DA Polisher and Kit

[inkey$]

I’m looking for beginner kit recommendations in the world of DA compounding, polishing and finishing. After Christmas and a recent birthday I find myself with a spare £150 of Amazon vouchers, so the £ limit and online retailer is set :lol:

i also understand thats not going to get me the best setup, but as it’s my first time that doesn't really matter. If I get into it then there’s always the future upgrade option.

So go virtual shopping for me. What would you recommend for the unit and pads from what Amazon has to offer?

 

[inkey$]

...or is it better to go with something like this and spend my Amazon cash on other things...
https://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/das-6-v2-meguiars-hexlogic-kit

 

[Smartbear]

I use a meguires da with hex pads & ultimate compound polish, it seems to work well but that’s the limit of my experience
Rob

 

[Smartbear]

...or is it better to go with something like this and spend my Amazon cash on other things...
https://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/das-6-v2-meguiars-hexlogic-kit

I have heard of these, i think they’re supposed to be good value for money and still do a decent job.
Rob

 

[Zedebee]

The das6 xlogic kit has everything you need to get started. You’ll maybe want to get a smaller wheel and pads for more detailed work.

 

[tomscott]

I’ve got the maguires kit! It’s fabulous very difficult to cause damage and I put it on the 16 year old C4S and what an incredible difference couple of days of graft but a huge difference Haven’t had it on the Z4 yet but the paint is hard so expecting it to be a bit more difficult. Having the micro fibre pads should help and is a good addition.

Another member wrote this that I thought was a good read and saved it a while back

https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=121032

 

[Chris_D]

That DAS DA was what I was going to get but everyone seemed to be out of stock a tthe time I was looking.
I ended up with a Vonroc 1200w jobbie that was cheaper and seems just as good. I got some different grade cutting and polishing pads from Amazon for buttons.

My first foray into the world of detailing was necessitated by a long-overdue requirement to sort out the outrageously flattened laquer on my bootlid and also as my good ladyfriend and her beau asked if they could rock up to their wedding in it, for which I unhesitatingly obliged them

I was a bit nervous at first but after watching some of the Meguiars and Ammo NYC youtube videos felt confident enough to have a crack at it.
I was wrong to be nervous as it was actually easypeasy. I used Megs Ultimate compound and polish after numerous recommendations here.
I honestly thought the bootlid might need a respray before I attempted to compound it, so you can imagine how relieved I was when it came up shining like new.
After a single pass the bonnet looked tiptop aswell!

Get the Megs Ultimate stuff. It's magic.

 

[Smartbear]

Looks like a good job all round Chris 8)
Rob

 

[Nictrix]

That boot lid has to be the best advert for this stuff from a real world user.

 

[inkey$]

Thanks all. Great advice and recommendations. I have lots of YT watching to do too I think :lol:

 

[davidmudley12]

I’ve just bought the Halfords DA polisher (£80) as I was struggling to justify the expense for the more expensive (and leaders) in the field when I’m not sure how much I’ll use it (I’ve bought it primarily to tidy up my faded headlight).

It feels like this thread was a day late for me, but I’ve ordering the Meguiars compound, polish and wax based on the reviews.

 

[john-e89]

I’d suggest a paint depth gauge as a priority Inkey$ before you do anything....especially if you’re keeping the car long term. You don’t have infinite times you can polish, each run takes clear coat off, you need to know how much you have left before each polish. Best of luck.

 

[tomscott]

I’d suggest a paint depth gauge as a priority Inkey$ before you do anything....especially if you’re keeping the car long term. You don’t have infinite times you can polish, each run takes clear coat off, you need to know how much you have left before each polish. Best of luck.

Its a good shout but as a word of warning paint depth gauges are more than premium DAs...

I think the best practise would be use the least aggressive product to get the job done and work up if needed, have to be unlucky to go through the clear coat. Its problematic on resprayed panels but as these are usually bumpers they are more difficult to cut unlike a flat panel like a bonnet where you can get a good surface area on the pad. BMW paint of this gen is hard too the 996 I have from the same gen the paint is much softer so have to be careful between brands.

 

[john-e89]

I’d suggest a paint depth gauge as a priority Inkey$ before you do anything....especially if you’re keeping the car long term. You don’t have infinite times you can polish, each run takes clear coat off, you need to know how much you have left before each polish. Best of luck.

Its a good shout but as a word of warning paint depth gauges are more than premium DAs...

I think the best practise would be use the least aggressive product to get the job done and work up if needed, have to be unlucky to go through the clear coat. Its problematic on resprayed panels but as these are usually bumpers they are more difficult to cut unlike a flat panel like a bonnet where you can get a good surface area on the pad. BMW paint of this gen is hard too the 996 I have from the same gen the paint is much softer so have to be careful between brands.

They’re not as much as a respray Tom...! oke:

You can buy a very good hobbyist depth gauge for £250 or less, well worth it imho, especially on a 2nd hand car that you don’t know it’s history of. It makes no difference at all how hard the clear coat is, if it’s been cut too many times it’s been cut too many times, that’s the problem, if a car has had a hard previous life and been cut by an aggressive DA pad to rid of deep swirls then that’s taken a lot of clear coat off.

Hey take your chance obvs, personally I wouldn’t take a DA to a 2nd hand car unless I knew the depth for the sake of a couple of hundred quid.

 

[inkey$]

All good advice and appreciated. Realistically I might only attempt this a couple of times over then next few years. Don't want to be dropping £300-500 on kit until I know its something I could get into (and before entering the murky rabbit hole of detailing), so I might borrow a paint gauge if I start get really worried.

 

[john-e89]

If you can borrow a depth gauge then it’s a no brainer, you will then know for sure what you’re dealing with rather than leaving it to chance. Also IF the clear coat is thin then you might say forget it as you’ve never done this before and let a pro detailer do it, then look after the car as well as possible. The money you’d have spent on kit is the same as a pretty good detail.

 

[mgrlane]

All good advice and appreciated. Realistically I might only attempt this a couple of times over then next few years. Don't want to be dropping £300-500 on kit until I know its something I could get into (and before entering the murky rabbit hole of detailing), so I might borrow a paint gauge if I start get really worried.

I am sure any bodywork/tinting place would do it for you if you asked nicely. The guy that tinted my widows gave mine a quick blast across various points on the car.

I did offer him some money but he was fine.

 

[beanie]

If you can get someone to check the paint depth then obviously that would be great, however, I have a feeling that only the priciest gauges are able to differentiate between the layers of paint with many just giving a total depth-useful for understanding if it’s been painted but it only allows for a best guess regarding clear coat.

If you take it easy and only use light polishes and pads I think you’d have to be very unlucky to have any issues with paint thickness. If you were to be at risk of striking through with the light cut products and a DA then it should already be obvious from just looking at the paint as it would lack depth and look flat.

This approach probably won’t do much for tackling heavier scratches but light swirls and marring will come out and will give you 90% of the effects from a full defect removal but with minimal risk of strike through.

 

[mr.tourette]

You're right about keeping in budget, Ive used mine twice in 4 years, once you've done a first decent job its a long while before you will be needing it out again, you can keep on top of it then with good maintenance. A das6 is a decent enough bit of kit for amateurs imho

 

[john-e89]

If you can get someone to check the paint depth then obviously that would be great, however, I have a feeling that only the priciest gauges are able to differentiate between the layers of paint with many just giving a total depth-useful for understanding if it’s been painted but it only allows for a best guess regarding clear coat.

If you take it easy and only use light polishes and pads I think you’d have to be very unlucky to have any issues with paint thickness. If you were to be at risk of striking through with the light cut products and a DA then it should already be obvious from just looking at the paint as it would lack depth and look flat.

This approach probably won’t do much for tackling heavier scratches but light swirls and marring will come out and will give you 90% of the effects from a full defect removal but with minimal risk of strike through.

Valid point and I should have mentioned that people like Beedub know the clear coat thickness of each manufacturer, I don’t think it’s hard to find out, so armed with that info you’re pretty safe unless you have a car with resprayed panels.