Which products to buy, what order to use?

[benlumley]

Hello ... hopefully this is dead easy to answer:

I'm wondering what to buy to get the car looking nice and shiney. Before i bought it, was offered aglaze, and people on here suggested several things, consensus was collinite. So thinking of getting that (number 845 i think).

I also have a bottle of auto glym ultra deep shine. Should i use that before/after/instead of collinite?

Anything else I ought to get? I'm a bit confused by which things are polish, which are wax, etc and what order to use them in.

If it helps - my aim is to make sure it's looked after/protected etc, though obviously shineyness is nice too! I'm probably not going to be in to spending a whole day on it either - would tend to sway towards easier/quicker to use products over ones that give better results but take ages (which from what I've seen tends to be the trade off).

Advice appreciated - and excuse my ignorance, for previous cars washing consisted of warm water + fairy liquid and once a year some spray wax.

 

[kipperonabike]

Gaza has posted this:-
http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=12175

(edit - not my area of expertise either Ben - but I think we simply have to work harder to do what Gaza does!!)

 

[Anonymous]

Colly 845 is good, or my preference 476.......you need to use a polish before the wax, and I think the AG is a wax not a polish.....a good polish is AG Super Resin Polish.....Collys wax should last at the very least 6 months.....

Get a good detailer (Meguiars do one at £9.99) to top it up, or Dodo Tropical - that will keep the car clean and shiny and reduce the need to clean it as much if you give it 10 mins every day....

 

[benlumley]

Colly 845 is good, or my preference 476.......you need to use a polish before the wax, and I think the AG is a wax not a polish.....a good polish is AG Super Resin Polish.....Collys wax should last at the very least 6 months.....

Get a good detailer (Meguiars do one at £9.99) to top it up, or Dodo Tropical - that will keep the car clean and shiny and reduce the need to clean it as much if you give it 10 mins every day....

Also worked out by reading autoglym website that the one I have may not be of use to me - think it'd go instead of collinite maybe, but collinite seems to be more heavy duty, long lasting etc.

Whats "detailer" ? When do i use it, what does it do?

 

[benlumley]

This is useful ... although I think that many steps might be a few too many for me, but a start point!

 

[a11y]

Collinite 476 is a superb wax, it's what I use on the Z4 and also my campervan due to it being very durable and giving great results on my silver Z4 and white van. I've settled on this after trying a few different ones.

Before that I'd suggest AutoGlym Super Resin Polish (AG SRP in geek talk) as Nickm says above. This is a pure polish, best used after washing or after using detailing clay, but before applying wax. It's also one of the easier/better polishes to use by hand rather than on a powered device.

Detailer is basically a spray wax-type product that can be used to "top up" the wax quickly after regular washing. I've never bothered with it TBH.

Remember: the finish is dictated by the preparation, no matter how good the final wax!

Twice a year for me: Wash > clay > wash > wax

I rarely need to polish as I'm very careful when I'm washing and my paintwork is almost swirl/scratch free anyway. Plus being silver it's great for hiding swirls/scratches.

 

[benlumley]

Cheers for advice all ...

I'm getting persuaded from collinite 845 to 476, and looking like I'll get some AG SRP as well, and probably not use the AG ultra deep shine for the moment.

What about cloths/mits/pads etc? Any suggestions on what to order?

 

[jamie_z4]

A brilliant Wax for beginners is poorboys natty's blue wax it's easy to apply And buff off even in direct sunlight and has a brilliant durabilIty, where as collinite s a bit more hard work to buff off

 

[GAZA62]

Good advice above especially the prep part you could go and spend 2k on a pot of Zymol Vintage and without the prep would be a waste of time.

The cheapest and easiest you can go would be

Autoglym Super Resin x 1 coat

Autoglym Extra Gloss Protection x Layered say 3 coats.

This what i used to do my old Calibra below and she looked great but then i discovered clay and carnuba wax and never looked back the finish not only looks better but feels better the paint due to the claying process feels very slick and the Carnuba wax gives a much warmer glow to the paint making the Silver look more like a gloss finish rather than a Metalic.

Re the QD = Quick Detailer these are great for after washing the car they leave a nice glossy finish i use Serious Performance V2 which is very good but for outstanding value in my book you cannot beat good old Meguiars Last Touch http://www.seriousperformance.co.uk/Products,78,toView_750.html very quick and easy and i still use it as well as my SP V2.

 

[Anonymous]

:rofl: Calibras.....thats made my day.......f*** how we've evolved!!!!

 

[GAZA62]

:rofl: Calibras.....thats made my day.......f*** how we've evolved!!!!

Steady pal i actually enjoyed owning that car :x