Thought I would tell my story about fixing problems on my wifes 2007 jet black BMW. Sorry for the length, but I am so impressed with Mequires 105/205that I thought details would be good.
So my wife parked the car at San Jose airport, under a tree, it rained, it was hot, hit by bird dodo, and the car sat there for over a week. Needless to say, between tree sap, bird drop etching, and water spot etching, the car was a mess. My experience with this jet black BMW finish is that it is very difficult to polish out problems, I didn't realize how hard until I got into it. I needed three complete polish routines to get me where it is now, and it is almost perfect.
My first try was Mezerna products and the PC, and I spent a long, long time buffing.
Power Gloss on a yellow pad (all LC pads), then
IP on a white pad, then
FP II on a white pad.
Many bird etchings and sap damage remained.
I have polished a bunch of cars, never had so much trouble cleaning up and making a finish look great. I was frustrated, and swore off ever getting another black car.
I decided to purchase the Makita rotary and attack the finish again. I decided to go back to products that had worked well for me in the past on tough problems. So:
Mequires #2 on a yellow pad on the rotary, then
Mequires #9 on a white pad on the rotary, then
GEPC on a white pad with the PC.
Cleaned up more of the water spots, but several large bird etching spots still remained. I might have been more aggresive with the rotary, but this was my first time using it, but I still spent an entire day going over the card.
By the way, this car always had multiple coats of Zaino Z2 on it.
I had given up on fixing this finish, but always figured I would have to try again as it is a leased car. So 9 months go by and I decide to try again.
Purchased Mequires 105/205 for a try:
Mequires 105 on a orange pad on the rotary (speed 2).
I have to say I couldn't believe what happened. A few passes, at low speed, and the etching were gone! And the finish was almost wax ready. I remember using Meqs #2 or Mezerna Power Gloss and the dull finish that resulted -- which needed much work with finer polish to make glossy. After one pass with 105 I was amazed. I was still not sure if the etchings were gone as I have used products loaded with oil that can mask problems, until the first wash. But i went ahead and finished with:
Mequires 205 on a white pad on the PC. I followed Mequires directions -- 3 heavy passes followed by 2 light passes.
This made a excellent final gloss on jet black, and just to be sure, I gave it the Dawn wash. Perfection!
I moved away from Zaino because of water spotting on this jet black car, so it is finished with Blackfire. I have used both Wolfgang and Blackfire -- so much less work than Zaino, and no water spotting to date.
I think I spent a total of 3 hours on the car using 105/205. All I can say is this is a fantastic product. I still can't believe how well it worked. I guess I was skeptical of the many positive comments about 105/205, but not any more.
I always thought my first two combinations, Mezerna and the older Mequires, could take care of anything. Maybe so, but must need much more work than I did.
I am totaly amazed, great stuff Mequires!
Lou
. I saw that booth as well. I thought: wow, what an oily, shiny-looking tire. I'm sure glad I know better than that. Hehe. Did you all see that one display in Kentia hall with some brand of wax/polish that had the black 'Vette and the white Bentley? The 'Vette looked awesome, and I was on my hands and knees, studying it under every possible angle to see if I could see swirls. Of course, I was thinking, "man, I could make it look better than that." 
I think there's a group of autopians going tonight, too bad I'm still stuck in the office. Guess I gotta go over this weekend and check it out myself.
