Drivers of Black Vehicles...

[zeroboot]

What products/techniques do you use to take care of your paint and minimize the inevitable swirls. I think I made some swirls in my paint just by looking at it the wrong way!

Anyway, we all know black is high-maintenance. What do you all do to keep it looking good? thanks.

[mitch808]

Swirls are normal, just seen more with dark colored cars. The only way to get rid of them is to machine polish. You can prolong, not getting swirls with a thorough wax and occasional protectant/wipe down to maintain the wax, but it's inevitable in a matter of months.

[BabyCAP]

Originally Posted by zeroboot

What products/techniques do you use to take care of your paint and minimize the inevitable swirls. I think I made some swirls in my paint just by looking at it the wrong way!

Anyway, we all know black is high-maintenance. What do you all do to keep it looking good? thanks.

hey there - one great resource I suggest is Phil from detailersdomain.com He is AWESOME and his shop has a ton of really good products. You can e-mail him directly and he will reply. he also has tons of offers and rebates so you can save some $.

Here's my .02 - the swirls are caused by micro particles (dirt/sand/salt) on your sponge, towels, etc. First of all do not use drive thru car wash. To minimize swirls when you hand wash do a search for the two bucket method. Basically it is one bucket for dirty water and one bucket for your soapy water. The key piece of equipment for this method is a grit guard that fits in the bottom of your buckets and traps the dirt on the bottom of your bucket so it does not transfer to your sponge and then on to your paint.
It sucks when your ride is dirty but sometimes IMO it makes sense to wait until you have time to do a proper wash rather than a quickie which may end up swirling your paint.

good luck and def check out detailersdomain.

[ncraig]

opti-coating 2.0 or similar opti-coating products
Its basically a hard crystal shell applied on top of your paint protects better than wax shines like wax and lasts 2~3 years depends on your wash method.
wish i know this product earlier...

[TB8715]

I use Adams products...plus a weekly bath.

[Z@T]

Swizvax or Swizöl like it is called in Europe.

No swirls but I still hate black! Never ever will buy a black car again.
Wash the M3, happy camper for around 5-10 min till I see the first pollen dust, dropping water spot.