Fox, re the rotary thread:
If I were you, to save confusion and messing about, stick with one or two opinions. It doesn't have to be mine by any stretch, but if this post is followed by 10 other ways of doing it or a dozen different variations on the polish/pad combination, choose one and get the stuff ordered. I wouldn't have said this a few years ago, but a lot of this gear is very much of a muchness. What is really important is your technique, your patience and your time. Time spent in prep will repay itself tenfold when it comes time to slap on the wax.
I'm going on the assumption you want to remove any imperfections, not mask them and also use the DA in the process. If not, stick with the SRP, which is a great product by hand and top with whatever you want. This shouldn't put you off, but on a silver car, I doubt on your first go you'll be bowled over and amazed. If all your paint is less than 3 years old, even more so. Then again, put in the time and you should be happy with the result, and it'll be better next time.
I also have a bad habit of over buying. I don't want to get half way through doing a car and then get stuck because Halfords don't carry pads and the car has to wait a week before the vendor delivers. So if the list seems excessive or too expensive, I'll put an asterisk next to the less important stuff. I'm not shopping around for the best price, I use Polished Bliss who have a second-to-none customer service, but cleanyourcar and others may be cheaper or have everything in stock. The other thing with Polished Bliss is they are ruthless with their product selection, they use everything they sell over and over again before it's made available to us and some very lucrative lines were dropped early as they didn't cut it.
The biggest favour you can do yourself is read about the processes and what does what etc without the jargon. DW is great but can be overwhelming and is brimming with "experts", strange acronyms and terms that may be confusing for a novice. I'm not affiliated in any way with Polished Bliss, but they have a really, really good guide section. Spend some time there and do a bit of research:
http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/seek-advice.html
Check what came with your DA. You will need:
A flexible backing plate for the larger pads, 125mm
A flexible backing plate for the smaller pads, 75mm (*)
http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/flexipads-dual-action_backing-plates-polish.html
2 x 140mm light cut pad (orange)
2 x 140mm polishing pad (green)
http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/lake-country-140mm-pads-polish.html
There is a reason why you should buy 2 below, plus if a pad unglues or gets saturated, you won't have to stop.
1 x 100mm light cut spot pad (orange)*
1 x 100mm polishing spot pad (green)*
http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/lake-country-100mm-spot-pads-polish.html
250ml Menzerna 203s polish
http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/menzerna-203s-polish.html
250ml Menzerna 85RE polish
http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/menzerna-85re-polish.html
Painters tape for your trim, low tack (B&Q do it)
http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/3m-high-performance-masking-tape-polish.html
If you are after a guide on how to polish, they're plenty about, youtube as well. I'm tempted to do a quick video on the above pad/polish combo, but in the meantime it's a pretty easy and logical process.
Start with large backing plate, large green pad and 85RE. Polish (check the guides or ask here). If defects are removed, you're laughing. BMW paint is hard though, so more than likely you will need to remove the green pad (place in a ziploc bag so it does not dry out) and put the large orange pad on. Try the 85RE again, the pad has more cutting action but again may not do it. So now you want to use the other orange pad as you don't really want to mix polishes ideally, or use Clarkeys method of a toothbrush in the other thread. So orange pad and 203S. This is your highest level of cut and if this is not removing the issues, then you need a stronger pad and compound, but this is really, really unlikely. You are starting with the least amount of cut because the goal here is to remove the imperfections along with the least amount of clearcoat.
The smaller pads and backing plate are very handy for tight spots and deeper swirls, RIDS or whatever they are called this year. The smaller face allows for more pressure and friction between the panel and the pad, therfore quicker spot defect removal.
The things you don't want to skimp on are microfibre cloths and whatever your last stage choice (wax or sealant or both) will be. The PB guide has a nice section on the different look you can achieve on certain colours. The Werkstat acylic combo is very nice on silver. The Werkstat system is not a wax, you do it after polishing. So it would be polish > Werkstat Prime > Werkstat Acrylic Jett as your last stage.
One thing I have noticed in spending stupid amounts on this gear is that the manufacturer systems do tend to compliment each other. Enough to warrant buying Werkstat shampoo if you use the rest of the Werkstat sytem, Blackfire shampoo if using Blackfire sealant etc. But again, your milage may vary and I may be consoling myself over wasted coin.
The MF cloths are important because crappy ones will mar the surface. Sounds stupid but take an old MF that probably hasn't been washed properly and rub it over a blank cd face. If it's leaving scratches, it's probably best left for door jambs. Buy good ones, plenty of, and wash them with non-bio and hang dry. Polished Bliss car Poorboys MF cloths which last well and won't leave a mark on the softest clearcoat.
This all sounds utterly ridiculous and anal, but there we are.
That should get you started. Probably missed something obvious, I'll edit it if so.
edit - to include Clarkeys toothbrush/polish swap.
