Advice for a beginner and his silver BMW 328i

[ethereal45]

Hi everyone,

I was looking to spiff up my 1998 BMW 328i, in metallic silver. I've been using Meguiar's Wash & Wax lately, and just haven't been happy with it -- it is in need of a real wash, clay, polish, and wax.

I was wondering what products I should start in with for this particular silver car -- I'm not looking to go too overboard, just some good things I could apply by hand. The paint is in good shape for how old the car is, but it does need to spiffed up.

There are so many Meguiars products, I'm not really sure where to start. I had been looking at the Gold Class Car Wash, and the NXT 2.0 Paste Wax, but I'm not really sure what to use in between those two products.

Thanks!
Alex

[greg0303]

Re: Advice for a beginner and his silver BMW 328i

Welcome to Meguiar's Online, Alex.

Will you be using a car polisher or working by hand?

You could do a simple cleaner wax 1-step detailing (good regime for daily drivers) or you could stretch the whole process into 3-step detailing (more paint defect removal and gloss restoration).

Claying would be a very beneficial process (after you wash your car) to remove above surface bonded contaminants.

[ethereal45]

Re: Advice for a beginner and his silver BMW 328i

I was planning on working by hand -- I've dumped a ton of money into the car mechanically lately, and unfortunately still have a bit of work to do so I'm not ready to spend hundreds on detailing product.

I was planning on doing a clay, since my car has never had that done. I was really unsure of what polish would be good for a) hand application,and b) a silver car.

[greg0303]

Re: Advice for a beginner and his silver BMW 328i

After washing and claying your vehicle you move to the next steps:

1. cleaning - removal of below surface defects, like water spots, oxidation, swirls and scratches, you could start with SwirlX and perform a small test spot on your hood to see if you're satisfied with the results; you need to work on small area and use some down pressure to activate abrasives and overlap passes by 50%;

2. polishing (optional) - if decided to add some more shine to your paint, Ultimate Polish would be your good product to go with,

3. protection - NxT Tech Wax 2.0 Paste is great.

If SwirlX doesn't provide enough muscle for your cleaning step you could step up to more aggressive Ultimate Compound, but again test spot would be recommended first.

[ethereal45]

Re: Advice for a beginner and his silver BMW 328i

Thanks for the advice, I was looking at ultimate compound and swirlx and had no idea which to pick from. Do you think Ultimate Compound would be too harsh to start with? The paint hasn't seen any cleaning/polishing in 13 years.

Another question -- how much do I need? Would a bottle of swirlx or UC be enough to do more than one car?

Also, what kind of applicator pads should I be applying these with? How many clean pads will I need to do the car?

[Murr1525]

Re: Advice for a beginner and his silver BMW 328i

I ma going to venture a guess, and say that you should do a basic clay, clean, polish ,wax kind of thing, and that will get the surface clean. After that, you have will have a clean surface to work on, and better able to see what swirls/scratches are there, if you want to work on them, etc.

I think UC would be ok to start with. You can apply it mildly for the basic cleaning, more passionatley for defect removal.

One bottle should be plenty for a couple detalings.

I like the Smooth Foam Applicator pads. Usually have to buy them online. You'd need one for cleaning, one for polish if wanted, and one for wax.. plus a couple spares incase you drop one.

And good quality towels as well.

[ethereal45]

Re: Advice for a beginner and his silver BMW 328i

Do you think using ultimate polish on top of ultimate compound would make a big difference, or is that a wasted step?

[greg0303]

Re: Advice for a beginner and his silver BMW 328i

Polishing step is optional and mostly rewarding (look wise) on dark colored cars but in your case because it's the first detailing job for so many years it would also provide some good benefits. If you are willing to perform this extra step just go for it.

Ultimate Polish is meant as a follow up to Ultimate Compound, it's a perfect combo.

[ethereal45]

Re: Advice for a beginner and his silver BMW 328i

Polishing step is optional and mostly rewarding (look wise) on dark colored cars but in your case because it's the first detailing job for so many years it would also provide some good benefits. If you are willing to perform this extra step just go for it.

Ultimate Polish is meant as a follow up to Ultimate Compound, it's a perfect combo.

Okay great, I just ordered both, as well as the NXT wax. I also grabbed some Meguiars super shine microfiber towels and foam applicator pads.

[greg0303]

Re: Advice for a beginner and his silver BMW 328i

You're good to go.

[ethereal45]

Re: Advice for a beginner and his silver BMW 328i

Great thanks for the suggestions. I'll take some before and afters.