My wife recently went to clean our 2001 BMW 3 series, and she used what looks like a little too much pressure to get some grime off. On the areas that she spent some time on, there are very faint scratches and a dull area in the clear coat. Is there any way to remove those faint scratches and restore the shine to the clear coat without having to take it into a shop to be repaired?
Any info would be great! Thanks!
Would Polishing the area work? We have a cheap 120V 10" Orbital Polisher used for our boat, i think it was $40, could I use that, or would I have to go and purchase something else. I'm new to this, Thanks!
Last edited by tjr980; 08-23-2009 at 12:24 AM.
Last edited by tdekany; 08-23-2009 at 02:12 AM. Reason: Automerged Doublepost
you could try to remove them by hand with something like Meguiar's Ultimate Compound (found at Target, Pep Boys, etc.) on a microfiber applicator. But I'm going to assume since the car is a 2001 that it probably has not been polished. Doing a small section by hand will remove the defects, but wil now make those areas look better than the rest of the car. My advice would be to get tdekany to polish out the whole car and add a very good sealant. This would get rid of the defects, make the car look brand new (there is something inherently fabulous about having a shiny car), and make future "encounters with grime" much easier to remove. You probably don't need a full 100% correction detail on the entire car, but more like a single-step polish (most defects removed) with some spot correction in the specific areas, which should save time and $.
AutoLavish of Michigan
Turtle wax polishing compound works for me.
Thanks for the quick replies everyone! Tdekany I may take you up on your offer, but it would have to be in a couple of months, I will PM you then. Thanks
The Car is silver btw, and there are probally 6-12 spots here and there, and Palo was right, the car has never been polished and waxed only a few times.
I did the exact same thing on my E46 too. Cleaned too hard with a stronger than normal sponge and it got the crap off but also left some dull scratches. I did exactly what was suggested here, went over those areas with a buffer and some light compound. They went away and since I didn't go too extreme there it just looked normal not too good for the rest of the car. I also went over my headlights and taillights with it and took the haze off. It really brought the car back to life.
Luckily I still had a wounded hobo, an unsatisfied erection, high-explosive semen and a score to settle. The night wouldn’t be a total wash.
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