[Cupcake]

Okay, so I'm in need of a little help. I'm trying to avoid the "I told you so" converation with my husband! (He wanted me to get AW so we could avoid this) I have a black sapphire metallic X3 that already has swirl marks. I realize I probably suck at washing cars, but I've also had it detailed by a "professional." My question is, what is the best way to keep swirls to a minimum in black cars. This is my 3rd black car, the other 2 were Cadillacs and I don't remember that paint swirling as bad as the BMW.

Our water is terrible here so I've already ordered a water filter for our hose. I'm just not sure what else to do. I've thought about foam guns and other tools but I've heard mixed reviews.

I searched the forums but could not find anything specific. I know there are some awesome detailing gurus on here so I figured I would ask! Thanks in advance.

[OdomPHD]

Here's a so-so article from Meguiars.

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums...Swirls-By-Hand

My BMW dealership has told me to use Meguiars products on my cars since the 90's, and they work alright. Granted, I've never owned a black car, but my first Bimmer was a dark blue and the Meguires worked well enough on her the one time I removed swirl marks.

I did decide, however, that I would never own another dark car again. Between the heat here in Florida and the unsightly scratch marks from so much interstate driving I couldn't stand to own another.

[PPonU]

You want to use a 2 bucket method to hand wash your BMW, it will still swirl as there is no way to avoid this but you can drastically reduce the amount of swirls you would normally get. I'll let this article expalin the process

http://www.detailedimage.com/Ask-a-P...and-dry-a-car/

[warmtoes]

It is hard to avoid swirls. The methods above are good ones but you know what they say about black on cars, it isn't a colour it's a second job.

[Want the thrill]

I use Zaino products and love them. They are pricey, but do a great job. Here is a link to their website:

http://www.zainostore.com/

[JBX]

I've been a Meguiar's fan since I had my first car, and that was almost 18 years ago. I have a black Mercedes (2002) and a black X3 (2011). I use the Meguiar's Deep Crystal System (paint cleaner/polish/carnauba wax) to wax and polish my car. My partner uses Zaino on her M3 (laguna seca blue). The result from the Zaino product might look a bit shinier, however, if you were to touch the surface of the car, the Meguiars result definitely feels smoother and thicker, not as "nake".

Also, I use the Meguiar quick detailer and a microfiber towel to wipe down the whole car after every wash. The detailer definitely helps.

I clay bar the mercedes twice. But I think the Meguiar's Deep Crystal System is good enough. And yes, it will take me at least 5 hours from start to finish, but it is totally worth it!

Oh, I do not let anyone wash my car and most importantly, no car wash machine.

good luck!

[Harplayr]

Originally Posted by Want the thrill

I use Zaino products and love them. They are pricey, but do a great job. Here is a link to their website:

http://www.zainostore.com/

I'm also a big fan of their Z5 which is made for black cars. Top it off with Z2 and things look very good to my eyes.

[Want the thrill]

Originally Posted by Harplayr

I'm also a big fan of their Z5 which is made for black cars. Top it off with Z2 and things look very good to my eyes.

+1

[Cupcake]

Thanks for the advice everyone! Definitely going to get serious about detailing, no question that black cars can be a full time job. Gonna have to look into Zaino. Also talked to a detailer in Memphis, Word of Mouth Detailers, and the owner Joe seems to really know he stuff. Thanks again!

[Nahoa]

Originally Posted by JBX

Oh, I do not let anyone wash my car and most importantly, no car wash machine.

good luck!

+1 except I use touchless washes in the Winter w/o problem.

[02420X3]

My Deep Sea Blue X3, which I will hopefully get next week, will be detailed regularly. Between details, the gift card for the touchless car wash that my spouse was perceptive enough to buy me will get regular use.

And in between washes and details, the X3 will just get dirty. It's going to be my daily driver, and dirt happens.

[tuco44]

IMO, having owned several black cars, the only way to avoid swirl marks is never own black. Took me a couple black ones to realize that. End of story for me.

[sard]

Step 1: let your husband wash it =D

[Nahoa]

Or leave it dirty. Can't see the swirls.

[sard]

Here's a little stop motion video I did of me detailing my M3..It took 3 days. I only do this comprehensive detail every 1.5 years though.

[Radioactive]

All that work and it took one bird a minute to mess it up! A bird shit on mine today. Washed it off only to see the finish discolored. After one coat of polish, one sealant, and paste wax. Hope I can get it out tomorrow.

[Nahoa]

Indeed. I've decided to look at detailing as a combination of exercise and a mental break from the rest of life -- that way when the bird craps, the tree saps, or the thunderstorm zaps, I still got something out of the project!

Good luck with the crap.

[Radioactive]

Originally Posted by Nahoa

Indeed. I've decided to look at detailing as a combination of exercise and a mental break from the rest of life -- that way when the birds craps, the tree saps, or the thunderstorm zaps, I still got something out of the project!

Good luck with the crap.

Good philosophy. It's just frustrating to work so hard to keep things new, only to get crapped on.

[Harplayr]

Originally Posted by Radioactive

Good philosophy. It's just frustrating to work so hard to keep things new, only to get crapped on.

Story of my life.

[Cupcake]

Originally Posted by Radioactive

All that work and it took one bird a minute to mess it up! A bird shit on mine today. Washed it off only to see the finish discolored. After one coat of polish, one sealant, and paste wax. Hope I can get it out tomorrow.

Or dragonflies. I drove through a flock a dragonflies, literally a cloud appeared as I was running 65 on the way home from work. I hit hundreds of them.
After I realized what happened I was like does this sh*t happen to only new cars or what. Still working on getting bug guts off my car.

Sard-Would love for the husband to do it, but I have a hard time trusting his "10 minute car wash" haha

Nahoa-I've thought about leaving it dirty, especially after our CEO announces that we will be parking in a temp. gravel parking lot for 3 months, typical!

[sard]

Ok I guess I'll be serious. It's nice to find females as into cars as the usual male counter parts. My wife would be the one doing a 10 minute wash so she doesn't touch the cars haha. I'll throw in what I know as far as tips to reduce swirls.

First off, there are only two (and obvious) moments where swirls are caused. 1) During the wash 2) Drying the car. So we need to attack these two causes.

Washing:

Foam guns..
You have already mentioned the foam gun so I'm thinking you're pretty serious about a careful and lengthy wash. I'm not sure how much you've read about foam guns, but they definitely help reduce swirls. This depends on various factors such as how dirty your car is to begin with, having the correct concentration of wash product (not too much or it will strip your protection or too little and it wont adequately lift the dirt..). The main purpose is #1 looking like you're a pro and fooling your neighbors into thinking your car is getting the best wash possible. #2 A presoak where the foam helps lift the dirt off the paint and then gets rinsed off so when you go for the actual wash, less particles will scratch your paint. It is an extra step and a pain in the ass depending how easy it is for you to pull it out of your garage, plug it in to the electric cord, hook up the water hose, add the correct dilution into the bottle, foam the car, rinse it off, rinse the bottle out, and putting it away. If your car is relatively clean, I would probably skip the whole foam thing. If it is pretty dirty I would use it.

Two bucket method...
This is basically having one bucket with the soap/water in it and the other bucket with water and a grit guard. It's just a gridded piece of plastic near the bottom that you rub your sponge/mitt/device of choice on to scrape the dirt off on periodically to reduce the chance of dragging it all over your paint as you wash. Always read instructions on the correct dilution of your soap so that you're not adding too much which will strip your protection off or too little which will decrease the lubricity of your wash. The two bucket method unlike the foam gun is a must. Get a quality mitt or sponge that wont scratch your paint. Rinse the car down with water so you can get as much of the dirt off as possible. Wash the car from top to bottom (cleanest to dirtiest) so that you're not dragging dirt all over the car causing swirls. I would probably do one large section such as the roof with one side of the mitt then flip it and do like another medium size panel with the other side of the mit, then put it in the bucket with the water/grit guard and rub all the areas of the mitt onto the grit guard to remove the dirt. Take the mitt out and get more soap water from the other bucket and "rinse and repeat". I hose the washed area down after every large panel is washed so the soap doesn't dry onto the paint.

When washing, go in straight motions, never circles. This helps reduce the circular swirls which show up more readily.

Drying:

A lot of methods here. Some people will use a weed blower to blow the majority of the water off and help reduce the amount of contact between towel and paint. I think it's more work than it's worth though. Again, buy a high quality soft towel. My recommendation is Waffle Weave Micro Fiber towels. These towels soak up water way better than normal microfiber towels. I have 4 large waffle weaves as once they get saturated with water, they pretty much become useless. One towel will dry up the roof and hood. Another for the windows and trunk. Another for the side. Another for the other side. The key point is to avoid rubbing the towel against the paint although a little rubbing is usually unavoidable. Try blotting as much as possible. I'll usually use a small vacuum that can blow also to blow out the mirrors and other nooks and crannies so that you don't have water marks later.

LSP (last step protection)

You need an occasional wax to sit on top of the clear coat and protect your paint also. Most waxes will last about a month only. You can use something called a sealant (synthetic wax) that lasts longer (usually a few months). These products also will fill in the scratches/swirls and help hide them.

There's obviously a lot more that's hard to go into, but here are the main points. It will be unavoidable to get some swirls unless you use like a foam gun and then just pressure wash it with distilled/mineral free water and allow it to simply air dry/blow off

[Cupcake]

Originally Posted by sard

Ok I guess I'll be serious. It's nice to find females as into cars as the usual male counter parts. My wife would be the one doing a 10 minute wash so she doesn't touch the cars haha. I'll throw in what I know as far as tips to reduce swirls.

First off, there are only two (and obvious) moments where swirls are caused. 1) During the wash 2) Drying the car. So we need to attack these two causes.

Washing:

Foam guns..
You have already mentioned the foam gun so I'm thinking you're pretty serious about a careful and lengthy wash. I'm not sure how much you've read about foam guns, but they definitely help reduce swirls. This depends on various factors such as how dirty your car is to begin with, having the correct concentration of wash product (not too much or it will strip your protection or too little and it wont adequately lift the dirt..). The main purpose is #1 looking like you're a pro and fooling your neighbors into thinking your car is getting the best wash possible. #2 A presoak where the foam helps lift the dirt off the paint and then gets rinsed off so when you go for the actual wash, less particles will scratch your paint. It is an extra step and a pain in the ass depending how easy it is for you to pull it out of your garage, plug it in to the electric cord, hook up the water hose, add the correct dilution into the bottle, foam the car, rinse it off, rinse the bottle out, and putting it away. If your car is relatively clean, I would probably skip the whole foam thing. If it is pretty dirty I would use it.

Two bucket method...
This is basically having one bucket with the soap/water in it and the other bucket with water and a grit guard. It's just a gridded piece of plastic near the bottom that you rub your sponge/mitt/device of choice on to scrape the dirt off on periodically to reduce the chance of dragging it all over your paint as you wash. Always read instructions on the correct dilution of your soap so that you're not adding too much which will strip your protection off or too little which will decrease the lubricity of your wash. The two bucket method unlike the foam gun is a must. Get a quality mitt or sponge that wont scratch your paint. Rinse the car down with water so you can get as much of the dirt off as possible. Wash the car from top to bottom (cleanest to dirtiest) so that you're not dragging dirt all over the car causing swirls. I would probably do one large section such as the roof with one side of the mitt then flip it and do like another medium size panel with the other side of the mit, then put it in the bucket with the water/grit guard and rub all the areas of the mitt onto the grit guard to remove the dirt. Take the mitt out and get more soap water from the other bucket and "rinse and repeat". I hose the washed area down after every large panel is washed so the soap doesn't dry onto the paint.

When washing, go in straight motions, never circles. This helps reduce the circular swirls which show up more readily.

Drying:

A lot of methods here. Some people will use a weed blower to blow the majority of the water off and help reduce the amount of contact between towel and paint. I think it's more work than it's worth though. Again, buy a high quality soft towel. My recommendation is Waffle Weave Micro Fiber towels. These towels soak up water way better than normal microfiber towels. I have 4 large waffle weaves as once they get saturated with water, they pretty much become useless. One towel will dry up the roof and hood. Another for the windows and trunk. Another for the side. Another for the other side. The key point is to avoid rubbing the towel against the paint although a little rubbing is usually unavoidable. Try blotting as much as possible. I'll usually use a small vacuum that can blow also to blow out the mirrors and other nooks and crannies so that you don't have water marks later.

LSP (last step protection)

You need an occasional wax to sit on top of the clear coat and protect your paint also. Most waxes will last about a month only. You can use something called a sealant (synthetic wax) that lasts longer (usually a few months). These products also will fill in the scratches/swirls and help hide them.

There's obviously a lot more that's hard to go into, but here are the main points. It will be unavoidable to get some swirls unless you use like a foam gun and then just pressure wash it with distilled/mineral free water and allow it to simply air dry/blow off

Always been into cars, it drives the husband/friends/family crazy, can't help it. I appreciate the awesome detailed post. I owe ya one.

BTW nice M3, shes a beauty!