Advice on more aggressive compound than Megs UC please

[enzed4]

As per the title, my 35i has what appears to be some paint damage or etching - hard to describe. I was going to say an 'acid rain' look, but I just googled acid rain and the pics pretty much look like a more severe form of water spots. Mine is more like a pitting of the paint (not orange peel, this looks definitely post-production).
I will upload some photos if I can capture it; very easy to see with the eye, but hard to capture in a 'snapshot'. It's all over the horizontal surfaces of the car - boot, roof, bonnet etc.
I have tried using a d/a with Meguiars UC which I've found to be fantastic on my older E85, but it didn't have a huge impact on this problem.
I'm using generic buffing/polishing pads (like these: https://www.ebay.com/itm/5Pcs-Car-P...onge-Pads-7-/123553670837?hash=item1cc45f66b5) as I can't seem to find a source of good quality 'name brand' pads here. But if the recommendation is to spend more on the pads I'm happy to pay more if it will see the results I need.
I'm hoping that a more aggressive compound than the UC I'm currently using will take care of the annoying marks, so I'm looking for some advice on what to use. I know some of what you'll suggest won't be available here (e.g. I see a lot of references to Autoglym products, but they're only available here as a 'niche' product at high cost); but I won't know until I try so hit me with any suggestions and I'll see if I can source them.
Really appreciate any help, and I will upload some pics as soon as I can get something that will show the problem clearly.
Cheers.

 

[ph001]

Sonax EX04-06 is a lovely thing to use, cuts well and great gloss all in one process.. https://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/sonax-ex-04-06-polish

Use with the orange hex logic pad.

I'd be very surprised if that didn't get them out but if you want a really heavy cut you would use something like the Menzerna heavy cut. Got to be a lot more careful with that stuff though... https://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/menzerna-heavy-cut-compound-400

 

[chrisgreen]

are they like tiny paint blisters?

has the car had any paint previously?

 

[Jaw]

going just off your description it sounds exactly like a jazz I had in - tiny pits all over the car - she worked at a lab so I think fallout from the furnace probably was to blame.

I used denim pads combined with menzerna (love the stuff, it's my go-to) 3-stage at it came up very well overall - and not with a particularly expensive polisher either.

You can see some of the pitting towards the top left of this photo..

after

 

[enzed4]

Sonax EX04-06 is a lovely thing to use, cuts well and great gloss all in one process.. https://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/sonax-ex-04-06-polish

Use with the orange hex logic pad.

I'd be very surprised if that didn't get them out but if you want a really heavy cut you would use something like the Menzerna heavy cut. Got to be a lot more careful with that stuff though... https://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/menzerna-heavy-cut-compound-400

I bought a bottle of what I thought was Sonax EX04-06, but it was actually Sonax Perfect Finish 04-06. Apparently what I bought was older stock before they changed to EX04-06. It shows the cut as 04 and polish as 06 but I've since read online that they changed to the EX04-06 as the formula was easier to wipe off (like Meguiars UC). What I have should give the same result (just with a little more effort in polishing out the residue/haze) so I will give it a try.
It looks like I can source some better brands of pads (Chemical Guys, Lake Country) so that's hopeful.
Here are some photos of the paintwork. Bear in mind most were taken quite close so despite looking like the surface of the moon, don't actually look too bad at 'normal' distance.

 

[enzed4]

are they like tiny paint blisters?

has the car had any paint previously?

Hard to say what they look like, other than 'pitting'. I don't know any of the paint history sorry.

 

[patriot66]

Wet sanding followed by compounding and polishing will solve that pitting, IF you have enough depth of clear coat

 

[enzed4]

Wet sanding followed by compounding and polishing will solve that pitting, IF you have enough depth of clear coat

That's what I feared. I might give it the best damage-control I can with some of the advice above, then look at taking it to a paint shop in the future.

 

[ph001]

Oooo, they look quite deep. Ex04-06 won’t touch that. You will need to wet sand as patriot says, but i’d be pretty concerned about paint thickness. You may well find that a respray may be the best solution... in which case you may as well go to town on it with the wet sand as nothing to lose.

 

[enzed4]

Oooo, they look quite deep. Ex04-06 won’t touch that. You will need to wet sand as patriot says, but i’d be pretty concerned about paint thickness. You may well find that a respray may be the best solution... in which case you may as well go to town on it with the wet sand as nothing to lose.

Thanks. I went over it last night with the EX04-06 and it did make the surface smoother/look better, but as you suspected, made no real difference to the pitting up close. Not too worried about it thought, I'll put it on the list of 'projects' for 2019.