I'm looking for some advice on my upcoming detail supplies purchase. I've been trying to make a list of supplies to get, but have been slightly confused as to which polishes, washes (wax removal wash, and safe with wax wash), and waxes to get. I talked to Phil@Detailersdomain and he recommended that I pick up a PC 7424XP, which I'll be doing, along with pads.

Does anyone have a checklist to use so I can make sure I don't forget anything? Does anyone have recommendations for waxes, water spot remover and polishes?

Thanks in advance for the help, and sorry for the noob questions .

P.S. The cars I'll primarily be working on will be a Jerez Black E92 M3, a red E90 325i, and a Phoenix Yellow E46 M3.

 

As for polishes to use with the PC, you simply cannot go wrong with Menzerna. The industry go to, because it works on so many cars, is Super Intensive Polish and Super Finish. You'll need an orange ccs pad to use with SIP and a white ccs pad to be used with Super Finish. Not sure what your budget is, but einszett Glanz would be an excellent wax to simply apply right after polishing. Let me know if this helps. I'm shooting in the dark here not knowing your goals and budget.

 

One thing for sure that I do know, Moe is the man....

Although I would most likely never try to buff/polish my own car, for those of you with the guts to do it, Moe will steer you in the right direction for the applicable products for sure.

 

Thanks for the advice, I checked out the items you mentioned on your site. It looks like I'll go with the Menzerna. As far as my goals, I'd like to be able to get some experience with paint correction (all three of the cars have quite a bit of swirls) and work up to the E92 to get it ready for MFest in April. The E92 also has pretty bad water spots from our trip to MFest earlier this year, so if you have a paint cleaner to recommend, I'd be interested in that too. I'll probably be starting off on my dad's work vehicle to get some experience and not worry about messing anything up. I don't have a specific budget, but would rather spend in the einszett or P21s range than the Swissvax range.

As far as the Glanz, is that a good wax for a black car? Also, do you have a specific wash that you use pre-polish to remove wax and a wax safe one?

 

You simply cannot go wrong with the einszett line. I'd get the menzerna polishes, the pads I described, get the einszett paint polish and glanz and add their perls shampoo and spray wax. Paint polish is a great paint cleanser/polish that you can use by hand for those times you don't need to machine polish with menzerna. Glanz will work great on any color car. Hope this answers your questions...our einszett promo ends shortly, so take advantage of it

 

Thanks for the kind words...appreciate the vote of confidence

 

Alex, if you need hands on training, I can help you out. It would be free.

Thomas

 

Cool, I'll be making the purchase soon. Thanks again for the help!

 

That would be great. Thanks for the offer! I'll send you over a PM.

 

One more thing , do you have a recommendation for water spot remover?

 

If water spots are on the paint or on the glass, just use one of the Menzerna Polishes to remove. The severity of the water marks will decide which polish your going to be using.

Make sure you get AT LEAST:

Power Gloss
Super Intensive Polish
Power Finish
Super Finish

Also, MAKE SURE to get 5.5 inch pads. Pads bigger than that are simply TOO big for the PC to do correction work with. You will be wasting many many hours with the bigger pads.

 

Although the PC is not a bad machine, the E92 has pretty hard paint. If you have bad water spots on an E92 BMW you can do one of two things. 3 Step machine polish, start with a yellow foam pad and powergloss, or you can start with a more powerful machine like a cyclo or Flex. You can try using vinegar to remove the waterspots, but on a hard finish like a BMW you will probably need a stronger abrasive. The Glanz wax is an excellent choice for your application after paint has been properly corrected.

John

 

Cool, thanks for the advice.

Are the cyclo and Flex models you are talking about still orbitals? I don't have any experience with a rotary yet, so I would be worried about burning the paint with one of those. Thanks!

 

The cyclo and flex machines are random orbitals. I personally use the flex, have been for a few years. The great thing about the flex is you get the safety of a pc and the close correcting ability of the high speed. Here's a link to the unit we've got on promotion and the reviews by people just like you:

http://www.glisteningperfectionstore...2C-dual/Detail

 

Flex is the way to go IMHO.

I am also hooked on the higher cost wax. If budget is not a big issue I would highly recommend it. Once you get into the hand application and the smell of this stuff it is impossible to go back. My wife even walks into the garage and ask me what have I been cooking.

While this may sound funny, I have found it also brings a new bond between me and my machines.