Okay everyone,

I have never had the chance to own a nice enough car to worry that much about what products I used on it. However, I have a new love in my life. I just purchased a 1994 540i and she needs some help.

The paint has some very tiny white specs all over the car. Along with fine scratches and oxidation on the trunk and hood. When I got her home, I washed and waxed her using Zymol cleaner wax. It looked pretty good for about a day and then some of the oxidation came back along with TONS of stupid little "finger" marks where the tips of my fingers through the applicator pad came through. AArrgggg! :mad:

Anyhow, could someone please tell me the exact steps I should take to get her looking as good as possible from start to finish? Since I don't know anything about what products to use please be as specific as possible about brand name and the name of the product. I'm only going to worry about the exterior for now as the interior is in pretty good shape.

Thanks in advance for any advice.
~Chazz

Oh.. also how about all that brake dust? :95

Black cars are tough, man. Beautiful when clean, though. Some swirlmark remover might help with some of that, and more wax. I'll let others elaborate more.

On the brake dust, clean the wheels thoroughly, and then wax them with a pure carnuba wax, no cleaners, nice thick coat. Then from now on when washing the car, just use regular car wash soap, nice and gentle (no harsh wheel cleaners, they will strip the wax off) and they will clean right up.

Wax the wheels like once a year...

PS- congrats on the new car!

I have a black 95 540 and have little chipps on the hood of my car too. Once I get some time, I'm going to clay the car and then touch-up the chips with the autosharp pen, as I have heard good things about it.

First and foremost, congrats on your new car.

The white specs sound like industrial fallout. You can use a clay bar to remove them.

For the oxidation and swirls, you will definately need a porter cable random orbital polisher, a set of foam polishing pads, and some good polishes. Klasse AIO with a cutting pad will do wonders for the oxidation. 3M finesse it 2 and a cutting pad will help eliminate your swirls.

As for the brake dust, Dave is right on. Wax or seal your rims (i'd recco 3 or 4 times a year) and all you'll need to do is wash them weekly with car wash soap to keep them looking good. No harsh wheel cleaners needed.

Do a search on my name and you'll find some old post of mine where i outline various products and techinques.

If you have any questions, let us know!