The owner of this car had no clue how to wash/dry a car .. he was using Joy dish wash soap and a terry cloth and towels to dry .. he also did a lot of dry wipedowns.

Even the day they brought it up for a quote his wife was rubbing the dirt into the paint with her hand as she brushed dust off to show me a scratch.

He is now going to order the Eurow kit Patrick has on special and an extra WW towel to dry.

I also taught his wife how to open and close the trunk as they were using thier hands on top of the lid and messed it up pretty good ..

The swirling was so bad I had a hard time getting before pix .. but here is some

Before







Now some afters

















I got about 95% correction on it .. took 2 of us 5 hours

Wash
Polish complete car with a cutting pad and 50/50 Optimum Hyper & Compound
Polish coplete car with white pad and Optimum Polish.
PoliSeal on a white pad
#21 ( which decided to streak even tho I applied in the shade. A M/F spritzed with Distilled water removed it.
Tires dresses with Optimum Tire Gel applied with a small sponge.

 

Jesstzn: Nice recovery. Do you think your customers learned anything? If not, job security for you.

 

Curious why you mix the hyper? Are the scratches that bad?

 

Typical BMW owner. lol

Nice work

 

Maybe with all that money you can teach him how to wash a car! Nice recovery; looks sharp!!!

 

Jess-great job. Man, that BMW REALLY shines !!!

 

I'm hoping they did .. he sure seemed to want to learn.

 

Lots of swirling and hard BMW paint.

 

I can verify that Bimmer paint can be a PITA......

 

I'll keep that in mind. My sister has a bimmer, but luckily the scratches arent like that.

 

x3 for super hard bimmer paint. i had to hit the 540 with a yellow pad using compound on 6!!! SIX!!!! that was crazy

 

Just curious, what is the proper way to close the trunk? I always use the key fob or the trunk release button to open.

 

I havent got the UDM yet, but I'm guessing the bigger the number, the faster the speed?

 

^ 6 is the max for my PC

 

I usually grab the latch part of the lid. That way I don't touch the paint which is black as well. I had a friend who shut it one day touching the paint while it was dusty and it scratched it up bad. The scratches are still there faintly.

 

now the real question is, was the wife hott?

 

Jesstzn:

Have you considered picking up a Flex XC3401 VRG polisher? I highly recommend it. It will have made quick work of that paint with the safety of a PC. I now regulate my PC and UDM for 4" pads or LSP duty.

 

LMAO.........yeah, inquiring minds wanna know Dale.........

I'd like to have the Flex, but the $ for it is unreal......I might as well learn how to use a rotary....

 

On my 09 TSX, theres a handle on the inside of the trunk lid but that gets me down so far. I cant think of anything else to grab to get the lid fully closed and latched. Maybe a license plate bolt?

 

Inside the trunk on most higher end cars there is a handle or an insentation for your fingers .. pull down hard with it then just let the trunk go .. it will shut .

 

Nah ... unfortunatly.

 

I have but its a little pricy and I'm not sure if I can use my existing pads on it. If not then the price goes even higher.

Right now I have 2 working UDMs and a PC .. The UDMs have a 5" backing plate and a 3" one mounted to them so I can go back and forth etc when I hit smaller areas.

Th ePC I use mostly to apply the Poliseal ...

If the pads/backing plates will fit the Flex then it might be a thought.

 

Jesstzn can you do that for my black tsx? Dude if you made a DIY on how to wash your car you would be rich. haha

 

I have one .. and I include it with every first detail for a customer .

 

Would you be willing to give me that or check out my old thread to get me started.

 

Pretty simple actually .. the stuff you use is the most important

This is important as improper washing and drying methods is the major cause of scratching and swirling in the cars clear coat.

1. Hose the car down really well first and rinse it of before you wash

2. Washing: Wash your car when it is cool and in the shade. Air drying is the main cause of water spots, and the heat from the sun and the paint surface only amplifies the effect. Invest in a sheepskin mitt and car wash soap. Others will say different but as long as its not an el’cheapo bargain brand most car wash soaps are ok. Wash a panel .. rinse a panel. Its better to wash gently with more strokes than to rub hard and cause marring in the clear coat layer.

3. Final Rinsing: For rinsing, remove whatever nozzle you usually use from your hose, and rinse the car with the open end of the hose, with a low water pressure. You don't need a jet of water pummeling your car now that it's clean. Just let the water "fall" onto the surface, and you'll see the difference! Definitely helps with the drying process as it will pull the water off.


4. Drying: The plush MF drying towel and the Waffle Weave are both popular for drying. I use just the Waffle Weave MF. Before you dry take the nozzle off the hose and with a gentle stream of water run it over the car, it will sheet 90% of the water off for you. I hold the first towel by the corners and pull it over the flat surfaces and it pulls most the water off then I use the MF towel to finish off the body. NEVER use the same Towel to dry the wheels/door edges as you will possibly fill them with crud and scratch the car in the next drying. Same reason to use a seperate wash mitt to wash the wheels. Get a cheapie mitt from WalMart for that.

 

Thanks that helped a whole bunch. So I do that before I bring out the porter cable correct? And could you teach me how to use the porter cable to remove all the scratches like you did for the bmw.

 

Once you get the stuff to wash it . dry it right and master it then we move on .

 

Great suggestion Jess. I will keep these in mind when I'm washing the car this weekend.