[orionredwing]

I am a new Flex and machine user. The first time I used the Flex, it was on my fiancee's Yellow beetle:

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=132347

The results came out great using IP/FPII on speed 5/6. I had no problems getting swirls out of this almost 100% swirled car. It was very easy performing paint correction.

----
TODAY

I couldn't resist trying the Flex on a heavily swirled area of my hood using the new SIP/106FF products I just received (detailed image's April special). My paint is Montego Blue.

The hood has very intense/dense swirls caused by a contaminated clay bar, but no grooves when I performed the finger tip test (very smooth when finger tip went over swirls).

My first pass w/ 106FF (white pad, speed 5) yielded no improvement.

I then tried 3 passes of SIP orange pad, speed 5/6! Each pass yielded steady improvements, but after 3 passes, and 20-30 minutes later (!), I only got about 80% swirl free on the same panel! At that point, I knew I needed to stop and get some advice from e90post's detailing experts. At this rate, my polish will take....12-18 hrs for the whole car?

My technique:
1) 2 dime sized dabs of SIP on outer edge of orange pad (since the orange pad is concaved, if i apply product in the center, it is very hard to spread unless I lean into the Flex w/ ~50 lbs of force. I found it easier to dab on the perimeter and apply on speed 1 w/ minimal force - it did spread evenly).

2) Per the videos after spreading the product in <10 secs, I dialed it up to 5 (6 on 3rd pass) and went to work on an 18"x24" area. I moved slowly at a rate of ~1" per sec. I think I made 3-4 horizontal and 3-4 vertical passes, totalling about 4 minutes on each SIP application. I basically took my time, hummed a tune in my mind, and followed the recommendation to work the product through until it cleared to a 'haze', at which point I made another pass or 2 to be sure before wiping off. I did stumble upon a bathroom scale at Walmart the other day, so am pretty sure I am applying slightly >20 lbs (maybe 20-30lbs) of force.

So I believe I am working the product slowly enough, and am breaking it down. Is BMW's metallic paint that hard to work on?!? It just sounds like I'm not doing something right if I didn't get to 100% after 3 passes of SIP on an area w/ no grooves using the finger tip test! It was so much easier on my fiancee's beetle, and I was only using IP on speed 5 back then.

Thanks for your help. Wish I had pictures, but my camera isn't too good, and I couldn't get anything clear on regular or macro mode. I have subscribed to this thread, and hopefully will hear my Blackberry chime w/ your help as I get back to my garage

[orionredwing]

EDIT UPDATE: I finished my hood tonight. It took me....5 hours to correct the entire hood Since I couldn't get to the other parts of my car tonight, I decided to do a product comparison test on the hood.

Many areas took 2-3 passes of SIP, and I also did a final polish with 106FF.

Products to Compare:
Menzerna FTG with Poorboy's World EX-P
vs
Chemical Guys (CG) EZ-CREME II with CG JetSeal 109

I will take some pics tomorrow before applying a 2nd coat. I did the FMINUS recommendation and am leaving Jetseal on for 12 hrs b4 removing. To be fair, I am also leaving EX-P on for 12 hrs, although I'm not sure if it's formulated to be left on that long. I will find out tomorrow morning how hard it is to remove...

[e90driver]

Keep us posted about the rest of the car. I have never used my flex yet and I am taking delivery of my Montego E92 on Tuesday.

I also ordered the combo from DI but am waiting to receive it.

[ScheerSpeed]

you may need a more aggresive polish if SIP isn't leaving the surface 100%. or a more agressive pad...

[BK]

My guess was going to be that you weren't applying any pressure, but I read your post and it sounds like you're doing everything right. You might want to not bother with speed 5 and just do all the polishing at speed 6. It heats up the panel pretty well, which supposedly makes correction easier. I can't imagine the difference between 5 and 6 is what's causing your trouble, though.

Also, I don't think it's the paint. I have metallic paint, and with just 106FF with a white pad, using a Flex at speed 6, I've been able to get just about everything out -- swirls, bird crap and tree sap etching, and even fine wet sand marks. I've needed to make a second or third pass at a few spots, but so far I've had no need for SIP or an orange pad on my car.

Maybe your clay bar scratches were deeper than you thought? I'm as baffled as you that it would take so long to take them out with SIP and an orange pad. I'd defer to ScheerSpeed that maybe a more aggressive polish and pad would be needed.

[orionredwing]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I don't have anything more aggressive than SIP at this time, but do have a single yellow pad. I will try a different section (my trunk is really swirled) and see how big a difference it makes.

Since I spent such a crazy amount of time on that blasted hood, I decided to write a product comparison. Will send it to a new thread.

[Detailed Image]

The one thing I can recommend from reading about your technique and process is if you aren't getting the results you're looking for in a given working area, make it smaller. 18" x 24" is a pretty large working area for anyone, I'd recommend starting with something like 12" x 12". This means you'll get more like 6 ~ 8 passes per area instead of 3 ~ 4, and gives you more working time in a given area before the polish begins to break down or dry up. Everything else you wrote about was pretty much on point. Nice comparison you did on the other thread, I enjoyed reading it.

George

[JOYRIIDE1113]

Originally Posted by Detailed Image

The one thing I can recommend from reading about your technique and process is if you aren't getting the results you're looking for in a given working area, make it smaller. 18" x 24" is a pretty large working area for anyone, I'd recommend starting with something like 12" x 12". This means you'll get more like 6 ~ 8 passes per area instead of 3 ~ 4, and gives you more working time in a given area before the polish begins to break down or dry up. Everything else you wrote about was pretty much on point. Nice comparison you did on the other thread, I enjoyed reading it.

George

Dead ON! Exactly what i wanted to say. Even with a rotory, I sometimes have to work a small area like 12x12 in order to get the best cut. Smaller areas give you more time and passes to work on the correction and yield a superior finish.

[orionredwing]

Thanks for the tip, George & Joyriide! It makes so much sense! Can't wait to try it out.

Originally Posted by Detailed Image

The one thing I can recommend from reading about your technique and process is if you aren't getting the results you're looking for in a given working area, make it smaller. 18" x 24" is a pretty large working area for anyone, I'd recommend starting with something like 12" x 12". This means you'll get more like 6 ~ 8 passes per area instead of 3 ~ 4, and gives you more working time in a given area before the polish begins to break down or dry up. Everything else you wrote about was pretty much on point. Nice comparison you did on the other thread, I enjoyed reading it.

George

[agentm]

Flex is a great polisher but sometime it takes too long still no matter what size of the area you're working on. If you want a little more speed, try the rotory and wet sanding. That's what I use for compounding. It save more time but should have experience when using this machine.