Overwhelmed!

[MartynFrancis]

Right, after paying a chap to clean the car externally, I thought why get him to do it all the time (whilst he is a pro detailer and did a mega job), only get him to do it a couple of times a year.
Now I've been looking into this detailling stuff, and I want to give it a crack at a proper job to my newly acquired z4. I've been ever whelmed with the different products, ways/methods and perhaps looking into it more than I really should. As a starter pack without spening a fortune I've come accross these...
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_922497_langId_-1_categoryId_165671

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_922501_langId_-1_categoryId_165671#tab3

The car is in the grey finish, would these packs be suitable/advised and if so which one? I did have my old golf done in dodo juice once and the finish was mega, but that was a long time ago, and the 320d touring normally goes to the Lithuanians down the road for a once over for a fiver, but I'd like to treat my zed with a little more care (plus there's a lot less bodywork than the touring!).

Thank you in advance.

 

[Sim_Simma]

Doesn't really matter what colour your car is. It's more down to the condition of the paint and how hard it is. German cars generally have hard paint. If you're doing it by hand you're probably better off with a polish like autoglym super resin polish. Gives a good shine by mainly filling swirl marks. No point in trying to do any correction by hand really.
so, seen as you want a list to go and buy from halfords get:
meguiars clay kit
meguiars shampoo (or any other really)
Autoglym super resin polish
applicators
microfibres
mitt
drying towel
and ideally a hard wax. You can get autoglym high definition wax from halfords too.
also for tyre shine meguiars endurance tyre gel is one of the best.
All the above can be bought from halfords.

 

[MartynFrancis]

Nice one, I think I fried my brain with the amount of product that's about. Cheers!
I take it the procedure would be shampoo, clay, polish, wax.

 

[Sim_Simma]

Nice one, I think I fried my brain with the amount of product that's about. Cheers!
I take it the procedure would be shampoo, clay, polish, wax.

Yeah thats right. It really Isn't as complicated as it's been made out to be. Over the last few years detailing had blown up and become more mainstream. So naturally a lot of brands pop up with 'revolutionary' new products of different descriptions.
The basics are:
Decontaminate - wash, clay, tar remover if necessary, wheel cleaner.
restore - make paint shiny, dullness is mainly caused by millions of fine scratches (swirls), needs polishing. Temporary measures include polishes and glazes. They fill the swirls and restore depth and shine but wear off. The proper way to do it is paint corresction using compounds. Usually done via machine. They come in different grades like sandpaper, course medium and fine. They remove paint getting rid of the swirls and restore gloss and shine by leveling the paint surface.
protect - usually a wax or sealant designed to repel water and much and prevent contaminants from bonding to the paint. Also some protect from UV.

obviously I've simplified this but given how overcomplicated it's become for newcomers it's probably the best way. Just ask if you have any questions. If you get bored of rubbing polish on by hand and seek a more permanent solution. You may want to invest in a machine polisher and compounds to get results like this.

 

[MartynFrancis]

Brilliant, thanks for your help!