I have a LBB M2 arriving late October, and as a co-incidence, my wife is going on vacation for two weeks in early November, and I'm taking time off work to look after the kids. This is going to give me some time to focus on my new M2 while she's away and the kids are at school.
I'm planning to have the front end PPF'd as soon as I pick up the car, but have always done my own polishing and coating in the past. It's something that I take pride in, and I have plenty of tools (Porter Cable, Flex, Rotary, Air Compressor, Tornador Black, DI Water System and Pressure Washer etc.)
I coated my current car (2012 Jaguar XF, Black), and my wife's car (2016 Honda Pilot, also Black) with CQuartz in around May last year, and it's holding up well, but I'd say it will probably need re-coating (after first polishing to remove the existing coating) in about spring next year. The coating is still present and doing a good job of resisting swirls etc. but it's not quite as hydrophobic as it used to be.
In terms of polish, I've tried several, but have actually had the most success with these two cars using Meguiars Ultimate Polish and Ultimate Compound combined with Lake Country Hybrid (now called Force Hybrid I believe) pads. For spot polishing, I've also found the Meguiars 4" soft buff pads to be effective on a cordless drill, obviously followed with a DA to remove any buffer trails. I'm running out of the Ultimate Polish and Ultimate Compound, and wondering what a good set of polish / compound would be good to replace them with.
The things I don't like about the Ultimate Compound and Ultimate Polish is that they both contain quite a bit of polishing oils, which I have to remove with IPA before moving on to a coating or sealant. The Ultimate Compound also dusts quite a bit, which is annoying, but tolerable. Finally, both the Ultimate Compound and Ultimate Polish can sometimes be difficult to buff off, and in these cases, I need to use IPA to get off the residue.
Finally, coating... I still have some CQuartz and DLUX left from the work I did in May, and I've not checked, but this may have expired by now, even though they've been kept inside the house since then. I'm therefore interested in DIY coating solutions that I might try as a replacement for CQuartz.
I'm very happy with CQuartz actually, but did find that the installation on the two black cars I have was slightly fussy. In Norther California, the weather is dry and warm, and I found that I had to buff off the coating almost as soon as I applied it. If I left it more than about 5 minutes, I'd end up with streaks that couldn't be removed without polishing out. As long as I worked within this limitation, everything was fine though, so I'm happy to try CQuartz again if that is still a good and well regarded option.
For maintenance, I have plenty of Reload, Reset and Iron-X, as well as Ultima Waterless Wash+ as a QD and rinse-less wash if the car is only dusty. I'd rather not throw these things away, so if possible I'd like to choose a coating that's compatible with these products.
To summarise, I'm looking for the following:
- Coating that's compatible with Reload, Reset, Iron-X and Ultima WW+. Should also be suitable for coating PPF (most likely Suntek or Clearguard Nano), and wheels (though this could be a different product like DLUX)
- Finishing Polish that doesn't have excessive oils, and works well with a Flex and Hybrid pads
- Slightly more aggressive polish for removing minor scratches, damage from bird bombs and water spots etc.
Any suggestions tips or advice on working with BMW LBB paint would be most appreciated!