Ask a professional detailer...

yeah...

Intensive Polish - orange
Final Polish II - white
FTG - white
FMJ - Black
Carnauba Wax - most are applied by hand if not I like the black pad

Greg @ Detailed Image

Oh yes, duh...polish with polishing pad not the cutting bad.

haha.

but in that sense greg...wouldnt you want the blue pad for carnauba wax?

I think he has a paste wax (brick like form) which can only be applied by hand.

Greg @ Detailed Image

First off, let me apologize if this is a repost. I'm new to this website.

I have a question for the pro detailers. I have an 04 325i (SilverGray) and I want to perform the Zaino process. Regarding the clay bar process, how many passes over a given are area are necessary? Should I go up and down with the bar, or only up, or only down, etc...?

Thanks a lot for your help!
I look forward to my first BMW detail!


-Kevin

Welcome to the detailing world, it can be fun and rewarding to learn how to take care of your Bimmer. I personally enjoy getting into a nice clean vehicle that looks great, not to mention it really helps when selling.

As for the clay bay some people will tell you that you should go with the air flow, or in a specefic direction. IMO it shouldn't matter what direction you work in just make sure you knead the clay frequently and use plenty of lube. As for how many passes over an area it varies. I pass over each area of the car atleast twice and more near areas with contaminates, etc.

Let me know if you need any help with the rest of the detailing process or selecting products. We have a great set of products that get outstanding results, plus you get 10% off. Good Luck with the detail and let me know if I can help you.

Greg @ Detailed Image

Hey thanks Greg! I'll check out your website today! I need to order some microfiber products for the Zaino application.


Thanks again!

Hello.
Thank you for one of the best treads I have read in any forum.
Im going to order your products and I have a question about the porter cable ,do you know if there are dealers in Europe because we use 230 volts in norway and I dont know if I can buy it from you maybe I can get some kind of adapter to make it work?

Happy to hear this thread has been helpful to you. I'm also happy to hear your looking to get some high quality products from Detailed Image, we appreciate your support. As for the PC I'm not sure about their availablity in your country, you might be able to check with Porter Cable on that. I believe that people in your country have used the PC with some sort of converter but I'm sorry I don't have any specefics. I'm trying to contact a previous customer to see if he has any information on the topic. I'll contact you if I can get ahold of him.

Greg @ Detailed Image

Thanks a lot for your response! Hope you get a hold of him, have a nice weekend

My car got covered in tree sap or bug pee or whatever that stuff is after being parked under a tree that had never drizzled like that before. I washed it shortly after noticing the spots but everwhere that there used to be a tiny blob of sap or whatever, there seems to be a microscopic pit in the finish. You normally can't see it, but if you look at an angle with a bright light reflecting in the paint it looks like the car just got lightly drizzeld on.

What can I do to get rid of this? I spent most of this last Saturday washing, claybarring, and waxing the car. The finish is nice and is much smoother than before, but I still see these tiny little specks that feel like they're indented into the finish.

polish...

As deafboy stated you're probably going to need a cutting polish. I'll explain what happened with the sap first and how to fix this problem.

To get rid of any remaining sap your best bet is to go to a drugstore or supermarket and get Isopropyl Alcohol (aka rubbing alcohol). I like to pour it into a spray bottle and mix it with water, but you probably will need it full strength. Pour some directly on the sap mark and let it sit for a couple minutes. Then try to pick away the top layer if the sap is thick. Once you're close the surface of the clear coat soak a part of a paint safe cloth in the alcohol and try to rub the rest off. This should remove the majority of the build up.

Unfortunately sap can adhere to a portion of the clear coat and when its removed it takes part of the clear coat with it. What basically happens is that they eat away at a small portion of your clear coat and it can leave a "ring" like shape in the clear coat. You can see this ring in direct sunlight or florescent lighting. To get rid of this you will most likely need a good two step polish. The first polish is a medium cutting polish (like the Poorboy's World SSR 2.5, Menzerna Intensive Polish) that will smooth out the clear coat. Then follow it up with a light cutting polish (Poorboy's World SSR 1.0, Menzerna Final Polish II) to make sure the surface is nice and glossy again and optically clear.

If you're doing the job by hand I'd use the SSRs and if you have a buffer I'd use the Menzerna IP (cutting pad) and Final Polish II (polishing pad). I highly recommend doing this process with the Porter Cable 7424 to save you time and energy and most importantly to improve the results. Let me know if you have any questions.

Greg @ Detailed Image

Greg, is it OK to apply sealant with a white LC pad?

Yes it is okay, just keep the speed around 3 or 4 and don't press overly hard. I prefer the black finishing pad from lake country for most sealants but the white lake country pad should work just fine.

Greg @ Detailed Image

wouldnt sealants be the blue pad from LC?

yup, when I'm using PC, blue with sealant/wax

Originally Posted by BMW Loe

Greg, is it OK to apply sealant with a white LC pad?

which sealant are you using?

Originally Posted by Melo Breeze

which sealant are you using?

PB EX-P

I plan on redoing my car using

SSR1 orange LC
SSR1 white LC
SSR1 black LC
EX-P white LC (using a very low speed)

Maybe I should just go:

SSR1 orange LC
SSR1 white LC
Menzerna FTG white LC
EX-P black

just to be safe.

I would advise against using SSR1 w/ an Orange Pad. You may induce some marring with it because you are using an aggressive pad with a product that is very mild in abrasives. It is just going to cause more work on your part in the long run and the results would not be worth doing the extra step.

With what you have listed, I'd save the Orange pad for when you need some work and just run the SSR1 w/ the White Pad, FTG w/ the White Pad and EX-P with the Black.

My .02,

George @ Detailed Image