Please help DC meto TSXers!

[dedeman]

Ok, not really a problem, but I have to make a decision.

Should I get an 09 M3, or CLK 55?

Yeah, right, anyway...

I have a lot of stuff to put on the car (full OEM body kit), but before I do that, I really want to detail the crap out of the body. So, I have a few opinion questions:

1- should I just have the car detailed, or
2- should I do it myself, and
3- I want to get detailing products (question below)

I made up a very long list of good products from autogeek.com, but if I get everything that I want (and don't actually have experience with) total bill is 629.87 (includes buffer, lots of pads, polishes, wax, clay, and cloths.

Is this too much to pay for car detailing crap? Of course, I'm of the opinion that if something costs more, it must be worth it. That's why I'm not rich. :squint:

[pdpgps]

i think it is cheaper to do the basic detailing yourself, and then pay a professional to do the harder stuff like buffing. you can easily wash, clay, and wax yourself. stuff like scratches and returning to that real showroom shine is somthing you could negotiate to pay for because you've done most of the work before.

in terms of buying all the stuff, i mean you'd get to use it more then once so you get the value out of that. depends on how you value your time i suppose. i dont go all out with my details, but i do spend at least a good 3-4 hours to wash, clay, and wax. i spent under $100 for all my stuff.

[dedeman]

Thanks for the reply.

I have this idea that I could spend hours doing this, getting rid of the spider webs, and spots that look like hard water spots that won't go away. A little touch up paint here and there, good wax and finish, and good as new.

Yeah, things don't always work out like you'd like them to. That's why I'm hesitant. Also, because it's quite a bit of money.

I'm thinking I want to buy the stuff, that way, I'll have experience actually polishing and waxing well, after a few bad attempts. And, I can do it to my standards, rather then pay someone else to maybe do a good job.

[pdpgps]

ha, yea i def messed up the waxing a few times before. what really matters is that the car is up to your standards, which is why doing it yourself is always more rewarding.

i might pay someone to get this tree sap off my car that absolutely refuses to come off even with the clay bar. i think i've hit a "detailing" roadblock :(

[gmchu]

$600 is way overboard. mind listing what you have in your cart? I spent around $250 for a UDM, polish, compound, sealant, and pads. If you think about it, that is how much you will likely spend on 1 professional detail so DIY is actually cheaper in the end.

[dedeman]

Alright, I'll try to list everything, here goes

Porter 7424 119.99
4 star detailing clay (200g) 24.99
6 edge 2000 pads (different "cuts") 90.00
Menzerna PO85RD polish 29.99
Menzerna Super Intensive Polish PO 83 44.99
6 pack Cobra Microfiber detailing cloth(s) 19.99
Menzerna Top Inspection spray 19.99
Microfiber bonnet kit 39.99
Sheepskin wash mit 16.99
Pinnacle paste wax 85.00

Ok, I'm totally ready for the "are you ****ing kidding?" I just don't want to cheap out on things that are meant to make the car look good, and I only have one car.

Of course, perhaps $85 is a bit excessive for carnuba wax, and maybe I don't need 2 types of polish.

pdpgps, next meet will have to have a power adapter, so we can both benefit from my insanity (and buffer and polish(es))

[zhieson]

I just got the Porter 7424. It's amazing. You have some top end parts on your list but you don't need to spend that much to get a top quality detail.

It's only worth buying all those materials if you are going to perform a thorough job quite often. If not then just pay a couple hundred to have it professional detailed. You'll also have to love manual labor to want to do this yourself.

[dedeman]

I don't mind the manual labor part, I actually look forward to it. I also don't mind having to do it quite often, as I would love to keep a good look, if I can get to the point of having a good look.

I just mind the price of all this stuff. I guess I could to cheaper (I know I can) but I feel like I'd be getting sub par products. I want to have the feeling that I'm getting really high end stuff, but I don't want to feel like I'm getting suckered (which is entirely probable).

I would love to learn how to use this stuff correctly, as I do like cars quite a bit, especially my own.

[gmchu]

Alright, I'll try to list everything, here goes

Porter 7424 119.99
4 star detailing clay (200g) 24.99
6 edge 2000 pads (different "cuts") 90.00
Menzerna PO85RD polish 29.99
Menzerna Super Intensive Polish PO 83 44.99
6 pack Cobra Microfiber detailing cloth(s) 19.99
Menzerna Top Inspection spray 19.99
Microfiber bonnet kit 39.99
Sheepskin wash mit 16.99
Pinnacle paste wax 85.00

Ok, I'm totally ready for the "are you ****ing kidding?" I just don't want to cheap out on things that are meant to make the car look good, and I only have one car.

Of course, perhaps $85 is a bit excessive for carnuba wax, and maybe I don't need 2 types of polish.

pdpgps, next meet will have to have a power adapter, so we can both benefit from my insanity (and buffer and polish(es))

yeah, that is pretty serious stuff you got there.

I too thought about getting the menzerna line, but found it to be unnecessary. It is more for cars with harder clear coats (bmw, mb, etc). it is good to have if you are a professional detailer and detail high end cars. Our paint is relatively soft so those products aren't really necessary.

I have found the optimum line to be pretty good for the money, you might want to check their products out. I have the compound, polish, and sealant from them and have had no complaints.

you are also spending a LOT on pads. You only need a couple orange pads, a couple white pads, and a couple blue pads. if your car is in bad shape, you might want to throw in some yellow pads as well. They are reusable so you don't need a whole lot.

In place of the pinnacle paste wax, I would use a sealant such as FS UPP or even optimum poliseal. $85 seems like a lot for a sealant.

I believe you can buy a sheepskin washmit at walmart for $5 so you can also save yourself $10 there. they usually go bad after a year so it doesn't really make sense to keep paying top dollar for it online. You can also pick up a pack of 10 or more MF towels at a local parts store for around $5-$10.

I'm not really sure what the Menzerna Top Inspection spray and Microfiber bonnet kit are for. I am guessing the menzerna product is a quick detailer? if so, just get meguires quick detailer...it gets the job done, and is cheap. I also don't see why you would need the MF bonnet kit as long as you have the correct pads.

Any reason why you are getting the PC over the UDM? When I purchased my UDM not too long ago, it was only $99 and is more powerful than the PC.

[dedeman]

I was going to get a few pads, of each type, because I'm not sure how deep the cut will need to be to get the results I'm looking for, as there is a sheetload of spiderwebbing. I'm also not sure how many pads one would need for the whole car, I figured you need at least 1, and probably more.

I've never heard of UDM before. I just saw a lot of people recommend Porter as a good combo of performance and price. BTW, is UDM the product name, or an abbreviation?

As for the wax, I am under the impression that carnuba waxes are different from sealants. Is that correct? I though sealants were generally synthetic.

I was going to get the MF bonnet kit just to completely finish off the wax.

I've not really heard of the Optimum line of products. I tried to do as much opinion searching as I can, and there are about 100 opinions for any product you can think of, each being the "best" (which doesn't really help).

So I'm torn about all this because it'll be my first time really doing the car up, and I'm hesitant about screwing it up, and also about spending that much.

Also, I thought that $85 was fairly reasonable for good wax, as opposed to this line of products http://www.detailersdomain.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=29 :eek:

I really appreciate everyone's help.

BTW gmchu, you said that you've had no complaints using the Optimum line. Do you detail for a living/side job? If so, maybe I'll just bring it to you.

[gmchu]

You don’t need multiple pads of each type. People often get multiple pads of each type so they can use different products on each pad without mixing products/pads. Since you are only getting two types of polishes, you would need two or three(if you want to be safe) pads of each type. For instance, you might go over your car with an orange pad and polish, but find that it is not correcting enough. You might then go on to another orange pad and a compound which might be more effective.

The UDM is the ultimate detailing machine. It is similar to the PC except it claims it is 20% more powerful. When I purchased mine from autogeek, it came with 5 orange pads.

You are correct about the waxes vs. sealants. Sorry for that confusion. They both protect the paint so sometimes I generally classify them as sealants. I personally hate waxing cars. I find it to be more labor intensive than using a sealant. Granted, it will be easier with a PC or UDM, but I would still rather use a sealant over a wax. I also know a few different sealants which are well below $85. If you really want wax though, I have heard good things about P21S.

I actually don’t detail for a living. I was in the same situation as you earlier this year. I really wanted to detail my car so I researched a whole lot and learned everything I would need in order to do the job. So far, I have only completely detailed my car once at the beginning of the summer. I will probably do it once more this yr in the late summer/early fall before the weather starts to get bad.

[pdpgps]

When you go through this huge ordeal of detailing your own vehicle to the degree you guys do, doesn't it feel wasteful especially since weather fluctuates dramatically week to week and your car will get dirty once again? Although I completely understand the need for a wash that will protect your paint coat a few times each year. I suppose it is because I don't have the time (probably patience too) to get a day and just detail for several hours.

You guys def use way more products than I use. I'm pretty much soap, clay bar, wax. Rim cleaner, tire wet. Interior dash and leather wipes. Speaking of which, I should probably get something to condition my leather...

[gmchu]

When you go through this huge ordeal of detailing your own vehicle to the degree you guys do, doesn't it feel wasteful especially since weather fluctuates dramatically week to week and your car will get dirty once again? Although I completely understand the need for a wash that will protect your paint coat a few times each year. I suppose it is because I don't have the time (probably patience too) to get a day and just detail for several hours.

You guys def use way more products than I use. I'm pretty much soap, clay bar, wax. Rim cleaner, tire wet. Interior dash and leather wipes. Speaking of which, I should probably get something to condition my leather...

We are talking more about the paint correction side of detailing. most of the products listed earlier are meant to remove swirl marks/spider webbing/light scratches/oxidation and protect the paint from the elements. This is what common swirl marks look like:
http://toannguyen.net/detail/sm/IMG_1058.jpg.

As I mentioned earlier, I will probably do this only a couple times a year. once in the beginning of summer, and once at the end. It is the only way to keep the paint in great condition.

[dedeman]

Yeah, the polishing and waxing isn't something that you have to do every time you want to clean the car. I think it's something that you could do 2 or 3 times a year, and have the car look great all year long.

I think.

I guess that's what I'm still learning. gmchu, I did see the p21s, too. I was thinking about that. I think I'm going to revise my list a bit, try to get around $500, then it's free shipping!! But still, that may be a bit pricey.

Also, one other reason I'm doing all this big ticket stuff (at the same time) is because I hate doing things piece meal. I've tried my hand at lots of projects, and it always seems to work out that if I had just bought that other "thing", I could have finished without having to stop, go back to the store/get other (wrong) part/end up with things not nearly like I intended. I guess it's part of being anal (which I kind of am).

[dedeman]

So I'm a dumbass. I put in an adjusted order at autogeek, it came out to about $550 or so, so I took the plunge. It turns out that I had two pc 7242s on the order.

Anyway, I got pretty much everything I wanted, and it turned out to be about $330. Still more then I was expecting to pay, but I'm getting quality stuff (I think).

Now all I have to do is figure out how to use it properly, and actually make the car look good. Thanks for the input, guys.

[zhieson]

Meguiars / make a DVD on how to use the PC 7424. I basically detailed like they want in the DVD. I'm sure some clips are on youtube if you don't want to purchase it.

http://www.autopia.org/forum/
This is a detailing forum that will also be helpful.

Another forum with a 101 on detailing (run by the guy from the DVD I was talking about)
http://www.showcargarage.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=48