[a1reader]

Hi guys,

I was thinking of giving the car a polish this weekend. Do you think a rotary polisher is a good idea?? If so then what are your experiences on the best ones in terms of performance and value for money. I'm not planning on spending a fortune. Many thanks in advance for your help.

[willhollin]

In the wrong hands you could do more damage than good.

Why not get it machine polished by a professional then you will quite easily be able to achieve a great shine with very little work.

[Irnbrukid]

Dont you mean a dual action polisher rather than rotary, as will said in the wrong hands you could make a mess of your car with a rotary polisher they are for pro's or people who know what they are doing.

Think Kestrel is the most popular dual action polisher just now, and dual action are more user friendly.

[a1reader]

It sounds like I may be out of my depth here. I think I'll get it done professionally. Thanks for the advice guys, much appreciated

[firebod]

got to agree with the above comments, a rotary polisher in the wrong hands will really bugger up your pride and joy! there are polish and pad combinations to consider, the types of defect that needs to be removed etc, etc, that need to be considered, you could end up imparting more damage into the paint than you started with. A dual action or DA is a much safer tool to start with and has less chance of damaging your paint. If you really want to give it a go get a scrap panel from a breakers yard and a polisher then practice on that before letting loose on the BMW. Detailingworld.co.uk is a great place to get advice and ideas from.

Sorry to sound like im putting a downer on your plans, but from experience its well worth a little research and practice. Then when the weather is a bit better send the missus shopping and spend the weekend buffing the motor!
Or as willhollin said get a pro to do it for you, it may seem expensive but the work these pro's do is outstanding (most of them dont mind you watching if you supply them with tea and biccy's).

good luck, be sure to post the shiney car pictures when your done

[a1reader]

Originally Posted by firebod

got to agree with the above comments, a rotary polisher in the wrong hands will really bugger up your pride and joy! there are polish and pad combinations to consider, the types of defect that needs to be removed etc, etc, that need to be considered, you could end up imparting more damage into the paint than you started with. A dual action or DA is a much safer tool to start with and has less chance of damaging your paint. If you really want to give it a go get a scrap panel from a breakers yard and a polisher then practice on that before letting loose on the BMW. Detailingworld.co.uk is a great place to get advice and ideas from.

Sorry to sound like im putting a downer on your plans, but from experience its well worth a little research and practice. Then when the weather is a bit better send the missus shopping and spend the weekend buffing the motor!
Or as willhollin said get a pro to do it for you, it may seem expensive but the work these pro's do is outstanding (most of them dont mind you watching if you supply them with tea and biccy's).

good luck, be sure to post the shiney car pictures when your done

Thanks for the advice mate. The car doesn't really have any paint defects as such, but its starting to lose that glow it came with from the factory, not to a huge extent just very slightly. The paintwork is generally still in great condition, the car is only 4 months old. I thought if I got it detailed and polished early then it will have an enduring shine that should be reasonably easy to maintain. From what's been said above it seems the best way to achieve this is through a professional detail, which I will arrange soon. I will certainly post some pics when its all done.

[JLR1969]

Originally Posted by a1reader

Thanks for the advice mate. The car doesn't really have any paint defects as such, but its starting to lose that glow it came with from the factory, not to a huge extent just very slightly. The paintwork is generally still in great condition, the car is only 4 months old. I thought if I got it detailed and polished early then it will have an enduring shine that should be reasonably easy to maintain. From what's been said above it seems the best way to achieve this is through a professional detail, which I will arrange soon. I will certainly post some pics when its all done.

I learnt how to machine polish my car from a forum member and then taught another member how to do theirs. Its not such a great mystery and is actually quite easy to do with the right equipment and enough time.

Use the Kestrel DA polisher, with a finishing pad and some Dodo juice Lime Prime. Make sure you wash and clay the car first. Dont be put off. Ideally in this weather you need to do it in a garage.

[firebod]

+ 1, as above, very good way to learn

[R80TER]

i just bought a kestral das6 da polisher, just need to find some time to get cracking now!

[a1reader]

Originally Posted by R80TER

i just bought a kestral das6 da polisher, just need to find some time to get cracking now!

How much??

[R80TER]

Originally Posted by a1reader

How much??

£85 ish, but i paid more to get pads, polishes etc etc. I bought from www.polishedbliss.co.uk i prob could have got cheaper, but these guys are really good, friendly and fast service and on the phone/email should you need advice.

below is the list of the kit i got:

1 x Kestrel DAS-6 Dual Action Polishing Machine (includes 125 mm backing plate)
1 x Menzerna RD3.02 (250 ml)
1 x Menzerna 85RE (250 ml)
2 x Menzerna 135 mm Compounding Pads (white)
2 x Menzerna 135 mm Polishing Pads (orange)
2 x Menzerna 135 mm Finishing Pads (yellow)
1 x Menzerna 80 mm Compounding Spot Pad (white)
1 x Menzerna 80 mm Polishing Spot Pad (orange)
1 x Menzerna 80 mm Finishing Spot Pad (yellow)
1 x Flexipads Dual Action Backing Plate (75 mm)
1 x 3M High Performance Masking Tape
1 x Meguiar's Triple Duty Detailing Brush
1 x Lake Country Snappy Pad Cleaner

[MattOz]

Originally Posted by JLR1969

I learnt how to machine polish my car from a forum member and then taught another member how to do theirs. Its not such a great mystery and is actually quite easy to do with the right equipment and enough time.

Use the Kestrel DA polisher, with a finishing pad and some Dodo juice Lime Prime. Make sure you wash and clay the car first. Dont be put off. Ideally in this weather you need to do it in a garage.

This man speaks sense (sometimes)

Get yourself a DA (dual action) polisher to begin with and make sure you have a finishing pad and some Dodo Juice Lime Prime. You'll find that you should be able to restore a good depth of shine to the paint without an enormous amount of effort. Have a few microfibres handy and then a nice wax, something like Collinite 476S to give the car a layer of protection afterwards.

Jon spent a couple of hours with me and he picked it up quickly and it's actually not that difficult to use a DA. What I wouldn't recommend is using a rotary straight away. That's a whole different ball game.

Matt

[themetz]

i use this

As long as you're careful and 'good-at-that-sort-of-thing' you can get great results. Time is the key. You need several hours to achieve close-to-pro results.

Plus, doing it yourself is sooooo much more rewarding

mind you, haven't tried it on the Sapphire Black yet....

[MattOz]

Originally Posted by themetz

mind you, haven't tried it on the Sapphire Black yet....

Here's a Sapphire black I did earlier................

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/foru...d.php?t=114876

I'm only in Warwick, so if you want help advice, feel free to pop round.

Matt

[themetz]

Originally Posted by MattOz

Here's a Sapphire black I did earlier................

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/foru...d.php?t=114876

I'm only in Warwick, so if you want help advice, feel free to pop round.

Matt

Great result Matt - love the pic with the clouds rolling by. I'm in Leam - will keep my eye's out for your M (sparkling I hope!)

[a1reader]

Originally Posted by MattOz

Here's a Sapphire black I did earlier................

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/foru...d.php?t=114876

I'm only in Warwick, so if you want help advice, feel free to pop round.

Matt

You clearly know what you're doing because thats a fantastic result . Its things like this that inspired me to try and do it myself in the first place as I think it would be quite rewarding. However, the last thing I wanna do is damage my paint finish. So realistically how difficult is it really, and if I'm really careful is it still likely that I may damage my paint. In general I'm quite good with my hands and good at DIY, following instructions, being careful etc. I installed my own roof module, alpine speaker upgrade, without any problems. Thanks for your advice.

Cheers

Yas

[MattOz]

Yas,

If you bought a dual action polisher and started with a paint cleanser, such as lime prime on a finishing or polishing pad, you're unlikely to do major damage provided you're careful. Start slowly and you should be ok.

Matt

[Ham09]

I know you can't reach the same level of results by hand poslishing, but providing you don't need any major paint correction, can't you get pretty good results the old fashioned way by hand

Just had a look at the Saphire Black photo. WOW!

[willhollin]

Originally Posted by Ham09

I know you can't reach the same level of results by hand poslishing, but providing you don't need any major paint correction, can't you get pretty good results the old fashioned way by hand

You can't beat a hand job mate, i'm not keen on using a machine to be honest.

[Ham09]

Originally Posted by willhollin

You can't beat a hand job mate, i'm not keen on using a machine to be honest.

LARL

[lesfinnie]

Originally Posted by willhollin

You can't beat a hand job mate, i'm not keen on using a machine to be honest.

They are ok especially if someone is doing it for you

[JLR1969]

Originally Posted by MattOz

This man speaks sense (sometimes)

Get yourself a DA (dual action) polisher to begin with and make sure you have a finishing pad and some Dodo Juice Lime Prime. You'll find that you should be able to restore a good depth of shine to the paint without an enormous amount of effort. Have a few microfibres handy and then a nice wax, something like Collinite 476S to give the car a layer of protection afterwards.

Jon spent a couple of hours with me and he picked it up quickly and it's actually not that difficult to use a DA. What I wouldn't recommend is using a rotary straight away. That's a whole different ball game.

Matt

Yes indeed I was taught by the Master MattOz. I in turn taught Palmnuts and we both did his C63. How envious was I when it was finished, looked amazing.

Glad you are well Matt, hope Hannah (i think that's was her name) is also well mate.

Cheers