PLEASE help me choose an entire detailing aresenal!

Your touchless wash has the basics down, but honestly, I would just take it to your local touchless automatic rather than invest the time and money to do it yourself. Having said that, here's my touchless method that works very well. Keep in mind, though, that I use Zymol Vintage as my LSP, and it releases dirt and contaminants *very* readily.



Stuff you'll need:



Pressure washer. Take a look at this link...http://autopia.org/forum/car-detailing/89968-pressure-washers.html



Foam cannon. Take a look at this link...http://autopia.org/forum/car-detail...aay-too-much-fun.html?highlight=foam+guns+fun



Spot free rinse method. Another link... http://autopia.org/forum/car-detailing/105453-cr-spotless.html



Then you'll also need a leaf blower



For soap, in the foam cannon bottle, I'd recommend 1.5 ounces of Chemical Guys Citrus Wash & Gloss (don't use any more than that, as it will take off your LSP), then add to this 2 ounces of Zaino Z7 car wash. Then fill the rest of your 32 oz bottle with water. Then:



High pressure rinse your car



Apply a layer of foam using max ratio on the red dial of your foam cannon



Let it sit for about three minutes



High pressure rinse



Spot free rinse



Leaf blow dry



As long as you are using a good, carnauba based LSP, or a sealant that is known for freely releasing dirt and contaminants, your car will come *fairly* clean using this method. Make sure that you *do not touch* the paint with any sort of media using this method, especially not to dry it. You will probably have some stuff left over on the paint using this method, and applying an MF (or anything else) *will* mar your paint. And again, this method isn't going to get your car as clean as your local automatic touchless, but it's easier on your LSP, too.



I'd also take a few minutes to look up Accumulator's thread on boars hair brushes (BHB's), as well as his washing method using BHB's. His method reduces the potential for inducing washing based marring down to the absolute minimum. You should use his method for washing your car when/if you can't get your car acceptably clean by going touchless.
 
mrgoochio said:
With touchless washing, would these steps be accurate?



rinse

foam gun

rinse

spray with touchless wash

rinse

airdry of some sort?



I've never used touchless wash, I'll look up some info on it.



Menzerna seems pretty solid, reasonably priced. Perhaps some nice quality glaze and some quality durable LSP wax would be good. I was looking into swissvax but I don't know if the product warrants the money spent. I heard a lot of good things about souveran. Does anybody have any recommendations on glazes/waxes designed for black/dark colored cars with soft paint?



One more thing, I was pretty set on the UDM but now I'm hearing a few recommendations to go with the Flex DA instead. Is there any particular reason besides that the flex DA has more correction power?



edit: i read a lot of good things about the eurow MF towels.. except that theres been a price bump. would some of the cheaper MF towels that can be bought in bulk be ok for interior use? I will definately spend the money on quality MF for the exterior of the car whether it be for polishing, waxing, or drying if I do choose to wash without the touchless solution. the reason I ask is because i've seen some MF packs for a fraction of the cost from some of the name brands, although the quality may be lower i didn't think it would play that big of a role in interior and glass cleaning.



edit2: one more question, do any of you guys use disposable gloves when you are washing? when do disposable gloves come into play? i'm not sure if it would be bad wearing them if i dipped my hand into a bucket full of car wash because of the light powder on the gloves?
Click to expand...



Let's talk about the LSP, first. Remember that you want to touch that paint as rarely as possible. *All* marring and swirls are caused by something touching your paint. If nothing touches your paint, it can't be marred. Therefore, you want to touch your paint as seldom as possible. The LSP's you mention are all very high quality carnaubas that will probably give you great touchless wash resutls. That's the good news. The bad news is that they aren't very durable, which means you will be re-applying them (touching your paint in the process) quite often. IMO, your best bet would be to go with one of the very durable Collinite waxes. Yup, they're cheap, and they are also very good products that last a long time. Not only will Collinite give you good results from a touch free wash, but it will last a long, long time. Which, of course, means not touching your paint as often.



Now the DA thing... Saving time may not seem like that much of an incentive to spend the extra cash on the Flex, but believe it or not, it's a very big deal. Correcting paint with a DA is a very time intensive thing to do. The Flex will take a huge amount of time investment out. If I was just starting out, I'd definitely spend the extra money on the Flex.
 
SuperBee364 said:
My shopping list for a new guy:



Flex DA buffer



3 LC Black 4" foam pads



3 LC White 4" foam pads



3 LC Orange 4" foam pads



Backing plate.......
Click to expand...
Hey Sup, I didn't think you could get a BP that small for the Flex DA.
 
I'm thinking my list will go as follows:



Ultimate detailing machine

3-5 white LC 4"

3-5 orange LC 4"

3-5 black LC 4"

(2)10 pack of eurow MF towels (should I get 3?)

Menzerna SIP

Menzerna IP

Pinnacle Souveran paste wax

2-3 5gal buckets from lowes/home depot etc.

2-3 grit guards

foam gun



I need a final polish, suggestions for jet black soft bmw paint?



I need a glaze, suggestions for a jet black soft bmw paint?



I got some meguirs car wash.. will I need something else for my foam gun?

Should I look at some different type of wash if I'm trying to do a no touch wash?

I'm thinking about getting the CR spotless system so I don't have to try.. I also have a leaf blower I can use. I'm not looking into pressurized water simply because the paint is soft and I want to keep the wax on so the dirt/bugs will just slide off with foam/rinsing.



Maybe it won't get super duper clean without high pressure wash, but I'll probably wash with some kind of wash media once a month and detail once every 2-3 months or so.



Anything I'm missing?



edit: reason why I'm looking at UDM > flex is because of pricing and that the paint I'm working with primarily is pretty soft. It probably won't take much correction power to polish it up..
 
knucklebucket, with all due respect, why would you recommend to a guy coming in here clearly saying he's a newb... to get a ROTARY with some Super Intensive Polish, isn't that essentially a compound??? He's going to wind up destroying his paint. I've been into keeping my car clean since I bought my first one back in '03... and I still refuse to touch a rotary.
 
Chris223 said:
knucklebucket, with all due respect, why would you recommend to a guy coming in here clearly saying he's a newb... to get a ROTARY with some Super Intensive Polish, isn't that essentially a compound??? He's going to wind up destroying his paint. I've been into keeping my car clean since I bought my first one back in '03... and I still refuse to touch a rotary.
Click to expand...



Holy cow Chris! You are right. I added an edit to fix my boo boo. Sorry for any confusion.



Thanks for watchin out for us Chris!! :xyxthumbs
 
Below you will find that I made some changes to your original arsenal list as a suggestion:



Ultimate detailing machine

2 white LC 4"

2 orange LC 4"

2 black LC 4"

(3-4)10 pack of eurow MF towels (should I get 3?)

Menzerna SIP

Menzerna 106FF

Pinnacle Souveran paste wax

2 5gal buckets from lowes/home depot etc.

1-2 grit guard(s) (you really only need 1)

Gilmour foam gun from Amazon



I need a final polish, suggestions for jet black soft bmw paint?

3M Ultrafina SE is pretty popular but Optimum Polish is also pretty nice



I need a glaze, suggestions for a jet black soft bmw paint?

I don't have any personal experience with this glaze but I hear great things about Danase Wet Glaze.



Meguiar's car wash should be ok for your foam gun. There are better car wash soaps for the foam gun but Meg's will suffice. Good luck!
 
Whats the deal with all the 4inch pads?



I'd only reccomend the 4inch pads for cutting with SIP or stronger



Polishing and finishing go with the 5.5 or 6inch pads.



SIP is good for swirls but for RIDS it may not cut it unless the paints really soft.



Try and pick up a sample of Meguiars M105 just in case. It'll be very useful if you have any scuffs from plants or bushes and work great with the 4 inch orange/yellow cutting pads.
 
Chris223 said:
knucklebucket, with all due respect, why would you recommend to a guy coming in here clearly saying he's a newb... to get a ROTARY with some Super Intensive Polish, isn't that essentially a compound??? He's going to wind up destroying his paint. I've been into keeping my car clean since I bought my first one back in '03... and I still refuse to touch a rotary.
Click to expand...





Well, Picus may say otherwise and as much as I love seeing the positives in life, it really doesn't matter what the OP gets to keep the car looking Autopian. (if the paint is the same as the 3 series)



I don't think it is possible. It is the worst F....G paint.:down:down:down:down:down



Didn't we have another guy awhile back picking up a Jet black 335 I think and I tried telling him to get the metallic black but he didn't listen.



As far as I remember he never posted his car's pictures.



If one doesn't care about scratches, then by all means get jet black.



Here is one after 2 washes.



Picture1318.jpg
 
As I've stated before, the car has already completed production a long time ago. There is no turning back to another color.



Now can somebody clear up what the deal is with those backing plates? Thanks for the revision Denzil, I will definitely take your suggestions into account
 
mrgoochio said:
What type of backing plate do I need if I want to use 5.5" or 6.5" lake country pads with the UDM?



This really confused me.. why is it $288.00?

Sonus DAS FlexPlate, 5"

Then theres this, $15.95..

DAS FlexPlate, 5"



Whats the deal here?
Click to expand...



I honestly want to say that the first link is a typo for the price... David can correct me or not on this one.



You can use a 5" or 6" backing plate, doesn't really matter which brand (at least to me).
 
The UDM comes with a 5" backing plate, correct? If thats the case, I would just need to buy the UDM and some 6.5" pads?



What are the differences between LC OEM Style CCS Technology pads and LC CSS Technology Pads?



The LC OEM style CSS tech pads are $35 for 6 and the LC CSS tech pads are $53 for 6 on ebay..



edit: upon comparing pictures, it looks like the pads offered on AG are the cheaper "oem" style pads, but offered at $50 instead of $35, on ebay. Are the pictures wrong, or is the product mislabled, or what?



See for yourself:



Ebay LC OEM Style CSS tech pad

2e1c_1.JPG


AG CCS 6.5 inch Smart Padsâ„¢ Dual Action Foam Pads by Lake Country

6inchccswhite.jpg


Ebay LC CSS Tech Pad

6158_1.JPG




Am I just completely confused and these are 3 different types of pads? This is really starting to confuse me. :wall
 
:shocked



That is awful! My condolences.





tdekany said:
Well, Picus may say otherwise and as much as I love seeing the positives in life, it really doesn't matter what the OP gets to keep the car looking Autopian. (if the paint is the same as the 3 series)



I don't think it is possible. It is the worst F....G paint.:down:down:down:down:down



Didn't we have another guy awhile back picking up a Jet black 335 I think and I tried telling him to get the metallic black but he didn't listen.



As far as I remember he never posted his car's pictures.



If one doesn't care about scratches, then by all means get jet black.



Here is one after 2 washes.



Picture1318.jpg
Click to expand...
 
My brother and I went to the local BMW dealership yesterday. Wow, are they amazing cars...



I was hoping to see a 2008 jet black paint job to see if the clear was still stupid soft for the 08 model year. I'm sorry to report that it is still as soft as ever. They had a couple jet black cars on the showroom floor. As I was looking at one (they probably thought I was nuts as I was maneuvering all over, trying to catch the overhead light reflections just right to see every little bit of marring), a sales guy came over with a squirt bottle and rag to remove some hand prints from a door. The car (other than the handprints) was completely clean. I don't know about the rag he was using, but it was an MF. He marred the bejesus out of that door with some QD and an MF removing handprints. I couldn't help myself... before I knew it, I was lecturing him and showing him the damage he'd just caused. He was actually very interested, and we spent about thirty minutes going over all the other cars in the showroom.. showing him the marring, talking about paint care, etc.



BTW, both the jet black cars had only been washed once. They were prepped and put on the showroom floor. Both looked like they had been washed daily by an ape with a piece of cheesecloth.



This paint is so stupid soft that I wonder if even Accumulator's wash method would be gentle enough to prevent marring.
 
mrgoochio said:
The UDM comes with a 5" backing plate, correct? If thats the case, I would just need to buy the UDM and some 6.5" pads?



What are the differences between LC OEM Style CCS Technology pads and LC CSS Technology Pads?



The LC OEM style CSS tech pads are $35 for 6 and the LC CSS tech pads are $53 for 6 on ebay..



edit: upon comparing pictures, it looks like the pads offered on AG are the cheaper "oem" style pads, but offered at $50 instead of $35, on ebay. Are the pictures wrong, or is the product mislabled, or what?



See for yourself:



Ebay LC OEM Style CSS tech pad

2e1c_1.JPG


AG CCS 6.5 inch Smart Padsâ„¢ Dual Action Foam Pads by Lake Country

6inchccswhite.jpg


Ebay LC CSS Tech Pad

6158_1.JPG




Am I just completely confused and these are 3 different types of pads? This is really starting to confuse me. :wall
Click to expand...



The LC pads you find on eBay are just OEM "style" pads and aren't actually LC pads... just look like them (at least that is my assumption).



The ones from Autogeek are ACTUAL LC pads.



FWIW, as long as the pads do their job and their backings don't fall apart soon after their purchase, I'm happy. They are just pads after all... :buffing:
 
SuperBee364 said:
This paint is so stupid soft that I wonder if even Accumulator's wash method would be gentle enough to prevent marring.
Click to expand...



LoL, that was actually what I was wondering... also, how and why BMW would put this ridiculously soft paint on this car. :wall
 
The first 2 pads will work with the udm, but the last one from Proper auto care doesn't work well with da mashines. The velcro will come right off.



On another note, in my one experience with that paint, only the rotary was able to correct it. Anything on the PC damaged it except for black blue or red pad with the wax.

Even a white pad swirled it up.



GOOD LUCK.





mrgoochio said:
The UDM comes with a 5" backing plate, correct? If thats the case, I would just need to buy the UDM and some 6.5" pads?



What are the differences between LC OEM Style CCS Technology pads and LC CSS Technology Pads?



The LC OEM style CSS tech pads are $35 for 6 and the LC CSS tech pads are $53 for 6 on ebay..



edit: upon comparing pictures, it looks like the pads offered on AG are the cheaper "oem" style pads, but offered at $50 instead of $35, on ebay. Are the pictures wrong, or is the product mislabled, or what?



See for yourself:



Ebay LC OEM Style CSS tech pad

2e1c_1.JPG


AG CCS 6.5 inch Smart Padsâ„¢ Dual Action Foam Pads by Lake Country

6inchccswhite.jpg


Ebay LC CSS Tech Pad

6158_1.JPG




Am I just completely confused and these are 3 different types of pads? This is really starting to confuse me. :wall
Click to expand...
 
Grats on your new 135i! I'd second/third/etc those who recommended you go with the Flex. If you're going all out on this initial investment, there's no reason to save a few bucks and regret later. From this thread, it sounds like you want to get it right from the start.



It's ok to experiment with products (less expensive), but don't fall for buyer's regret on the buffer, as it's the most expensive startup cost. I started off on the Flex, and it was not difficult to use (one of my biggest concerns).



I also recommend changing IP to P0106FF, especially since there's a SIP/P0106FF combo deal going on at detailed image. PO106FF will also be your final polish.



I will be trying Chemical Guys soon (being shipped):

Extreme EZ Creme Glaze

Jet Seal 109 Sealant

50/50 Concourse Paste Wax



Good luck



P.S. I only use 1 grit guard in the rinse bucket. Not sure you need that many?



mrgoochio said:
I'm thinking my list will go as follows:



Ultimate detailing machine

3-5 white LC 4"

3-5 orange LC 4"

3-5 black LC 4"

(2)10 pack of eurow MF towels (should I get 3?)

Menzerna SIP

Menzerna IP

Pinnacle Souveran paste wax

2-3 5gal buckets from lowes/home depot etc.

2-3 grit guards

foam gun



I need a final polish, suggestions for jet black soft bmw paint?



I need a glaze, suggestions for a jet black soft bmw paint?



I got some meguirs car wash.. will I need something else for my foam gun?

Should I look at some different type of wash if I'm trying to do a no touch wash?

I'm thinking about getting the CR spotless system so I don't have to try.. I also have a leaf blower I can use. I'm not looking into pressurized water simply because the paint is soft and I want to keep the wax on so the dirt/bugs will just slide off with foam/rinsing.



Maybe it won't get super duper clean without high pressure wash, but I'll probably wash with some kind of wash media once a month and detail once every 2-3 months or so.



Anything I'm missing?



edit: reason why I'm looking at UDM > flex is because of pricing and that the paint I'm working with primarily is pretty soft. It probably won't take much correction power to polish it up..
Click to expand...
 
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