Ok, i decided that i was going to succomb at some point, and went the full monty machine polisher route. I bought the DAS6-PRO from cleanyourcar including the menzema pad & polish kit.
Initial thoughts are impressive! (Unlike the clay from the other thread lol)
You can really see the swirl marks vanishing, and even the deeper scratches are visibly a lot less prominent. I'm sure that with a few more applications, they'll be banished for a while from the car!
Very impressed, but still a LOT to do, even once i've gone over the whole car. The front bumper looks like it's been pebble-dashed by stonechips :/