Getting Started on Black 2003 BMW 325i

[lencap]

Just found this forum, and I'm very impressed. Thank to all for the effort.

I want to "fix" my wife's black BMW. We live in North Carolina, lots of hot weather, infrequent rain, and water rationing until a few weeks ago. Needless to say, the car's exterior looks terrible.

Some swirl marks from the prior owner, and lots of "acid rain" imperfections in the paint. I've attempted to correct these problems in the past with some other products (sorry, but true) with very mixed results. Some of these other products are pretty well known on the exotic car circuit, but haven't really worked for me.

I have no orbital or other power buffers, just arm power. I saw a video on this site about claying the car, and that seems like a good start, but I'm looking for some professional advice with specific product recommendations before I tackle this problem.

Feel free to add product suggestions for interior work as well - leather interior, a bit waxy from some apparent misuse of cleaners by a prior owner, but not terrible. I think he had a "*****All" fetish.

Any help is gratefully appreciated, and thanks again for a friendly, informative forum.

[Mort Corey]

Re: Getting Started on Black 2003 BMW 325i

Washing and then claying is the place to start so that you can get a good look and evaluate the condition of the paint. Working only by hand is going to be the challange. The Meguairs clay kit includes a small (enough to do the whole car) bottle of cleaner wax. By hand, I would also pick up a tube of ScratchX. Twere me....after claying I would use ScratchX on the water spots and any other glaring defective areas. I would then go over the entire car with the cleaner wax and lastly a top coat of a pure wax/sealant such as NXT.

This isn't likely to give you a pristine result, but it will improve things quite a bit and give you the experience of how the products work and what efforts will be necessary to take it to the next level. Getting good results with ScratchX is doable but very time consuming (and tiring on the old hands and arms) over large areas. It's one major reason I ended up buying a G100 machine and now use ScratchX for small spots in between.

For interior leather, I really like the Gold Class cleaner conditioner. Works well, leaves the leather supple and doesn't leave a greasy/shiney residue behind.

Mort

[Murr1525]

Re: Getting Started on Black 2003 BMW 325i

Here are a few basic links you definately will want to look over:

Meguiar's 5-Step Paint Care Cycle
Step 1 Wash
Step 2 Clean
Step 3 Polish
Step 4 Protect
Step 5 Maintain

Suggested Products for Taking Care of a New Car

What it Means to Remove a Scratch

How To Remove Swirls By Hand

How to remove a defect by hand with ScratchX

1986 Ford Bronco II - Extreme Makeover

Rotary vs. PC vs. Regular Orbital Buffer

Recommended Products - G100a Dual Action Polisher

Using the G-100 to remove swirls with the Professional Line

Each one, teach one... Ferrari Fiorano 355 F1 Spider

[BLACK _SLK]

Re: Getting Started on Black 2003 BMW 325i

Owning two black German cars ( A Porsche and an SLK) I know what a pain in the *ss it can be doing it by hand. My advice...RUN and get a G110 or a PC 7424

I've used scratch x by hand, and it ALOT of work, but results can be very nice with effort. Murr gave great advice, follow the 5 step program.

I would :
wash
clay
scratch X
wash again
hand polish with either #7 or #81
Wax with #26 (most will swear by NXT 2.0...I haven't had perfect results with it...yet)

I use a non Meguiars product on my interior (sorry guys...still love the smell and look of Zaino)

#26 IMHO is the best looking wax on black cars...great depth!