After last winter spent in daily use the paint on the beemer was looking cack. When the sun hit the paint it looked like it'd been cleaned with a brillo pad. I'd often fancied having a go at a machine polish, but not knowing how much paint was left on the car to start with i've been somewhat hesitant. Nothing ventured, nothing gained though so I went out, bought some basic kit and got stuck in working a section at a time. The panel on the left has been done and is swirl free, it was every bit as bad as the right hand one before
Here's the same right hand panel after being polished
If anyone is interested in having a go, here's the kit I used
Its a variable speed random orbital sander with a velcro backing plate and a general purpose polishing pad from Machine Mart costing just over thirty quid for the pair, and a bottle of G3 professional paint renovator from Halfords. I know there are loads of more appropriate machines available but for this first attempt I didn't want to invest too heavily. I chose random orbital as its easier (but slower) for a novice, and the G3 compound because the abrasives break down to progressively finer particles (unlike something like T-Cut) so again there's less chance of cutting through the paint.
Here's the same right hand panel after being polished
If anyone is interested in having a go, here's the kit I used
Its a variable speed random orbital sander with a velcro backing plate and a general purpose polishing pad from Machine Mart costing just over thirty quid for the pair, and a bottle of G3 professional paint renovator from Halfords. I know there are loads of more appropriate machines available but for this first attempt I didn't want to invest too heavily. I chose random orbital as its easier (but slower) for a novice, and the G3 compound because the abrasives break down to progressively finer particles (unlike something like T-Cut) so again there's less chance of cutting through the paint.
