Best way to getting rid of swirl marks

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Londonscottish

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As I mentioned in the other thread my poor 212 has been subjected to the local car wash brigade for well over a year due to a long house project. The other day the sun caught it and I could see loads of swirl marks in the Tanzanite blue paint work.

Yesterday I clay barred it (loads of crap came our) and then polished it by hand using Autoglym polish and it looks a whole lot better.

The next thing I was planning to do was to wax it and machine polish it. But having read a few threads on here maybe I should use a light cutting compound first to tackle the swirls? Something like Meguire's Ultimate Compound?

Assuming I applied some of that (and machine polished it off) I assume that I would then apply the polish (again...) then the wax?

(......and of course by a blower and a foam lance whilst I'm at it. and maybe a new pressure washer LOL)
 
Was it Super Resin Polish you used? If so it's got more fillers in it than actual polish so the swirls will be back in a wash or two.

You'll need to polish it with something more abrasive for a good, permanent finish; Ultimate Compound is a good start but I found with mine recently that I needed to go quite hard to make a mark using a DA polisher as the paint is quite tough.

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Was it Super Resin Polish you used? If so it's got more fillers in it than actual polish so the swirls will be back in a wash or two.

Aha - I didn't know that. And yes, Super Resin.

You'll need to polish it with something more abrasive for a good, permanent finish; Ultimate Compound is a good start but I found with mine recently that I needed to go quite hard to make a mark using a DA polisher as the paint is quite tough.

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OK - so out of interest what did you use?
 
If you have a DA polisher, 3M Perfect-it have a good range of paint correction fluids and finishing polish, but they're not cheap. With PCGB Kent region we visit a high end body shop near Tunbridge Wells every year, they use those on Lambo, A/Martin,Porsche etc, so I have the finishing polish (which is IIRC a 3000 grit equivalent fluid) which gives a lovely finish before waxing.
 
BTW, remember it's not the paint you're polishing, it's the lacquer coat which is what actually makes the paintwork look shiny! Take the lacquer coat off, and the paint itself can look quite matt - seee the photos in my "Carneol Red Lacquer Peeling" thread! From what I've learnt I think MB use a very hard lacquer.
 
A good DA polisher & products. A bit of knowledge and your car will look than it did when it came out of the showroom!
 
As above, you need to polish the swirls out of the paint (well the clearcoat of the paint as said)

3M make some excellent polishes and pads. Everyone will have their own personal preferences/recommendations but in terms of quality and performance I can’t fault their Perfect-it range.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/162629238161

Even a budget rotary polisher with the above will achieve excellent results, sadly it will take quite some time to do a whole S212 - large vehicle and the paint is pretty hard.

You can always split it up into panels, and do one or two at a time? Bonnet one day, roof another etc. Once you’ve got the paint up to scratch (!) go over it with a very fine finishing polish like which shouldn’t take as long as removing the swirls and light scratches to begin with which will give it excellent gloss ready for your choice of coating.

Only then you have to decide on whether to use a regular wax or one of the trendy ceramic coatings. Pros and cons of both of course - there’s a few threads running on here about these recently. It’s a never ending thing this detailing - of products, equipment and methods but above all though whatever you do will make a huge difference on a dark coloured car, it’s just finding the time to get it done! :)

Good luck :cool:
 
3M probably do some of the best compounds money can buy! Most of their products are very good. They also do brilliant sanding, polishing belts as we use them at work! :)
They own Meguires too don't they?
 
A Da and megs ultimate compound works really well.
 
To remove the swirls you really need to machine polish the paint. I used a DA (dual action) polisher and Menzerna 2500 polish on both my E and other half's old SL. The paintwork came up brilliantly although it wasn't a full correction but silver is quite forgiving as well luckily. I took some advice from a friend before hand as it was the first time I'd machine polished a car but a DA is far less intimidating than I realised.

The alternative is to polish by hand but unless you are He-Man you wouldn't be able to cut back the topcoat and remove the actual sswirls. This is where products like Super Resin (and various polishes/glazes) are a bit of a God send. Ok, so they mask swirls with fillers but swirls are cosmetic so filling them in leaves a good look, if you put a decent wax over the top then that finish will last a decent amount of time so I can't knock that.
 
As others have already said, machine polishing is the only way to go.

The Nano lacquer on current Mercedes cars is, according to all the detailers I've spoken with, amongst the hardest of finishes and takes a good deal of work to get it looking its best if the swirls are significant. When I bought my Obsidian Black E63 I took a chance because although the car was less than two years old, the paint looked like it's been washed with a gritty yard broom. It took a pro detailer almost 40 hours of multi-stage machine polishing to get it looking good :eek:
 
Update; last week I clay barred and polished it with AG Super Resin. Yesterday I washed with AG shampoo, dried it with some microfibre towels (recommended here) and gave it a quick spray and rub down with AG Quick Detailer.

Then I applied a coat of AG Extra Gloss Protection, let it dry for an hour and polished it off.

Very happy with the results. The paint really pops again, the contours of the bodywork jump out. Will do the wheels then take a picture later today and post it.
 
Word of warning, if you have not used or know how to use a DA polisher correctly, do some research and also on technique. you are basically cutting a thin layer of topcoat off the car so if you not careful can cut right through. this is easiest to do on edges so at the point one panel ends and another starts. DA should be on a low speed (less mess through splatter and less heat due to friction) also use a water mist bottle as helps with friction heat especially for a novice (don't let it go dry and polishing pads will last longer), after all the whole purpose is to end up with car looking better not worse. also keep your pad clean, if it starts to block up remove and wash it, get excess water out of it then carry on. think of it as marathon and not a sprint race, easy does it and you will get what you want, try and rush it and you will be looking for a paint shop to repaint your car.
 
Word of warning, if you have not used or know how to use a DA polisher correctly, do some research and also on technique. you are basically cutting a thin layer of topcoat off the car so if you not careful can cut right through. this is easiest to do on edges so at the point one panel ends and another starts. DA should be on a low speed (less mess through splatter and less heat due to friction) also use a water mist bottle as helps with friction heat especially for a novice (don't let it go dry and polishing pads will last longer), after all the whole purpose is to end up with car looking better not worse. also keep your pad clean, if it starts to block up remove and wash it, get excess water out of it then carry on. think of it as marathon and not a sprint race, easy does it and you will get what you want, try and rush it and you will be looking for a paint shop to repaint your car.

I'm not even sure if my polisher is even dual action - it was something I bought randomly in a sale two or three years ago and it's been sitting in various sheds and storage units since then. I'll dig it out later and have a look.

Having said that the combo of the super resin polish and the gloss protection has given me pretty much the finish I was looking for.

And now I'm properly back in my house I'll be able to revert to handwashing, towel drying and spray detailing/finishing which should keep it looking good.
 
Using a DA as a novice isn't to difficult I had a tanzanite CLS fab colour, as long as you dont go crazy with strong compounds and look at some tutorials online you can't go to far wrong.

Just be sensible in its use.. a rotary however even with online tutorials, you will burn your paint and may wish you still had swirls!

I miss cleaning cars this way.. now its toddlers, nappies and work.
 
It’s always wise to heed these warnings but I feel they often come across a bit OTT.

A rotary polisher is just a polishing tool to be used with the correct backing pad and compound. Unless you’re doing something crazy using a very harsh flatting compound at particularly high speed and holding it still in one spot for ages you’re simply not going to cause any damage at all. A soft backing pad and a mild polish for removing swirls will still take quite a while to cut through even the lighter marks and would take forever to burn through any paint.

A bit like a car, they only go as fast as you want them to. And both can be used recklessly!

Most of the people warning others about this have never had this happen themselves, they are just repeating what they’ve heard/read online IMHO. Used with care and starting off with lighter polishes and softer pads you can achieve excellent paint correction - with confidence moving onto faster cutting compounds and different pads as your experience grows :)
 
It’s always wise to heed these warnings but I feel they often come across a bit OTT.

A rotary polisher is just a polishing tool to be used with the correct backing pad and compound. Unless you’re doing something crazy using a very harsh flatting compound at particularly high speed and holding it still in one spot for ages you’re simply not going to cause any damage at all. A soft backing pad and a mild polish for removing swirls will still take quite a while to cut through even the lighter marks and would take forever to burn through any paint.

A bit like a car, they only go as fast as you want them to. And both can be used recklessly!

Most of the people warning others about this have never had this happen themselves, they are just repeating what they’ve heard/read online IMHO. Used with care and starting off with lighter polishes and softer pads you can achieve excellent paint correction - with confidence moving onto faster cutting compounds and different pads as your experience grows :)



Well 35 years ago i did burn through paint on my first go with a rotary polisher, it was an air powered one and although sold as a polisher was speed set as a grinder. its ok though as the car we melted was my mates dads toyota starlet ;)
different car manufacturers use different paints that are different hardness's too so mercs do have a hard paint where someone else car will have soft paint. believe me a rotary polisher in the wrong hands with cutting compound running it far to fast, to much pressure and no water mist in direct sunlight in the height of summer will take a panel edge down to base coat in no time at all.
so to state the warning is OTT is a pretty reckless thing for you to say as not all people have the same abilities when it comes to power tools. you by the sound of it have a sound knowledge and are comfortable to do this but as i said, not everyone is and taking heed of the warning just might stop them doing something they will regret. Walk before you can run is always the best way.
 
I completely understand what you’re saying, but polishes/compounds/machines and backing pads have come a long way in 35 years.

Back then they were generally used for flatting and polishing paint defects from refinished paintwork in bodyshops, or heavily cutting oxidised paint etc, not by hobbyists for perfecting the finish and removing light swirls.

Even a basic £30/40 rotary polisher nowadays has several speed settings, and the lighter polishes for refining are more like glazes now by comparison.

I’m just saying a lot of people get put off even trying a rotary polisher out by reading stuff about burning through paint, which shouldn’t ever happen used in the correct manner :)
 
Will I have to agree with GeordieN about rotary polishers, I'm afraid. In the wrong hands, even medium speeds can cut into the paintwork permanently.
No-one should ever use one on the real McCoy until they have practiced on a spare panel or crappy car!
 

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