lasting paste wax and using the DA to apply it. SO much faster.


Just be careful with the DA, make sure the surface is PERFECTLY clean. I was doing the bonnet and a bit of grit found its way under the head... scratch city which required a strong cutting compound and a rotary polisher to remove (paid a pro for that fix).
 
Soldato
Joined
3 Sep 2012
Posts
11,339
Location
P town
Sounds like it's easier to just spend a few hundred bobs getting someone else to do it (if it's that bad), or buy a near clean car and protect it to begin with :)
 
Soldato
Joined
21 Aug 2006
Posts
7,507
Spent 6 hours detailing the exterior of the X3 on Saturday, perfect weather for it - overcast but no rain and my 3yo son was happy to ride around on his bike and help with the hose from time to time :D So here's a mini review from a detailing newbie :) of the products that I used:
  • Snow foam pre-wash with Autobrite lance and Magifoam - great combo, really thick and long dwell time, seems to remove a decent amount of dirt but certainly not enough on its own (with an unwaxed car at least - will see how it is for the next wash). Then rinsed with pressure washer.
  • 2 bucket wash with Wolf's Chemicals shampoo and Meguiars lambswool mitt - good suds, easy to foam up with the standard hose and produces a good lather on the paintwork - three caps in 20l of water. Rinsed with open hose.
  • Clayed with the Farecla clay mitt using car shampoo in a spray bottle for lubricant - first time using it and it's soooo much quicker than a clay bar (only used a clay bar once before but it was such hard work I was glad to have an alternative!), not quite as easy to tell if the surface is clean as you can't see what it's picking up but works well. I found it easiest to listen as it rubbed over the surface, when no more little crackly noises it was clean.
  • Rinsed with open hose and dried with microfibre towel.
  • Then (and this was the hardest bit) Autoglym Super Resin Polish by hand using a Farecla white waffle pad - so many circles my shoulders were exhausted and I thought my arms were going to fall off :D BMW black paint is hard and I wasn't able to properly remove light marks but it was certainly an improvement and the car was starting to gleam at this point, so felt like worth the effort. Buffed off with clean microfibre towel a panel at a time.
  • Next was the Poorboys EX-P Sealant, very easy to apply using a Farecla black soft waffle pad, I left it on the paint for about an hour or so then buffed off a panel at a time.
  • Simultaneously worked on the wheels (having first buffed the sealant off the closest panel at each wheel), first with Sonax Wheel Cleaner Plus sprayed on and left for 2 minutes, then agitated with a brush and left for a further few minutes (the instructions say 2-5 minutes and don't allow to dry). Jet washed off and then washed by hand using 2 bucket method, using wheel brushes and Kent Microfibre Noodle Mitt (this thing is great, holds lots of suds, picks up loads of crud and rinses well). Wasn't too impressed with the Sonax Wheel Cleaner (and it smells awful), there's still some black marks on the alloys which I'll need to use something else to get off (suggestions?). I've got some Poorboys Wheel Sealant to apply but need to get them properly clean first, but I was quite impressed with the long-lasting effect of this stuff last time I used it.
  • Applied Meguiars Tyre Gel to the tyres using an applicator sponger (adds a nice finish but doesn't last very long tbh) and Sonax Brilliant Shine Detailer to the paintwork - smells lovely :) and creates a great surface layer to protect what's underneath and give that crazy beading effect.
  • Finally cleaned the windows with Invisible Glass (superb stuff, cleans easily and dries right off without leaving streaks) and microfibre pad. Next polished with Autoglym Car Glass Polish, which seems to have worked well and buffed off. I usually put Rain-x on afterwards but it's my wife's car and she doesn't like the effect so skipped that step.
Lovely, silky smooth finish on the car and supremely shiny... and then it rained and beaded like crazy and now TTIUWP :rolleyes: but it was dark when I'd finished so didn't take any shots. As Tinders mentioned above, it's bloody exhausting - I slept like a log and woke up on Sunday feeling like I'd had a major workout in the gym! Happy with the results, will have to see how easy it is too clean next time with the protection now on.
 
Permabanned
Joined
23 Apr 2014
Posts
23,553
Location
Hertfordshire
Treated my new car to its first snow foam today. (Forgot to get after shots though :o)

The paintwork isn't in the best of condition to be honest. Lots of swirl marks and feels like it needs a good claying.

I have a clay mitt but just wondering how people find the DAS6 Pro polishers? Looks like £150 will get me everything I need to get the card almost swirl free.

Is there any use for them once you've given your car this deep polish? Do people apply polish or wax with them rather than by hand as a top up?

Don't mind forking out £150 but not if it's just going to be used once on every car I own...
IMG_0664_zpswhtvybys.jpg

I have a DAS6 and it was pretty easy for a relative n00b to get rid of swirls on my old car. It took me about 2 days working on the car(including washing and prepping). Though I had to do it at my parents house as they have a large garage and I needed to be indoors.

Old car was a Skoda, dont know how hard/soft the paint is in comparison to BMW.

Can always buy a scrap bonnet to practice on. :)
 
Soldato
Joined
17 Feb 2009
Posts
2,998
Sounds like it's easier to just spend a few hundred bobs getting someone else to do it (if it's that bad), or buy a near clean car and protect it to begin with :)

That's what I'm doing. I have a guy coming to me on the 12th March to detail my car and show me. Will take before and after shots for you.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
18,299
Treated my new car to its first snow foam today. (Forgot to get after shots though :o)
IMG_0664_zpswhtvybys.jpg


The paintwork isn't in the best of condition to be honest. Lots of swirl marks and feels like it needs a good claying.

I have a clay mitt but just wondering how people find the DAS6 Pro polishers? Looks like £150 will get me everything I need to get the card almost swirl free.

Is there any use for them once you've given your car this deep polish? Do people apply polish or wax with them rather than by hand as a top up?

Don't mind forking out £150 but not if it's just going to be used once on every car I own...
IMG_0664_zpswhtvybys.jpg

Check out http://lawtomotive.co.uk/ in Stafford, offers self service detailing, use their workshop/equipment/materials for a nominal fee. Can always book it in if you find it too laborious.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
21 Feb 2006
Posts
29,300
I bought a foam lance thingy and had a quick blast today. What ace fun, but it does go everywhere including all over the A5 loan car I've got at the moment.

33000402412_0ec2fce990_h.jpg
33156612145_0d8d4f7afd_h.jpg


...and yes, that is a stoved in rear wing on the A5 loaner. Seems the returning driver last night had a little bump.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
21 Feb 2006
Posts
29,300
It's ace fun, I was going to do the R8 at the weekend but the weather just wasn't up to it and today with a break in the rain I just had to have a go. :D
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom