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and last almost forever. They shouldalso be kept soaking before use.After any sanding, expect to cleanwith No. 2 or stronger, followed bypolishing.Case studies. Case studies were performed on a black 1979 320i (Jim Castanes') and a black 1985 325e (Brent &Betty Wilde's), Black is the most challenging color to work with. I have executed the routine on an incendiarybrown Volvo 245 and a white 2002 and2400 as well.Brent had polished his trunk lid byhand using terry cloths and Meguiar'sNo. 4, and had induced some very deepscratching. This could be treated byhand with No. 5 on terry cloths, but weattacked it by machine instead. No. 2was tried first, and it took out all butthe deepest scratching with two orthree applications. One very deepscratch was handled with 2000 gritsandpaper, followed by machineapplication of No. 1. All this was followed by No. 3 polish (machine) and apure wax (No. 26). A trace of the deepscratch remains (it is practically intothe primer), but you won't see it unlessyou know where to look.Jim has been waxing his car withDeep Crystal Carnuba, a Meguiar'spaste wax which, according to Mr.Phillips, has little carnuba in it and isthe better for it. Jim's car, despitebeing garaged and kept pretty clean,was oxidized and had severe scratching where a bra pounded against thehood. It was washed, cleaned with No.2, polished with No. 3, sealed with No.7 and waxed with No. 26. The resultswere, well, not subtle.The impossible. There are two thingswhich no car care product can do .Totally oxidized paint, checked paint(thousands of tiny cracks), peeling orflaking paint, cannot be restored. (Partially oxidized paint can be saved,however.) Paint this far gone (regardless of its age) should be stripped andnew paint applied. No compound orwax can save that which has been destroyed . In addition, deep scratches (i.e.near or into the primer) cannot becompletely removed, as obviously allthe paint will be removed with them.They can be minimized, but not eliminated. So don't expect miracles, even ifyou find waxing cars a religiousexperience.Hand vs. machine application. Wehave been taught that the only way toclean and wax a car is by hand. Thisteaching, however, must be relegatedto the same dustbin where the teachings of the Flat Earth Society nowrepose. Proper use of the right powertools and products will not only yieldbetter results than hand application,but will damage the car less in the process. I was surprised by this too, but Icannot dispute that which I havewitnessed.Hand application is necessary in certain areas that machines can't (or in theexercise of prudence should not becalled upon) to reach. Examples wouldbe around wiper blades and radioaeriels. And some people may notwant to invest in machines. So handapplication will be discussed, but it isnot generally recommended.Type of paint. You must determinethe type of paint you are dealing with,as different types are treated somewhatdifferently. We divide paints into twocategories, conventional and "hightech", which I will call "plastic paints"because I can't stand the hype. Conventional paints are enamels (acrylicsand otherwise) and lacquers (ditto).Plastic paints include the ever-expanding family of urethanes.Determining which paint you aredealing with can be quite challenging.Manufacturers have been inconsistentin what type of paint they use, andaren't very good about telling you. Tomake matters worse, a different type ofpaint may have been used on a repairedarea than on the rest of the car. So if indoubt, ask a reputable body shop whattype of paint you have. And if your caris repaired or repainted, make a note ofthe type of paint used.Generally speaking, solid-colorBMW's used to come with conventional paints, but now come with asingle-stage urethane. Metallic paintedBMW's always have a clear coat. Theclear coat was of uncertain parentage(some would say was a son of a batchelor) until about the late seventies, whenurethane clear coats appeared). Asmany of us know, paint failure onmetallic BMW's was a certainty untilthis change was made. Any clearcoated BMW may be treated as havingplastic paint. Solid-colored BMW's ofother than recent vintage will requiresome detective work.Condition ofpaint. The condition ofthe paint will determine how aggressive you need to be in restoring it. Newcars should need very little work (unlessbutchered when being "prepped"), buta five-year-old car which has beenparked outside will probably need twoor three additional steps. The differences will be dealt with in the text.Buffer swirls. Buffer swirls are theresult of (1) the fibers which comprisewool pads, (2) compounds which don'tbreak down, and (3) dirt being groundinto the paint. Swirls are quite common when wool pads are used (andmany detail shops still use wool pads).Swirls are also induced by rubbingwith compounds made of silicate, sandor aluminum oxide. These materialsare not used in Meguiar's products,which use materials (e.g. diatomaceous clay) which break down as they are

used instead of scratching up the paint.Improper cleaning of the car beforewaxing, or failing to clean the dirt outof the foam pads, will also result inswirling. Wax conceals buffer swirls,but does not remove them. Swirls willreappear as the wax wears or is washedoff. Go to a car wash and take a look atthe cars as they emerge - otherwiseimpeccable cars come out with grotesque swirling in the paint, now visible as a result of the wax beingstripped off. Swirls can usually beremoved, but it is best not to installthem in the first place.Equipment. In an effort to avoidinducing sticker shock, let me warnyou that a one-time investment of 300or so may be required to properly carefor your car's paint. This could belowered somewhat by a club grouppurchase, or if the club purchased abuffer and rented it out.What you need is:- A variable speed buffer. Makita9207SPC is recommended. Figureabout 180.00. Some people use a variable speed drill with a 5 adaptor, butthis quickly gets tiring.- Meguiar's foam application wheels(3). About 40.00. Do not use woolpads.- A supply of terry cloth towels (allcotton). The closer they are to velour,the better. Velour terry cloth sells forabout 8.00 / yd (45" width).- Folded and stitched terry clothpads, about 3" square. Not absolutelynecessary, but very nice for hand work.- A small, stiff nylon brush. Like atoothbrush with a gland condition.Figure a dollar.- A small wire brush (Snap-On sellsa nice one for under three dollars).- Some dense , closed-cell foamapplication pads (about 3" square).Cadge these.- Chemicals appropriate to the job.Plan on 60.00.- Apron or coveralls, free of anyscratch-inducing metal on the front.To help you accept this, considerthat the total cost is less than two tripsto a detail shop, and the results shouldbe substantially better. If you share,borrow or rent a buffer, you're probably dollars ahead the first time around.The foam pads come in large (8")and small (5W') sizes. The large padscover a lot of area in less time, but the5.5" pads are good for getting intosmaller spaces. My counsel is to startwith a set of the 8" pads, and pick upsmaller ones when you feel the need.As to where to get this stuff locally, Ibought my Makita at Tool Town on15th Ave. West. The Meguiar's products are carried by BMW Seattle andAutosport Seattle. I can't tell youwhere to get the terry cloth towels, butI anticipate that car-specific productswill become available in the next sixmonths.Technique. Technique is, of course,more important than size (750iL ownerstake note). The following practicesshould be observed, as a general rule.First, never wash, polish or wax thecar in the sun. Do it in the shade,indoors or not at all.If you are applying materials byhand, squirt the material onto the terrycloth pad, instead of onto the car asyou usually would do with machineapplication. As with buffing wheels,use different pads for cleaners, polishes and waxes, and frequently cleanor change the pad, as any dirt trappedin it will scratch the paint. Frequentlyrefresh the pad with material, usingmodest quantities. When rubbing, donot use a circular motion. Always usestraight strokes. This will avoid swirlsand minimize the number of angles atwhich light is refracted by any scratchesyou induce. It is recommended thatyour strokes be back and forth, in thedirection which the car travels.Whether by machine or by hand, uselight pressure. If light pressure doesnot do the job, try a more aggressiveproduct (except on urethanes) and/ ora higher machine speed, depending onthe experience of the operator (keepthe machine under 2000 rpm if working on urethane). Under no circumstances should you be "grinding" onthe finish.Sometimes the buffing wheel willstart to oscillate, jittering like an orbital sander. This is usually the result ofthe pressure not being in the center ofthe pad (plus the pads are not the bestbalanced objects to pass through myshop). The oscillating motion can doyour paint no good, and may wellharm it. If you feel it building, ease upthe pressure and try to center it on themiddle of the pad. Otherwise, lift thebuffer off the surface and let it settledown before reapplying it.Resist the temptation to hold thebuffer with one hand while stretchingto reach those hard-to-get spots, likethe center of the roof. This is an invitation to disaster.

When applying liquids with buffingwheels, a number of practices shouldbe observed . The foam pad must bekept clear of dirt and dead foam .Before reusing the pad and periodically thereafter, scrape it (while rotating) with the plastic brush until stuffstops coming off. If there is any suspi-cion of dirt caught in the foam , youmay also apply terry cloth to the rotating pad to clean it. The foam wheelmay be trimmed using a wire brush.The wheel should be kept in flat trim,and periodic trimming can greatlyextend the life of this fairly expensiveproduct. Application ofliquids may bein a column on the painted area beingworked on, or to the foam pad directly.Which is appropriate depends on whichproduct you are using (see text belowand read the labels), but generally youwill be happier applying the liquid tothe car, as the wheel slings off quite abit in all directions as

l J Cover: Old and new. See page 2 for more information. Zundfolge Staff Editors-in-Chief Lucetta and David Lightfoot Production Editors Tom Williams