BMW Paint...

[Dr. Drizzle]

Well, I picked up a 2003 540i M Sport in Alpine White yesterday! I decided to detail it today. I worked around 12 hours on the paint with my porter and achieved I would say roughly 80-85% correction. I found setting six on the PC to be the friendliest as far as getting things done...here is what I did and um question follows....

 

Clay

Severe Swirl/mint pad x 2 applications(note this step was only performed if needed)

Swirl and haze/orange pad x 2 applications

Menzerna po85rd/white pad

 

Now my question is: on the PC is there any technique to speed up hard paint correction? I had to wrap things up because it had to be done tonight...I of course feel confident if I would have either had anoter application of SSR and another applications of the fine polish I could have eliminated much of the micro marring. Instead of say, two applications of around 2-3 minutes each(worked in small areas), would a longer application yield better results than many shorter ones?(more product?).

Also....if I want a faster correction time, is my only option really a flex? I have had zero experience with BMW/Mercedes paint, so it's been a learning day(not a bad thing, right?)

 

Thanks!!!

[SIDetailing]

Honestly a flex is your best bet if you want to speed up your process as its a bit more aggressive at removing swirls and such. On hard paint you have to spend a bit more time with a PC to achieve awesome results and get it looking perfect.

[XQIZT]

More product is not the answer, you'll just clog the pad and it will never "flash" (turn a greasy clear). That is your indication that you have reduced all the micro abrasives down to nothing. If you stop short of that, you're not getting the fullest potential out of each product.

 

You can always do multiple passes with each product. I can just hear Junkman saying "Do it again." Best bet it to perfect a 2x2 area and then apply that technique to the whole car, assuming that the whole car needs the same amount of correction.

 

The Flex is a faster way to achieve results, but there a slightly increased level of danger since it is forced rotation, unlike the PC. Dylan described it like this: You could dig a pool in your back yard with 1) a hand shovel (hand polishing) 2) a mini excavator (the PC) or 3) a full size backhoe (the Flex). They all get the job done, but in different timeframes.

[BlueGenCoupe]

Honestly a flex is your best bet if you want to speed up your process as its a bit more aggressive at removing swirls and such. On hard paint you have to spend a bit more time with a PC to achieve awesome results and get it looking perfect.

 

:iagree: and if you want something faster then the flex...try a dewalt or makita polisher

[Bill-V8V]

:iagree: and if you want something faster then the flex...try a dewalt or makita polisher

 

 

Or just pickup a belt sander and take the paint right off, that will be even faster :willy::willy:

 

 

Go to your room Anthony

[Billyt]

BMW paint is very hard and i have found the only way to attack the paint is with a rotary.

[Chris@Adams]

Paint correcting takes time to do a good job, so be patient. A Flex is faster than the PC but it also takes time and patients!

[SIDetailing]

Or just pickup a belt sander and take the paint right off, that will be even faster :willy::willy:

 

 

Go to your room Anthony

 

Hahaha lmao. That's funny

[Team Adam's]

A agree... flex would help immensely, but thats not to say it can't be done with the PC... its just gonna take more time.

[THE Mook]

I have a little experience with BMW. Yes, they are a little bit tougher than your typical GM paint. That said, if you have the experience and the availability, the Flex will be your best friend here.

 

My past experience is with the PC, and I was a tired, tired, little Italian come days' end! (BTW that BMW driver just called me too for some paint lovin!)

[Dr. Drizzle]

I have never worked with paint like BMW, so this was new territory. All of my previous details have been Honda, Nissan, Ford, Chevrolet, and Toyota, so as you can imagine, the hardness of the Bimmer's paint came at quite a surprise. I knew everyone always said it was harder paint, but I did not imagine that hard. I spent about 6 hours more on the paint than I usually do, but I achieved pretty good correction....at least until I want to tackle it again! I will think about that flex...sure does seem appealing.

[Junkman2008]

I definitely would NOT recommend you even dreaming about picking up a rotary. Talk about an abortion waiting to happen...