optimum polish Question

N

natural320

New member
hey all,

I just bought a UDM and (after searching and reading for HOURS) decided to go with Optimum polish to remove the swirls on my mystic blue (darker blue) '04 BMW 325xi. The plan was to use an orange LC pad to (hopefully) work out the swirls...



so my question (aside from: do you think I wasted my $ or do I have a shot to accomplish my goal?) would be to those with experience:

will the OP finish down nice enough on its own? or would I have to do another pass with a white or gray pad (using more OP or Klasse AIO, as they are what I have in my arsenal at the moment) to get the wonderfully reflective results that I am striving for?



my topper (until I use it up or get some other advice) will be Klasse SG x2 followed by a DG AW booster layer every few weeks.



any tips/advice (speeds perhaps) for this UDM noob will be greatly appreciated.
 
I'm not real experienced here... but from what I've read, some people have had it finish down real nice using an orange pad.



But, I'd say it will probably depend more on how soft your paint is as to whether you will need to finish with a lighter pad.
 
I've read here that the BMW clear is pretty tough to work with...that's why I gave up on trying to use Klasse AIO by hand to achieve any results. I spent a few hours and was left with nothing but shiny swirlies! I know that detailing is all "whatever works for you" and basic trial and error, but my wife would kill me if I dropped another $100 on polishes (on top of the $200 for the udm set-up) to TRY to find something that works for me.



hence my hopes for people to chime in with their $.02 to help me (and others I am sure!) with tips/product selection. I've already got the "you spend more time with that car than with me" line from the little lady...so my goal is to get it right the 1st time and not "have' to spend hours and hours just trying stuff out



you guys can sympathize, right? :help:
 
If all you have is OP then i would hit the paint with OP and orange pad and then hit it again with OP and white pad.
 
You should be fine as long as you are not trying to do serious scratch removal. The OP will finish down nice on your BMW.

Remember after you prim your pad with the polish to only use 3 or 4 pea size drops of product at a time. A little goes a long way!
 
Dent's & Details said:
You should be fine as long as you are not trying to do serious scratch removal. The OP will finish down nice on your BMW.
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even using the orange pad only?



and I'll definitely be sparing with the polish! don't want a cakey mess on the pads...
 
natural320 said:
even using the orange pad only?



and I'll definitely be sparing with the polish! don't want a cakey mess on the pads...
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It my seam like it will mar the paint. But you would be surprised haw nice the orange pad works. I do this with the cyclo all the time.
 
As mentioned and in my experience all the bimmers I've detailed have pretty hard cc. When I was switching between the PC and the rotary, the PC with OP and an orange or yellow pad did little to remove swirls on the bimmers I detailed. Switching to OC or OHC worked better, but it still just would've taken too long to finish the jobs, so I went to the rotary.



If your swirls are very minor the OP/orange may do the job, but if they're more than minor you may want to think about getting some OC or OHC along with the OP. It may take some time, but the UDM and those polishes should be able to do the job. Just do one panel at a time, getting it to your satisfaction, before moving on to the next.



And I find OP with a to finish down nicely using a light polishing or finishing pad.
 
natural320 said:
and I'll definitely be sparing with the polish! don't want a cakey mess on the pads...
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Not just that, but Optimum's polishes work best when used sparingly. And yes, on hard paints, I've had OP finish down LSP ready using an orange cutting pad.
 
Scottwax said:
Not just that, but Optimum's polishes work best when used sparingly. And yes, on hard paints, I've had OP finish down LSP ready using an orange cutting pad.
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that would certainly be the result that I am looking for! and I am definitely going to check my work before moving on...I've read how some people do an entire car, LSP and all, only to notice that nothing has changed. when I realized that AIO by hand wasn't doing squat, I finished so I at least had a uniform look to the car.



I'll have to do some before and after shots, but the swirls don't seem "bad" as much as they are all over. sadly, this weekend is calling for rain, so my new toy is prolly going to sit around for about a week before I can get at the car. thanks to everyone for chiming in, I appreciate it. hopefully the OP is enough...I'd be a bit annoyed if I had to spend more $ on shipping because I'd need to try OC...



unless someone has some they would be willing to ship out??? but again, I won't know for a few days yet. no need to jump off the bridge for speculation, right?
 
Coupe said:
If all you have is OP then i would hit the paint with OP and orange pad and then hit it again with OP and white pad.
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Same here. I haven't used OP on all that many vehicles (only used it on hard paint), but it doesn't finish out *quite* nice enough for me, even with a white pad. So I'd definitely want something milder than the orange for that last step.
 
Accumulator said:
Same here. I haven't used OP on all that many vehicles (only used it on hard paint), but it doesn't finish out *quite* nice enough for me, even with a white pad. So I'd definitely want something milder than the orange for that last step.
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so would you use a Klasse AIO as a last polish step before applying LSP then? or would you use a different polish than that? I noticed a bottle of Megs Deep Crystal Polish at the pepboys that "is formulated for darker colors". other than that I'd be stuck placing another order online
 
natural320 said:
so would you use a Klasse AIO as a last polish step before applying LSP then? or would you use a different polish than that? I noticed a bottle of Megs Deep Crystal Polish at the pepboys that "is formulated for darker colors". other than that I'd be stuck placing another order online
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The AIO is almost always functionally nonabrasive and the Deep Crystal Polish *is* nonabrasive. I use an *abrasive* product after the OP, one that's milder than OP. Sorry to stick you with another online order, but maybe you'll be happy with the finish that the OP leaves.



FWIW, I use 1Z Pro-Line Metallic Polish for my final polish, but the new Menzerna ones for scratch-resistant clear are supposed to be great too.



I think you oughta see how the OP finishes out when used with a white pad (and worked long enough to break down completely ;) ) before you decide.
 
I recently did a dark green Honda Civic with the UDM and OP on the new white "Scratchbuster" pad. When I switched to Z-PC on a green DAS pad after getting most of the scratches and swirls, there was a noticeable gain in clarity in the finish. But the best was the green pad with Menzerna FP II. Even the significant other, who normally pays zero attention to such details, noticed that the half of the trunk lid done with the FP II had a clearer shine than the side with z-PC. If they hadn't been side-by-side, however, I wouldn't thought the OP or z-PC could be made better. I'd describe it as a wisp of haziness that got final resolution from the FP II.
 
Sherri Zann said:
I recently did a dark green Honda Civic with the UDM and OP on the new white "Scratchbuster" pad. When I switched to Z-PC on a green DAS pad after getting most of the scratches and swirls, there was a noticeable gain in clarity in the finish. But the best was the green pad with Menzerna FP II. Even the significant other, who normally pays zero attention to such details, noticed that the half of the trunk lid done with the FP II had a clearer shine than the side with z-PC. If they hadn't been side-by-side, however, I wouldn't thought the OP or z-PC could be made better. I'd describe it as a wisp of haziness that got final resolution from the FP II.
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Did you also try OP using the green pad? OP will function as a finishing glaze with a finishing pad.



Kind of hard to make a true comparison unless you used the same pads with all three products, although I would agree Menzerna polishes have a very nice clarity to them.
 
OP has been finishing down fine with an orange pad on my bmw. But I usually follow it up with poli-seal via white pad after, then a LSP after that, OS or hi tech yellow wax, or both.
 
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