Polish advice on Glacier White metallic Audi

[Zune]

Hi guys!
I realize people hate being asked "what is the best XXX product for XXX task..", but just wanted to check in to see if anyone`s had any luck in polishing their Glacier White metallic Audi vehicles (2015 SQ5 in my case).

Although I`ve been "dabbling" in detailing for quite some time, this is the first time I`m going to try my hand at doing machine polishing on my 6-month-old Glacier White metallic SQ5 (with a Porter Cable random orbit polisher). So far I`ve been very partial to BlackFire products & have had great success with their Midnight Sun wax & their Wet Diamond All Finish sealant. My SQ5 daily-driver is very "pampered", & stays in a garage almost 24/7 both at home & at work. I`m extremely careful with my regular washing/waxing/LSP, so I have really only minor marring & fine scratches (owing to the harsh Canadian winters up here in London). I was thinking of trying BlackFire`s "Duo" system for my first go at polishing my vehicle`s paint -- i.e. The BlackFire SRC Compound & the BlackFire SRC Finishing Polish. Since my paint is in quite good condition, I was thinking of trying the "gentler" finishing polish first & only using the SRC Compound if there are still significant residual fine scratches. Ideally I`d prefer not to use something too abrasive as I don`t think I`ll need it.

Whichever products I use, I will be "practicing" on my wife`s silver metallic 2014 Acura MDX (she doesn`t know yet...don`t tell her). It`s a very light shade of silver/grey, so I figured it might give me some sense of what to expect on my vehicle. Just curious what everyone`s opinions are about this potential combo, & whether you`ve had luck with other products (I was thinking of the Wolfgang line as well). Thanks for any advice.

Cheers,

Al
London Ontario Canada

[bswombaugh]

I would consider the 3M HD series especially the HD Polish. It has some cutting ability but finishes better than about anything else I have used. The clarity it produces is outstanding.

[Accumulator]

Zune- Welcome to Autopia!

Fellow Audi-fan here...I didn`t chime in earlier as mine are older and I have no experience polishing newer ones.

If the clear on yours is anything like all my (countless) Audis, then it`s *HARD*. The HD Polish, which is my hands-down favorite Finishing Polish, is way too mild to do any correction on my vehicles. Their Cut compound is too gentle to do significant correction on them *with the pads I`ve tried*, might work fine with different pads.

I`m a little concerned that a 6 month-old white car is so marred up that you want to correct it, but if you do I suspect you will need something mighty aggressive for the first step. Then follow up with the HD Polish and a durable dirt-shedding LSP (I`d use FK1000P on it, no question at all) and work on the wash technique. A white car oughta go indefinitely (at least several years) without needing polished if you get the wash regimen sorted out.

[bswombaugh]

Very good recommendations from Accumulator. Just be aware that the Acura MDX that you are talking about practicing on will in no way mimic the Audi paint. As Accumulator stated, the Audi will have a hard clearcoat where as the Acura paint will probably be much softer. As a general rule of thumb, most German vehicles tend to have "hard" paint and most Japanese vehicles have "softer" paint. The HD Polish will probably do substantially more correcting on the Acura than the Audi. The reason that I recommended the HD Polish is because it sounded like your paint was in very good condition and needed very little correcting. It is also very pad dependent. Even though it is considered a finishing polish I have found that it still has some light to medium correcting ability when paired with something like the Buff and Shine Orange pad.

[Accumulator]

bswombaugh- From what I hear, *all* the HD stuff is a bit pad-dependent.

[EDIT to remove extraneous stuff, got my threads mixed up...]

[Zune]

Thanks for the great advice Accumulator & bswombaugh! I was definitely leaning towards a very mild polish and/or glaze...hence why I was thinking of the BlackFire SRC Finishing Polish. The marring on my vehicle is definitely very minor -- no swirls or anything like that...just occasional random very fine surface scratches. I figured that a mild finishing polish or glaze would maybe smooth down most of the fine scratches & fill them in so they weren`t really all that visible. Great advice on the Acura vs. Audi paint...I wasn`t aware of the general difference between the two.

Cheers,

Al

[bswombaugh]

Zune; Its always a good idea to start out with the least aggressive polish and pad combo and do a test spot and check the results. I think you are on the right track trying the SRC Finishing Polish first. It might very well be to mild on the Audi paint - but you want know until you give it a try. If it doesn`t give the desired result - step on up to the SRC Compound. You just always want to use the least aggressive process to get the results that you need. Every paint is a little different so nothing is set in stone. Don`t be afraid to try some different polish and pad combinations to get the results you need.

[David Fermani]

We probably do more Audis than any other vehicle. Rock hard clear!!!! What kicks butt is HD Cut & a Buff & Shine Micro Fiber pad. Even though Cut is a full blown compound, it finishes incredibly well on this paint. To the point that only solid black colors sometimes *might* need a finishing polish after. I can guarantee that I could easily 1 step this car with that combo and make it look flawless. You might want to even wait another week and pick up a bottle of 3D`s new AAT Rubbing Compound. It will cut and finish better than HD Cut.

[Accumulator]

Zune- I`ve used the BF SRC Polish and it`s good stuff, if not as user-friendly as the HD Polish. IIRC, the BF is made by Menzerna and is a variation on their "106" line theme. Watch out for residual polishing oils that can conceal minor issues which then appear to "come back" as the oils dissipate.

David Fermani- I gather the B&S MF pads area different from Meguiar`s MF Cutting Disks; the Cut/Meg`s MF combo was too gentle for the clear on my Audis.

[David Fermani]

Accumulator - the B&S pads aren`t quite as aggressive as the Megs, but cut well on most applications. We run the 5 inchers with the Rupes 21. Surprised you`re having cutting issues? Especially with your cream puffs!

[Accumulator]

David Fermani- Eh, my wife`s A8 gets used awfully hard. The time I tried Cut it had, uhm... an experience.. at the dealership that they were properly concerned/apologetic about. I guess that Rupes 21 makes all the diff; my polishers (spot-repair, so 3" GG pneumatic and GG regular fitted with 3"setup) just didn`t correct it with Cut/Meguiar`s MF Cutting disks. Eh, I often find significant correction to be challenging.

[Ronkh]

My old audi 2010, had paint that was as mar prone as my jb bmw

[Accumulator]

My old audi 2010, had paint that was as mar prone as my jb bmw

Now that IS odd! There was a run of Blue S4s a while back that were very soft, but otherwise all mine from the`80-up were nice and hard. But they weren`t as new as yours either so what do I know?!?

[Ronkh]

Now that IS odd! There was a run of Blue S4s a while back that were very soft, but otherwise all mine from the`80-up were nice and hard. But they weren`t as new as yours either so what do I know?!?

remember when the s5 cab came out, it was a mix and match (parts wise)




was the s4 deep blue sea by any chance?

[Accumulator]

Ronkh- Nah, it was the Nagaro (?SP?) blue.