Hello all,

I recently bought a sparkling silver Cooper S R56. Nice little car, I am enjoying it everyday.

I will do some detailing work on it during the weekend. I want to deep clean it and remove some of the swirls that exist. According to the previous owner, the car was frequently washed in automatic machines. Swirls exist but are not that obvious. The problem is more obvious in the black a-pillars.

Anyhow, my knowledge is purely theoretical. Besides the handwash, I will use clay bar to remove particles and other pollutants and then the 3M swirl and scratch remover with the blue 3M pad. After that, I was thinking of using 3M wax to create a protection layer.

Is that the proper procedure I should follow?
Any hints and tips that I should keep in mind?

 

Skip the wax and go directly to a synthetic sealant. Zaino Z2, Menzerna Powerlock or Chemical Guys Jetseal are supposed to be good and should last about 6 months.. Others will have their opinions too. You can then wax over the sealant if you want to deepen the gloss. Generally most waxes only lasts about a month.

 

Thanks!
I should apply the sealant by hand, right? As I would do with the wax?

 

Sealant can be applied either by hand or machine. I find it just as easy to do by hand.

 

He's right, lots of opinions. The major car care products including Zaino are Meguiar's, Mother's and my favorite, Griot's. They're all good or they wouldn't still be in business. The very best treatment for the black skirt though is Black Wow, Richard Lin's product. Visit his website for more info. He used to be a frequent contributor in the 'Detailing 101' section.

 

Took my time last Saturday to do some detailing on my MCS. Note that I am a rookie and this was practically my first time working with clay, detailing creams and waxes.
However, in my eyes the result is awesome!
I started with a thorough wash of the car. Then, without drying it, I used the Meguiars clay bar. In order to keep the surfaces wet and "lubricated" I prepared a mixture of water and car shampoo which I sprayed several times.
After 2 hours of removing dirt and particles with the clay bar, I washed the car again, to remove any debris/dirt left behind and dried the car.

After masking all the black rubber parts of the car, I started using the machine polisher. Very low speed and not that much pressure in the beginning just to see the results. After that (which took many hours), I used some liquid wax (I didn't have the time to buy carnuba wax suggested by other members here, but I will do it next time for sure).

I am very happy with the results, see attached (before/after) photos.

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Nice work!