can't get the swirls out - advice if you please.

[doc$holliday]

Hello,

I posted this to Phil in the Detailer's Domain advice sticky but thought it couldn't hurt to make a new thread in case anyone else would like to weigh in on it.

I have a 2003 M5 in LeMans Blue Metallic that has a ton of paint swirls, marks, some scratches, etc. Basically it needs a good corrective detail to get it back to a level where I can maintain it, as the paint has been like this since last January when I bought it with 100k miles on the clock.

I do have Meguire's Detailing Clay which I have used in the past on my Z3. I also have a Porter Cable dual-action random orbital with a great assortment of good pads. In terms of product, I have a Pinnacle Liquid Souveran wax but am probably falling short in the area of swirl mark removers/polishes as I only have 3M Swirl-It II SMR for dark cars and some other Mequire's finishing polish.

I have tried, unsuccessfully, to use the above items on the hood and trunk of the M5 to clean up the swirls, etc. I've done a bit of research on these boards and have looked at some of the detail pro's as they post before and after pics - and I cannot really make my paint look much better! Is it me, or the products I'm using, or a combination? As an example I would use the SMR with an orange pad on the orbital, then a white pad with polish then a black pad with Pinnacle.

Also, the high mileage is mostly highway driving and so there is a large amount of road rash, chips, etc. on the front of the hood. I was considering a Dr. Colorchip kit for the rash - thoughts?

I live in South Florida and really need to get a good coat of wax on soon as the summer (and it's sun and rain) are almost here. I have seen only about 1 pro on this board for my area. I did contact him (his photos are amazing!) and it's not out of the realm of possibility but is $$$. Do you know of any others in the Fort Lauderdale/Miami area?

Thanks in advance for reading my long post and for any advice you may have!

SP

[6pack]

You may need to drop down to a more agressive polish and then go back to a fine one.

I use these from griots garage.
Set of 4 Machine Polishes - Polishes - Polishing - Car Care - Griot's Garage

I am not famliar with the grade of the polish you are using.

If all else fails, pay the big bucks to get it right and then you mintain yourself going foward. They have a nice instructional video that you can get.

[TOGWT]

Its hard to tell from a description how srious the scratches are. It would seem that a SMR is not removing the scratches, which would indicate that you need to move to a more abrasive polish/pad. As a suggestion Menz Power Finish (PO203S) - (M) this is a one-step scratch remover polish that will remove 2500 grit, cut 3.0-gloss 3.5, is formulated as a quick way to polish out light flaws and amplify the paint’s gloss.

[Feld1128]

Since you have different type of scratches, swirls etc. take it to a body shop and have them do what is necessary. You may need to do some color sanding to get scratches out depending how deep they are, then go through the different compounds to end up with a desirable result. Have them mix some paint for touch up, keep in mind touch up will never look as good as painted. It should not cost any more than one day of labor plus a minor materials charge, to give you an idea my shop would charge about $400.00 to 500.00 dollars for this. If you want to do this yourself I can give you a list of materials and pads etc. with part #'s . Good Luck.