Light Swirl Marks

[bmuu]

My problem is that there seems to be about a hundred recommended ways to get swirl marks out - or atleast cover them.
I sense the reason is that their are about a million degrees of paint/clear coat damage.
I have a beige BMW 5 series with 50K; so swirl marks are common with this age (er,so I hear). I believe my swirls are so light that I don't want to go into the clear coat at all - just cover. You can't see them on a cloudy day - just sunny or flourescent. I've heard of claying; using Meguiars paint cleaner then polish then wax, scratch remover, swirl remover, etc.. I keep my car clean and well washed/waxed so I don't think I need claying to remove contaminants. Does it hurt to clay anyway? As you might have guessed I'm new here, and fairly uninformed as to how to make my car the slickest/smoothest looking car in ANY light. I'll wait for the 'million' different opinions. Thanks in advance.
Dave

[sneek]

Welcome to MOL

are you working by hand or by machine??

for hand you could
wash -> Quik Clay System-> wash (optional ) -> ScratchX -> Deep Crystal Polish ->NEW NXT Generation Tech Wax Paste or Gold Class Clear Coat Car
Wax
you could also clay then ColorX then NEW NXT Generation Tech Wax Paste or Gold Class Clear Coat Car
Wax

heres some good reading
How To Remove Swirls By Hand

Meguiar's 5-Step Paint Care Cycle

Step 1 Wash

Step 2 Clean

Step 3 Polish

Step 4 Protect

Step 5 Maintain

also take and post lots of pics!!!

[pepseeboy]

You will be so suprised after you clay your car and see all the contaminants you have been missing, no matter how many times or what product you use washing is just the beginning, as you drive your car everyday contaminants are attacking your finish, it imbedding itself into your finisha nd washing alone wont stop it, clay your car once and you will be so amazed you will want to clay all your friends cars (but be sure to charge at least 20 dollars to get your money back).

[bmuu]

I felt my car would suffice w/o the clay. I just put on the paint cleaner from Meguiars. WOW-EE!! I thought my paint was clean before. Now I can't wait to do step 2 tomorrow (polish) ... then the wax. I'm more cynical than most - so I thought 'paint cleaner' and all the other stuff you can buy for your car are just ways to spend $. I'm never afraid to admit I was wrong. (It is quite painful though). I put it in the same category as steering knobs and leather wrapped steering wheels. Meguiars paint cleaner made a tremendous difference. I'll get back to ya 'bout the polish and wax. Sorry Meguiars for not using it B4.