Faded black paint - is it worth restoring?

PrettyBoy

Apologies in advance lads as I'm sure this is an annoying question but I just wanted to ask here before I go ringing detailers.

I've got a BMW 3 series, 11 years old now and in great nick. The paint has no scratches or dents whatsoever but it does have swirl marks. What I noticed the other day though when an identical car parked next to mine and difference in the shades of black between the two was very obvious. The black on my car was much duller and more "faded" than the one next to it.

I always knew my car needed a machine polish to get the swirls out. What I'm wondering now is if I get it done by a reputable detailer, will it get the depth in the colour back for a short time before eventually returning to the faded/dull appearance? I've never got a car professionally detailed before but a guy I worked with got his car done before - it was red paint that had faded badly over the years and when he got it polished it looked great for a while, but then it was back to its poor condition a short time after.

I would love it to have the deep black with a mirror like finish as the car is in excellent condition for its age but if it will only last for a short while then I'm not sure I can justify it.

While we're on the topic I was going to ask if anyone could give an indication of what sort of price I could expect to pay for a machine polish on a black 3 series? I've heard a lot about JC Autocare and 5 star valet - they're on the other side of Dublin and I won't be getting this done for another month or two when the weather is better, just wanted to ask here first to find out if it's even worth my while getting it done and, if so, if anyone can recommend someone.

L-M

Would you try a bit of polish yourself before spending a couple of hundred quid on a detailer?

You’d get fully set up in Halfords with all you’d need for under 50 quid to make a difference.

Good wash. Tar and glue the whole car. Bit of compound, a polish and a wax. Should make all the difference.

clubberlang12

To answer your question.........will it make a big difference to it's appearance? Yes it can when done correctly.

How long will it last? Will honestly depend on your after care processes. The better you look after it, regarding safer wash routines, the longer it will stay looking well. I would suspect that your work friend had a quicker polishing treatment done, probably using a temporary glaze-like product. This is where it pays to do some research on proper car care providers. When done correctly, you are effectively reconditioning the paintwork, removing microscopic layers of clear coat and thus removing whatever defects where within that layer. The results will depend on the intensiveness of the treatment you go for( how much clear coat will be removed in essence. Basically in lay mans terms, a treatment removing lets say 6-7 microns of clear on a well weathered vehicle, will yield better results in defect removal and richness restored to the paintwork than a treatment designed to remove only 1-2 microns. There is other factors involved including the softnest/hardness of the paint and potentially the need to perform further stages of "refining" to the paintwork to remove potential micro marring from the initial more aggressive polishing stages. You can also encounter rock hard paint which takes much more work to remove some clear. I've a 2016 E-Class in at the moment which has taken multiple aggressive compounding stages to even get it to about 85% clear coat infliction removal!!).

Regarding the 2 names you mentioned, both do extremely good work and your car would be in good hands with either. Price-wise, what will you pay? That's the impossible question. Different detailers will value their time and work differently, have different over head costs, etc. Some will spend 10 hours performing X treatment, another will spend 20+ hrs on what a treatment by the same title. Don't get too hung up on treatment titles as they are only titles, and can differ greatly in practice in different providers. What i would suggest is work out what your budget is, and see what can be done within that budget. You might get a bit of a shock at some of the quotes, but this is the reality of this type of work now. It's very labour intensive to achieve the right results, no more than getting any other skilled operator to work on a job for 2-5 days depending on the level of the treatment.

Hope this has helped a little.

vectra

Or,
You could buy a polisher and kit yourself and do it!

PrettyBoy

Thanks for the replies lads, and for the explanation on the process. Unfortunately I'm not brave enough to try it myself - I love this car and it's in excellent condition so I wouldn't risk it. I feel like there'd be a better chance of me damaging the paint than getting the mirror finish I'm after. I'd be cursing myself then for not just taking it to someone that knows what they're doing in the first place so I'm going straight that step :P

€300-400 is the figure I had in my head on what I'd be willing to spend. I'll have to get in touch with a few of the recommended guys and see if there's anything they could do for that.

vectra

PrettyBoy wrote: »

Thanks for the replies lads, and for the explanation on the process. Unfortunately I'm not brave enough to try it myself - I love this car and it's in excellent condition so I wouldn't risk it. I feel like there'd be a better chance of me damaging the paint than getting the mirror finish I'm after. I'd be cursing myself then for not just taking it to someone that knows what they're doing in the first place so I'm going straight that step :P

€300-400 is the figure I had in my head on what I'd be willing to spend. I'll have to get in touch with a few of the recommended guys and see if there's anything they could do for that.

You would really only get an enhancement polish and a wax for that money I'd imagine.

Seriously, Get a Das6 pro and some pads.
You would want to be an absolute moron to do damage.

?Cee?view

PrettyBoy wrote: »

Thanks for the replies lads, and for the explanation on the process. Unfortunately I'm not brave enough to try it myself - I love this car and it's in excellent condition so I wouldn't risk it. I feel like there'd be a better chance of me damaging the paint than getting the mirror finish I'm after. I'd be cursing myself then for not just taking it to someone that knows what they're doing in the first place so I'm going straight that step :P

€300-400 is the figure I had in my head on what I'd be willing to spend. I'll have to get in touch with a few of the recommended guys and see if there's anything they could do for that.

You should be budgetting for at least three times that I'd suggest

MetzgerMeister

The proper way to ensure the paint doesn't go bad after polishing like the guy you worked with is to maintain it after the job is done. Best option is to have a ceramic coating such as Gtechniq Crystal Serum applied but using a spray on product like Gtechniq C2V3 or even wax maintains the finish.

PrettyBoy

?Cee?view wrote: »

You should be budgetting for at least three times that I'd suggest

Well that's that idea put to bed then

Didn't realise getting swirl marks out would be so expensive. The paint condition actually isn't bad relatively speaking, so spending €1,000+ to get it immaculate wouldn't make sense considering the value of the car. I got it cleaned yesterday and, in hindsight, my post here might have been hasty. I was looking at the two cars side by side when mine hadn't been washed in about a month and was covered in road grime and dirt. Now that it's clean it looks fresh again, not a scratch or dent on the whole body - I just can't 'un-see' the swirl marks.

vectra wrote: »

Seriously, Get a Das6 pro and some pads.
You would want to be an absolute moron to do damage.

I'll look into this. I have an older classic that's a bit rough around the edges that I can practice on so if it does go pear shaped on that I won't be too annoyed.

vectra

PrettyBoy wrote: »

I'll look into this. I have an older classic that's a bit rough around the edges that I can practice on so if it does go pear shaped on that I won't be too annoyed.

Go for it,
Trust me, you would want to go totally Kamikazee to do damage.

ianobrien

Seriously OP, I'd follow Vectra's advice. I was the same before I started (worried about damage) and I got a door from a scrapper to try on. If you are careful, keep an eye on what is going on and take your time, you'll be fine.

For inspiration, materials, etc, see my post here.

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=108326827&postcount=5542

I've not done much detailing in a while. But i was once really big into it, and i had a black Rav4 that i wanted to machine polish. Much like yourself, i was terrified of doing damage, but I seen the prices of buying the kit myself VS using a pro and I decided i'd give it a shot.

I was warned about damaging the car and be careful etc. as a newbie to it all.

You'd honestly have to leave the polisher in one place on the car, and go on a weekend break, and come back, and you still probably wouldn't have done any damage. It can be painstakingly slow trying to get a proper finish on it. The likelihood of damaging it is so slim, to nonexistent, that I wouldn't even let it cross my mind.


Also, perhaps this is an unpopular opinion here, but my experience is that the foam pads are sh/te. Get microfibre ones. They speed the process up x10.

PrettyBoy

Thanks for the replies lads, I feel a bit more confident about giving it a go myself now. I will educate myself on this over the next few weeks and order the right gear. The thought of trying it myself and damaging the paint was fairly daunting so good to know it's not as risky as I thought.

vectra

PrettyBoy wrote: »

Thanks for the replies lads, I feel a bit more confident about giving it a go myself now. I will educate myself on this over the next few weeks and order the right gear. The thought of trying it myself and damaging the paint was fairly daunting so good to know it's not as risky as I thought.

Best decision,
If you need any pointers just ask.

PrettyBoy

vectra wrote: »

Best decision,
If you need any pointers just ask.

Thanks, I'll most definitely be on to you