HELP! Jet Black BMW

Ok, not to panic before I even lay eyes on the car but in the coming weeks I have an 02 M3 needing full exterior detail. The customer just put on new 19" wheels and next week it's going in the shop for some new coilovers. He takes good care of the car and said he gets it "detailed" once a year. I haven't seen the car in person yet but says only minor swirls are visible in direct sun. My normal take on this is - ok that means medium swirls...LOL

Anyway, I've read some horror stories about Bimmer paint, particularly regarding Jet Black. I'll be using my PC for the job. I have a good selection of PFW and Lake Country pads and on the shelf-menzerna IP/FP combo, M105/205 combo. I've got a full bottle of M83 also but..

Not so worried about which sealant/wax discussion but looking for some guidance or any tips on polishing Jet Black or Bimmer paint in general. All comments welcome.

Thanks

 

The paint is awful, worst paint in the world. It's incredibly soft, to the point where I saw MFs marring the paint.

What is your finest polish? Do you have PO85RD? That on a gray pad might be what you need, then an ultra soft MF to remove your waxes. To be honest, something like Z5 Pro might do the trick.

 

poli-seal is probably the least abrasive polish I have unless Menzerna Final Polish is finer. Duragloss 105 is on the shelf too but that's really just a cleaner/sealant as you probably know. I've got some good soft MF and plenty of grey and red pads.

So if the swirls are in fact minor should I not even reach for 105 or 83? I wonder if a greay pad and 205 would be too much.

Thanks for the input...would love some more

 

This is definitely one of those situations where you want to start with the least aggressive method first.

 

I have never worked on jet black, but it is a very beautiful color. Since it is so soft you have to be really careful and it will be easy to create buffer trails. Good luck, and I hope you post some pics when you're done .

 

I'm wondering if either poli-seal OR poli-seal mixed with a bit of Optimum polish would work on this? Part fo the fear with JB from what I've read is marring from even just wiping polish residue off. If I can get any correction with poli-seal it doesn't even really leave any residue so I could just buff it off lightly with some OCW or AW right? It is a beautiful deep color when cleaned up so I was hoping to finish with a nuba and admire.
I'm half tempted to just not do it but that wouldn't be very fun.

 

you will not be able to finish with anything less than PO85RD or 106FF/FA

 

I had great success in the past with Orange + Prima Swirl as a one step. That got rid of a majority of the swirls with a couple of the deep scratches left behind. May work for you, who knows :shrug:

 

I've got PO85U. I was hoping to get away from Menzerna...LOL Notsure I want to drop $50 on another bottle.

Thanks for y'alls help.

 

let us know how it goes. i have a jet black im going to be doing here in the next couple of months

 

would be interested to hear more about your JB experience

 

i used to have jet black 3-series. it can be a pain to work with if youe MF towels are not 100% perfect and particle free. any little thing stuck in the towel will drag itself into the paint and scratch a freshly polished surface. also use VERY LITTLE pressure on the towel when buffing off the polish. it is better to wipe it off with alcohol than try and buff it off hard, but watchout, because the alcohol also can make it easier for the towel to make micro-marring