need wax recomendation

[danz]

can anyone recomend a good wax for my ti?the car is cosmos black and i always end up with swirl marks after i wax it. any help would be appreciated.

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[1996 328ti]

I've been using Zymol.
Before people tell me it's a waste of money, I had a $100 gift certificate, plus I got 2 starter kits for free from the last Ofest.

Maguiers (sp) is also good.
Some people swear by 3M products.

I have found the biggest factors on a good wax job is to be sure that the car is clean to begin with. Wash the car. Use whatever cleanse you like to remove the top grime and wax. But always use clean towels. Once the wax starts to accumulate in the nap of the towels, change towels. And never buff in circular motions. Also follow the lines of the car. Front to rear.

[danz]

thanks for your input.i'm trying to get rid of the water marks.any ideas?,other than getting it professionaly detailed.the car is black .

[J!m]

How does the paint feel after washing? glassy, or slick, but slightly rough?

I just 'clayed' my paint for the first time- W O W Totally unbelieveable results!!! :shock:

My hood felt like sand-paper from all the crap and (what I thought were) chips. It turned out to be embedded dirt, tar, sap etc. I was ready to block and buff it out!

I bought the Mothers clay bar kit, and a bottle of Zymol detail (Zymol detail does not have silicone in it, the others did not say they did not, so I did not want to risk it. I do a lot of painting, and the LAST thing you want is silicone anywhere NEAR your paint...

The mothers kit comes with their version of detail, but it did not say 'no silicone' so, not on my car... Also some liquid Carnauba wax.

ANYWAY, wet the CLEAN car down with the detail, and rub the clay bar across the paint. I used circular and side-to-side actions both. If the bar stcks, you need more 'lube' (detail).

I did one section of the hood to try it out, and HOLY $HIT!!! it was like GLASS! TOTALLY smooth :shock: , and that paint was destined for wet-sanding!!!!

I did my entire car in about an hour.

Once that is done, I followed with Mirror glaze 'show-car-glaze' (wicked stuff!- highly recomended) applied (literally) by bare-hand, then good, hard-ass Carnauba wax (not the liquid stuff).

It looks like a freshly-painted car now. ABSOLUTELY worth the time, money and effort. :D

PS My car is RED, nearly as bad as black...

[J!m]

I've found something BETTER than my old 'stand-by' show car glaze. 3M Imperial Hand Glaze.

If you have swirl marks (particularly in Black) this stuff is even better than the Meguiar's stuff at removing them (most NAPA stores have it).

Wax: Go for the Blitz wax. The Zymol gives an incredible shine depth, but I think it was described best as "lasts as long as it takes to apply". Great for shows, but for everyday (like you only wax 3-4 times a year) the Blitz is great. if you wax every wash or two, then the Zymol is king, and the shine depth is really hard to beat. (of course that's only as good as the paint's clarity...)

[M98318ti]

I would say clay the car then use a paint cleaner then go to a wax i like the P21S Paint Cleaner and Wax, I also like the Meguires NXT Tech Wax make sure u leave the wax on as long as you can What i do is wax then go do the inside then go back and wipe wax off hope this helps

[Csvt]

Meguiars NXt tech wax.. with VERY soft cloth.. works great for me

[m44ic]

Meguiars NXt tech wax.. with VERY soft cloth.. works great for me

mark you are not allowed to talk about waxing :biggrin:

[Csvt]

DOH! :_punch:

[John L Rice]

Hi,

Griot's Garage makes some really excellent car care products :
www.griotsgarage.com

The have some 'starter kits' that are a good value or just get some individual items. My favorites are Speed Shine, clay, Best Of Show wax, rubber cleaner, vinyl/rubber dressing, leather care and under carraige spray. I like thier large micro fiber drying cloth too. And their detailers handbook it worth the $12.

I got to know a lot of their products because I worked there for 2 years ( as a programmer ). Unfortunately they downsided a bit and my job didn't survive :x but I still really like their products and there are a lot of really great people who work there. :)

If you live close to their office site in Tacoma/Fife WA or know you are going to be driving through, give them a call ahead of time and make an appointment for a quick car care school. They will spend 30 minutes to an hour showing you their different products and let you try them on your car. ( free of charge of course! )

[Phil Marx]

Zymöl Carbon (the real stuff, from CT, not the Zurtle Wax version sold at discount stores) is formulated specifically for black cars and won't streak. Cleaning your existing problems with 3M Imperial Hand Glaze is a good tip and you'll find it's not much different than Zymöl HD-Cleanse pre-wax cleaner! Just apply and polish either in straight lines on a black car. The best part about Zymöl is that one small jar contains enough wax to do 30 Cadillacs, so imagine how many ti's it can do?! Most folks use way too much of any wax and most of it ends up on the polishing cloth or in the cracks on the body. With Zymöl you're using just enough to lightly cover the surface and you're taking it off before it has a chance to dry.

And many don't know that you can wipe Zymöl right over your black rubber trim and it will only make it look better and won't leave any white residue. The myth about it not lasting is just that: If you put it on correctly and wash it with either the Zymöl car wash product or soap with some salad oil in the mix, it won't strip the wax during washing, which is why most waxes don't hold up. I won't get into the black art of the wax actually ever bonding with the paint or the paint being "alive" and needing to breath. I just use it and it works. And I've still got the same jar of Creame (for my silver cars) I bought from Zymöl back in 1984, and I'm not kidding! An ocassional touch-up with Zymöl Field Glaze can take care of most dirt build-up between waxes without stripping the wax, too.

I've also tested and am impressed with the new wax and cleaning products from International Auto Parts:
http://www.international-auto.com/index.cfm?fa=c&cid=117

[DeadpaN]

i've been using the meguiars cleaner wax. you can do the whole car at once, not just a section at a time and it wipes off easily.

[nick_hegel]

i've been using the meguiars cleaner wax. you can do the whole car at once, not just a section at a time and it wipes off easily.and it smells like bananas :biggrin:

[jonny116]

Autoglym is the way forward. Not sure if you can get it in the states though. they use it on Aston Martins, Jaguar, Bentleys n TVR's etc. is really really good. I usually use turtlewax but i payed a bit extra for this and it lasts for weeks n gave a much better finish + keeps the dust off. The shampoo and bodywork conditioner i found loads better than turtlewax too.

[DeadpaN]

i just tried out the Mother's instant detailer/spray wax touch up, and you'll be happy to know it smells like cinnamon! :biggrin:

[FireRescueFL]

I use Clay Magic to take all the crud out of the paint and then follow with Meguires NXT Tech wax. Always looks great!

---Chris

[stormos]

i did mine the other day with meguires quick clay followed by gold class wax. fantastic stuff.... paint looks 100 times better than it did.... problem is i can see dimps now! grrrrrr

[maurolin]

ZAINO. from Zaino.com ONLY! best of the best.

[Donovan]

How bad are the spray car wax?

[barische]

my problem is that i wash and use turtle spray dry off wax. then i use the other wax, the actual one and wax it. so its gettin waxed twice. one week later the car gets all dirty. all dust everywhere. not like crud and dirt, just dust. is that normal to expect just dust. its just that i rather have my car look like its waxed for weeks but i drive it for 50 miles and gets all dusty.

[barische]

whats clay bar, where can i get it, what the instruction of use?

thanks a million

[John Firestone]

If you can find it where you are, I have been quite happy with Sonax Xtreme Wax.

[stormos]

i used the meguires quick clay kit. provides everything you need. just don't drop the clay!