I thought I would share my personal observations from my somewhat rudimentary testing of three different finishes over the past two weeks.

Sequence used on three different cars (all German) were: wash, clay, then:
1) P21S GEPC - Zaino (3 coats) - P21S wax on one car,
2) WG polish - WG Sealant (2 coats) (no wax) on another, and
3) P21S GEPC - P21S wax alone on the third.

Polishing facilitated by PC with white LC pad.

All three cars are different colors, so side by side is somewhat difficult.

Operational notes:
Wash - formerly used Sonax, now use Meguiars GC

Clay - Clay Magic/CM Lube glides easier than Mothers system (I used both in this process), doesn't hang up on slightly dry areas as does Mothers. Clay is less piable so it holds it shape a bitter better than Mothers which flattens out and breaks apart quite easily.

Polish - W/ the PC, both P21S & WG go on about the same; P21S seems to dry faster, the WG is removed with slightly greater effort than P21S, but the bottle cap spout of WG makes it far simplier to load a LC pad than the P21S.

Sealant - Both Zaino & WG applied, coated and removed with similar ease. I use MF for removing bulk of excess, then flannel (from fabric store) for removing remaining sealant and polishing by hand.

Wax - Same MF cloth and flannel process. P21S not as easy to apply/remove as Blitz, but much easier to work with than any of the Zymol waxes (have used them all).

Appearance
"Zaino" car is Sterling Grey Metallic (BMW). It reflects the most light, but then again it is Sterling Grey Metallic. I don't see that the P21S wax added any depth.

"WG" car is Oxford Green Metallic (BMW). Beautiful shine with some level of color depth after only 2 coats of WG Sealant.

"P21S wax only" is Capri Blue Metallic (Benz). A little less shine, but discernibly the best depth.

Comparison
I finished the "Zaino" car first and thought, "wow what a brilliant shine". But after finishing the "WG" car, I found myself prefering that appearance over the "beacon of light". Finally, the "P21S wax only" car did appear, in my wife's words (she who must be obeyed) "more elegant". But then again, it was the Benz.

I do not believe the wax topper added softness or depth to the shine of Zaino. If "mirror on wheels" is your ticket, I commend you to the brotherhood of Zaino. The WG sealant probably offers the best balance of shine, elegance and protection, should the shine and protection endure over time. Next weekend I may add a coat of P21S wax to this car for comparison. The P21S wax offers probably the most aesthetically pleasing appearance for an elegant car. However, monthly waxing would likely be necessary.

Waxing as a topper
I noted little change in appearance in using wax as a sealant topper. However, it did appear that water sheets off more efficiently and faster with a waxed final coat than with sealant alone. Since a waxed finish feels more slick to the touch, perhaps wax provides less surface tension to water than sealant alone. A "plus" during washing and when drying rain from a car, but need to offset with the time taken to apply and buff out the wax.

Just my humble contribution.

Thanks for the review, but got a couple of questoins:

Just as a benchmark, how long did you wait between the Zaino layers and Carnuba topper. Same question between WG layers. If you just did them one step after the other, that may explain the lack of a "pop" on Zaino.

As for the slickness factor, I found that WG was as good if not better in the slickness department than P21S. Also I thought it was easier to remove than P21S (I'm surprised that you find Blitz an easier application). I'm wondering if the surfaces were evenly prepped (ie the slickness is directly related to whether the car needs to be clayed - if the Capri is slicker than the Bimmer, I'm wondering what the original paint condition was). I think your appearance comparision is fairly representative, but the slickness/sheeting is more indicative of the original condition/prep of the paintwork.

Thanks for the response hal9000 (allusion to "2001"? - IT professional?)

First coat of Zaino using the accelerator was applied one night . Second coat following morning followed by third coat that afternoon. Second and third coats were likewise using the Zaino accelerator. Thoughts on result basis this information? Could you further explain your term, "pop"?

All three cars are reasonably new (Oxford green is a 2002, the oldest). I treated each the same so as to limit the variables.

You could be correct as to the source of the slickness difference I discovered between the P21S and WG. However, I did indeed note a perceptible difference (albeit slight) when buffing using the smooth flannel.

Blitz vs. P21S. Somewhere I read the P21S has a higher carnauba content than does the Blitz. Recalling my Zymol experience where hand temperature was used to "melt" the higher carnauba content wax prior to application, perhaps the Blitz was applied when the ambient temperature was lower than when I applied the P21S more recently when the temp was close to 70. The Blitz is my "winter wax", applied just before the temps drop.

I would agree with your assessment that WG was easier to remove than P21S.

Until I can get a handle on endurance of the WG sealant, for now, taking price point and application time into consideration, the WG sealant sans wax topper appears to be an optimal combination of function and aesthetics for me.

Cyrano, awesome write up.

A few questions though: For applications # 1, Would Zaino still bond properly to the paint after using GEPC? I was under the impression that GEPC contains some minor chemicals and isn't just a flat out polish.

Also, What's WP?

The ultimate test would be if someone tried different combonations on a few different jet black cars.

Thanks, Art.

Perhaps others more informed than I could answer to P21S GEPC's ingredients. I tried to locate an MSDS sheet for the product, but was unsuccessful. I can report that the first coat of Zaino seemed to adhere without incident to my cars' German paint. As indicated earlier, after three coats, the reflection was so bright I was a little unsure of the color (which might have partially been attributable to the Sterling Grey Metallic color).

What's WP? Being of the Vietnam era, white phosphorus comes to mind. However, you may be referring to WG = Wolfgang.

Maybe not the ultimate test, but all cars of one color would eliminate one variable. But black? Anyone own a funeral home?

Thanks for the response hal9000 (allusion to "2001"? - IT professional?)

First coat of Zaino using the accelerator was applied one night . Second coat following morning followed by third coat that afternoon. Second and third coats were likewise using the Zaino accelerator. Thoughts on result basis this information? Could you further explain your term, "pop"?


Yep, I'm in IT. "pop" is generally the term associated with the metamorphasis between the flat mirror like finish that Zaino leaves and the deeper wet look that carnuba gives. I'm thinking that if you didn't allow the Zaino to fully cure, you may not have seen as much of a difference by adding a topper. Usually when I see reference to topping Zaino, it's usually the next day or later, not immediately after application

Estoril, Zaino has been used after GEPC w/o any issues I believe. If you remove GEPC with a MF, you shouldn't have any issues with putting Z over it. GEPC is more of a chemical cleaner than an abrasive polish. It does contain "Nutrient Oils" but I don't believe that it interfers with Z when removed properly.

Cyrano1818 you know you could always do the same car, just different areas of the hood/trunk with the different polishes right :evil2 I agree though, I'm very impressed with WG so far - too bad I'm not going to do much of a longivity test (I'm planning on doing a full detail w/ SMR in mid April, so WG will stay on the car about 6 weeks).

Maybe not the ultimate test, but all cars of one color would eliminate one variable. But black? Anyone own a funeral home?

LOL, no, but you have to admit that there is nothing like a clean black car (jet black E38 comes to mind).

Hal,

I will consider stripping the wax topper from the Z and allowing it to cure further before reapplying the wax. When I tackle the next car this weekend, my plan is to apply one coat of Zaino each week sans accelerator to determine if there is a difference in "pop" attributable to the accelerator.

I did consider preparing one side of the hood/car one way, the other side a different way asyou suggested. However, I was not sure I would enjoy driving an "experiment" to work. It would of course be less of a difference than some of the other two tone cars here in Chicago; one color of choice, the other being Bondo.

Art, (Portuguese?)
One tends to make a command decision to wean yourself from "B on B" when you jump in the car on a hot summer day after leaving the moon roof open, and you are wearing shorts........

From here it is time to experiment with interior products.

I will consider stripping the wax topper from the Z and allowing it to cure further before reapplying the wax. When I tackle the next car this weekend, my plan is to apply one coat of Zaino each week sans accelerator to determine if there is a difference in "pop" attributable to the accelerator.


IIRC as long as you're not putting on more than 2 coats, the accelerator doesn't make any difference except for the curing times. However if you're trying to put more than 2 layers on in the same session, then the accelerator layers had milky streaks/haze in them, but they went away as soon as everything cured. Conventional wisdom says to do 8-10 layers of Z, then wait a week and put the final carnuba topper on the car. Supposively the best of both worlds - I'm planning on doing the WG thing probally somewhere in the neighborhood of 6-8 layers and leaving it that way and seeing how long I can last (that's me, not the car :D )

How do you guys reccomend keeping wax out of cracks..? (coz otherwise it creeps out and leaves white streaks later on!)

Should i just leave a 1cm edge from rubber and plastic? If so, is it bad that they wont be getting wax?? Cheers..

To our Kiwi friend (North or South Island?)
I believe there to be two schools of thought. Masking the trim with a type of tape referenced in other posts, or cleaning the trim where wax or sealant has encroached. A third if you will accept masking the trim.

I have adopted the latter. One way I have adopted to remove trim wax was to apply peanut butter with a a cheap, soft bristle toothbrushful then removing with a cloth. Following that, apply the trim dressing of your choic using somethis similar to this Autogeek applicator http://autogeek.net/sm505.html

I believe this to be a better solution than just masking the trim using Black Again or other such product. Masking will have to be done after every other wash or so.

BTW. I added 3 additional layers of WG Sealant to the 325xi Oxford Green (her car) for a total of 5 layers before adding a final topper of P21S carnauba. Results are awesome. I feel this provides the optimal balance of shine, depth and elegance. My wife (she who must be obeyed) is becoming concerned over the time I am spending in detailing the cars; threatened to disconnect me from bimmerforums.

While she is shopping today, have decided to begin detailing the LP500 using the WG circuit. Will be interesting to see if the Italian paint reacts the same as the German paint.

Thanks for that - I gave it some wax today, very nice stuff the meguiars clear coat wax! And yeah im from the north island!

Its just a matter of keeping my finish free of rock chips!

Cosmos is damn sexy tho.