Swirls on black parts

[VitaminTee]

Hello - I have about 1500 miles on my MW F80 and in the bright sun this afternoon I noticed some swirls on the black painted parts of of the doors (by the windows). I was pretty shocked to see this because I've been extremely careful when washing (MF cloth and ONR). I touch up every now and again with Adam's quick detail (mostly to remove bugs from the front).

The white part of the car looks perfect. That said, I know it's much harder to spot swirls on white paint. I've yet to wax the car, or do any kind of paint treatment.

A Few Questions:
1. Can I fix this? If so, How?
2. Is this something that Just happens or is this because it wasn't properly protected?
3. Would just a coat of wax prevent this from getting worse or do I need to take a different course of action?

I'm planning on waxing soon (Adam's buttery on the way), but what to make sure there isn't something different I should be doing.

[MaX PL]

Same here. To fix this you should get a polisher and it'll come right out.

I actually plan to do this tomorrow as I spent some time cleaning my car today.

[x.shell]

Get it polished then do a ceramic-coating on it. I don't baby my car at all and my black parts have zero swirls. I got the car ceramic-coated a few days after taking delivery of the car. If I knew how much easier the treatment would make my life, I would've done this on every car I've owned.

My F30 on the other hand had crazy swirls on the black parts. No treatment was applied to my F30.

[geneatals]

the gloss black trim pieces can and do swirl easily..but as stated above you can polish/correct as well...

[EALm4]

Originally Posted by VitaminTee

Hello - I have about 1500 miles on my MW F80 and in the bright sun this afternoon I noticed some swirls on the black painted parts of of the doors (by the windows). I was pretty shocked to see this because I've been extremely careful when washing (MF cloth and ONR). I touch up every now and again with Adam's quick detail (mostly to remove bugs from the front).

The white part of the car looks perfect. That said, I know it's much harder to spot swirls on white paint. I've yet to wax the car, or do any kind of paint treatment.

A Few Questions:
1. Can I fix this? If so, How?
2. Is this something that Just happens or is this because it wasn't properly protected?
3. Would just a coat of wax prevent this from getting worse or do I need to take a different course of action?

I'm planning on waxing soon (Adam's buttery on the way), but what to make sure there isn't something different I should be doing.

You need to polish the paint and seal it with a ceramic coating, like Cquartz. Then you'll never have to worry about it if maintained correctly. However, the sooner you do this the easier it will be. This was the absolute first thing I did to mine after I took redelivery.

The following process should work.
1) wash
2) clay
3) polish
4) reclean
5) seal

If you dont want to spend $400 on a polisher...you can hand polish the car and use the following two step products


Correcting polish first, per Adam's - no need to wipe off and then apply the hand polish.

At this point, you're done if you just want to use a wax. Continue if you want to seal the paint.

If you want to seal the paint... you need to "re-clean" the car with an isopropyl alcohol solution mixture. You can either buy something premixed or make it yourself. It doesnt take much to mix up a batch.


At this stage the smoothness of the paint will not be there as you've stripped the left over polish/wax completely off the car. DONT panic, that's what you're supposed to do. Otherwise the ceramic sealant will not properly adhere.

THen hit it with the sealant. You can apply this on both paint and the black trim.


Finish off with a silica based top coat


Boom. You're done. I did mine completely by hand and it took forever but was absolutely worth it. Water beads up and just falls off the car and the paint is beyond flawless now. You can absolutely do this yourself... I was a little intimidated and scared about using the sealant but if you can wax a car you can apply it. Apply the reload like once a month and you're good. Plus the glossy shine that the sealant adds is awesome...I think it's even better than waxing. (my M4 is SO but in this light and w/ my camera it looks red)

[VitaminTee]

Originally Posted by EALm4

You need to polish the paint and seal it with a ceramic coating, like Cquartz. Then you'll never have to worry about it if maintained correctly. However, the sooner you do this the easier it will be. This was the absolute first thing I did to mine after I took redelivery.

The following process should work.
1) wash
2) clay
3) polish
4) reclean
5) seal

If you dont want to spend $400 on a polisher...you can hand polish the car and use the following two step products


Correcting polish first, per Adam's - no need to wipe off and then apply the hand polish.

At this point, you're done if you just want to use a wax. Continue if you want to seal the paint.

If you want to seal the paint... you need to "re-clean" the car with an isopropyl alcohol solution mixture. You can either buy something premixed or make it yourself. It doesnt take much to mix up a batch.


At this stage the smoothness of the paint will not be there as you've stripped the left over polish/wax completely off the car. DONT panic, that's what you're supposed to do. Otherwise the ceramic sealant will not properly adhere.

THen hit it with the sealant. You can apply this on both paint and the black trim.


Finish off with a silica based top coat


Boom. You're done. I did mine completely by hand and it took forever but was absolutely worth it. Water beads up and just falls off the car and the paint is beyond flawless now. You can absolutely do this yourself... I was a little intimidated and scared about using the sealant but if you can wax a car you can apply it. Apply the reload like once a month and you're good. Plus the glossy shine that the sealant adds is awesome...I think it's even better than waxing. (my M4 is SO but in this light and w/ my camera it looks red)

WOW Thank you for the amazing and detailed response. I actually tried fixing today with revive but it just didn't do the trick. Sounds like I need to paint correct first.

[j997tt]

Yes, thanks for the tips. Very useful post. I might be a bit too lazy to do it all but nice to have instructions.

[EALm4]

I understand and it seriously took hours...like 8+ because I wanted to make sure I got it right.

Oh, so when using the sealant, I was nervous so I applied it on a small part of the trunk where the spoiler would go. I followed the directions and it came out fine so that boosted my confidence that I would have no problems.

I recommend that you also do it in a VERY well lit area so you can see all the swirls and if there is any sealant left over. If you missed a spot when rubbing off the sealant, you'll immediately notice once you're outside. If it's been 24+ hours... it's pretty much cured and will not buff out with just a plan MF cloth. DONT WORRY - just take a very small bit of the paint correction polish, and polish it out. Then sit back an enjoyyyy

AND... if you want to do the glass, which I recommend, use Adam's glass sealant. This is basically like RainX on steroids and will last more than just 2 rainstorms. This small bottle (4oz) will probably last the life of the car and I've actually ended up using it on the windows to my balcony. It doesnt take much. You can probably do all your cars, your friends cars, their friends cars. lol

[VitaminTee]

Originally Posted by EALm4

I understand and it seriously took hours...like 8+ because I wanted to make sure I got it right.

Oh, so when using the sealant, I was nervous so I applied it on a small part of the trunk where the spoiler would go. I followed the directions and it came out fine so that boosted my confidence that I would have no problems.

I recommend that you also do it in a VERY well lit area so you can see all the swirls and if there is any sealant left over. If you missed a spot when rubbing off the sealant, you'll immediately notice once you're outside. If it's been 24+ hours... it's pretty much cured and will not buff out with just a plan MF cloth. DONT WORRY - just take a very small bit of the paint correction polish, and polish it out. Then sit back an enjoyyyy

AND... if you want to do the glass, which I recommend, use Adam's glass sealant. This is basically like RainX on steroids and will last more than just 2 rainstorms. This small bottle (4oz) will probably last the life of the car and I've actually ended up using it on the windows to my balcony. It doesnt take much. You can probably do all your cars, your friends cars, their friends cars. lol

Great idea with the glass sealant! I live in a high rise and I have floor to ceiling windows. I'm taking a few weeks off for the holidays, this will be a great project! LOL.... Oh, and I suppose I'll do the car too!