My black z4 has spiral cratches all over it....
- Thread starter Double.0
- Start date
i have had good results using srp and then AG hd wax, swirls only show in bright direct light - but i suppose it depends on how bad it was to start off with. i did 2 passes of srp and 2 layers of wax after giving the car a good clean. 3 weeks on and its still looking good, i just do a weekly quick washdown with standard car shampoo to keep it clean, hopefully i wont need to polish or wax for 2 months. when it does need to be done im going to attempt to clay the car to really get everything off the surface.
black is a bugger from what im told. best thing to do is to try to not add to the swirls by using a good wash mitt, 2 bucket wash (1 with shampoo 1 with water, rinse mitt in water before going back into the shampoo so your not moving the dirt grit back onto the car). im not a fan of power washers, dont know why as ive never used one on my own car, waste of water.
black is a bugger from what im told. best thing to do is to try to not add to the swirls by using a good wash mitt, 2 bucket wash (1 with shampoo 1 with water, rinse mitt in water before going back into the shampoo so your not moving the dirt grit back onto the car). im not a fan of power washers, dont know why as ive never used one on my own car, waste of water.
I know from personal experience how hard it can be to get swirl marks out of black. If they are bad enough, you may need to use a heavy cut swirl remover, ideally applied by machine. If you don't have a lot of experience, you may be better off taking it to a professional to get a good base to work from. If they are not to bad, then on a small car like the Z4, you can apply by hand.
Once you get the swirls taken care of, always remember to apply and remove polishes and waxes with a linear motion (never in a circular motion). On the hood (bonnet), apply lengthwise front to back. On the sides, vertically up and down.
Once you get the swirls taken care of, always remember to apply and remove polishes and waxes with a linear motion (never in a circular motion). On the hood (bonnet), apply lengthwise front to back. On the sides, vertically up and down.
I would probably not use the T-cut colour magic, awlful stuff and more likely to cause more damage than good, filler heavy also.
If you have SRP then apply a couple of layers working into the paint well, this will not remove the swirls but make a reasonable job of disguising, as already mentioned finally top-of with a wax or sealant.
You'll be hard pushed to remove the swirls by hand on any car let alone german paint other than using a machine polisher with the correct polishes that contain diminishing abrasives and polishing oils.
If you have SRP then apply a couple of layers working into the paint well, this will not remove the swirls but make a reasonable job of disguising, as already mentioned finally top-of with a wax or sealant.
You'll be hard pushed to remove the swirls by hand on any car let alone german paint other than using a machine polisher with the correct polishes that contain diminishing abrasives and polishing oils.
I'd echo R2eys comment re the T-cut and avoid it. I just don't like it's abrasive and rather uncontrolled nature as you'll try to rub it in with fingertips on a cloth and in a rather random pressure way. You just can't do a whole car that way.
If you must then do a discreet panel first, not the bonne, to see what it looks like.
I invested in a Porter Cable and it's the best bit of kit ever for a non detailer to get great results, without too much effort.
If you must then do a discreet panel first, not the bonne, to see what it looks like.
I invested in a Porter Cable and it's the best bit of kit ever for a non detailer to get great results, without too much effort.
SRP's fillers/cutting/cleaning is great, then some wax over the top and away you go 
The combo of srp/hd wax on mine has hidden most of the swirls, and they stay hidden.
Obviously not as nice as a full correction/flattening of the paint, but if you are not wanting concours quality and just wanting something to improve the look over normal, the above combo works nicely imho!
Dave
The combo of srp/hd wax on mine has hidden most of the swirls, and they stay hidden.
Obviously not as nice as a full correction/flattening of the paint, but if you are not wanting concours quality and just wanting something to improve the look over normal, the above combo works nicely imho!
Dave
SRP is super resin polish, and is basically a better version of T-cut, it has abrasives and fillers.
You can use that a few times, really working it in well and rubbing it till it's all gone away, then buff off.
Then add wax over the top.
That gets a really nice smooth finish and is well protected. It's not fantastic, you will still have swirls, but the srp might remove 50%, and the wax might take away another 50% of those left, so what you have looks a great deal better!
Do a panel an evening, and get a few coats of wax on to protect the hard work, and you can have the car done in a few weeks, then just keep topping up with wax.
Dave
You can use that a few times, really working it in well and rubbing it till it's all gone away, then buff off.
Then add wax over the top.
That gets a really nice smooth finish and is well protected. It's not fantastic, you will still have swirls, but the srp might remove 50%, and the wax might take away another 50% of those left, so what you have looks a great deal better!
Do a panel an evening, and get a few coats of wax on to protect the hard work, and you can have the car done in a few weeks, then just keep topping up with wax.
Dave
SRP wont remove 5%, its abrasives are very light and by hand on BMW paint it would be virtually impossible to make a dent on them.
With a DA polisher your looking at Menzerna Intensive polish + polishing pad (maybe 2 hits req) and a refine with the Menzerna finishing polish (PO85RD) + finishing pad. You may need to go to a heavier solution if the paint is particularly bad.
With a DA polisher your looking at Menzerna Intensive polish + polishing pad (maybe 2 hits req) and a refine with the Menzerna finishing polish (PO85RD) + finishing pad. You may need to go to a heavier solution if the paint is particularly bad.
duckson said:
It's the fillers that do the real job!
There was a test on Detailing World and it was one of the best out there for hand-applied swirl removal (Dave G did the test iirc)
Two passes on a panel, and 50% of my swirls disappear anyway, only the really fat shorter ones are left, the longer swirlier lighter ones pretty much disappear
id agree with mr whippy - i saw a vast improvement with 2 coats of srp and wax, but then my swirls werent too obvious to begin with, sterling grey seems to hide them a bit better imho. i did it all by hand, 4 hours plus not including the actual cleaning of the car. im sure as long as i keep on doing what i am it shouldnt get much worse.
My misunderstanding, when you said remove 50% of swirls with SRP i didnt know you meant "fill" them. :lol:
I agree though SRP is a good option when working by hand, i have used Cleakote Vanilla Moose hand wax glaze which is the same thing for masking/filling swirls and produces also produces excellent masking results (topped with Collinite 476S)....I find it easier to use than SRP as SRP tends to stain trim and produce quite a bit of white dust.
I agree though SRP is a good option when working by hand, i have used Cleakote Vanilla Moose hand wax glaze which is the same thing for masking/filling swirls and produces also produces excellent masking results (topped with Collinite 476S)....I find it easier to use than SRP as SRP tends to stain trim and produce quite a bit of white dust.
