MY M3 still looks pretty good, but it has swirl marks.

I'm curious if I screwed up washing the car, or if these are completely normal, for a 4-year old black car.

I usually go over the car with spray polish (One Grand) after I wash and dry, using microfiber to finish off the spray polish.

Before I wax in Spring and Fall, I go over the whole car first with Imperial Hand Glaze, which helps.

Can swirl marks on a black car be reomved/prevented, or is this a normal experience. Again, it looks pretty good, but in certain light...

John

Yes, they can be removed and prevented. Search for my name and read my "How To" articles. I cover most aspects of exterior detailing, including how to properly wash and polish out swirls.

Your biggest problem is most likely improper washing technique. Poor wash technique is THE SINGLE biggest contributor of swirl marks.

I have a 96 cosmos m3 and swirls will always happen. And yes they can be removed easily by buffing. Either find someone good at buffing or trust yourself and they will come right out. Just be careful not to burn the paint and take it easy on the edges. Other than that swirls can easily be taken out

Use a PC to buff as opposed to a rotary buffer as coloboardin is suggesting and you will have no worries with burning the paint, etc. PC"s are safe.

Thanks. I'm pretty careful about washing the car correctly, but I wash it a lot. Basically every time it gets dirty. Here in missouri, that's generally every 4 or 5 days.

It looks like I need to get one of those PC polishers. What liquid do I pilish with? I have 3M polish (white) that I can't remeber the name of, and 3M Imperial hand Glaze, which will remove some swirls in addition to hiding them.

The while polish makes a hazy surface, which scares me for the whole car.

Johno,

You may be really careful when washing, but still read my article. I think you'll be surprised at how much you're missing. As for polishes, haziness, etc, see my articles. Just search for my name and all the answers will appear before your eyes!!

The white 3m stuff you are using is finess it i beleive and that is a stronger compound to get down and remove the swirls you can see, it roughs up the paint, so after you go over it with that you need to use a polishing compound with a foam pad and go over it to remove all the swrils.