[younghov85]

I just waxed mine last night after using a clay bar and then an eletrical buffer, but it didnt seem to do anything impressive.

[christyles]

The color of the car doesnt determine how much easier the paint gets scratched. It's just that you see everything on a black car as opposed to alpine white or titanium silver.

my suggestion is if you're absolutely anal, learn as much as you can on autopia before you start zainoing or waxing your own car. Protecting your car is more than just a garden hose, a wash bucket and soap.

In the meantime, do research on who's the best in your area for detailing. That'll tie you over until you learn.

Jet black is a pain to keep clean but i wouldn't get any other color. When I'm ready for my next car, it will be a black one for sure.

If you ahve any other questions, please feel free to PM me or anybody else for that matter. I'm happy to help out.

[antidentite]

I love my JB, but hate the swirls.

[Ascension]

Originally Posted by jetblackbmw325

Hello,

I'm gonna get my Jet Black BMW 325i soon and reading this forum I started getting scared about all the care I need to take for this color . What do you guys suggest to as products (Zaino, etc.), towels to clean it properly w/o scratching it, etc?

Is it true that Jet Black scratches much more easily? Anything I can do to avoid that?

Also... will I have to handwash it all the times or is it safe to use also regular car wash?

Last question... any idea how much is gonna cost me to have the exterior detailing done by some detailing shop?

thanks!

What color tuxedo would you wear to a formal dinner? The answer= BLACK.

[gary328xi]

Guys, stay the hell away from the machine use some elbow grease it is well worth it. Remember to apply the wax in straight lines only. Hood, top and trunk apply front to back and all other areas top to bottom.

[Autopia Car Care]

Originally Posted by leosong11

www.autopia.org

Thank you for offering a fellow member detailing advice and for recommending Autopia Car Care as a source for great detailing supplies. We are available as a resource to your community to answer any questions you may have in regards to proper car care.

I would like to recommend our How-to Detailing Library. Currently we have more than 20 information packed articles on everything from polishing with a polisher to fixing scratched rims. If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask.

Drying in the sun wont cause swirl marks.
Debris between the towel and paint will cause swirls.
The swirl marks are actually tiny scratches. The swirl effect is caused by the scratches being made in a circular motion and the light hits the scratches at different angles.
A mild polish will flatten the scratches out very quickly.
Always use clean quality towels when drying your car.
Or use a shop vac blower to dry the car.

Again thank you for the recognition!
The Autopia Car Care Team

[328i]

By using the two bucket and two wash mit method I have been fairly successful in preventing adding swirl marks on my jet black e90. I use one mit for the upper parts of the car that dont get as dirty and then I use another mit for the lower parts which get dirtier. So far it seems like the only swirls I have added were from cleaning a couple bird bombs, cant wait till it warms up so I can try out the porter cable to remove them. While keeping a black car clean is a pain, when you get it detailed it gives you the most satisfaction imo.

[tdekany]

Originally Posted by 328i

By using the two bucket and two wash mit method I have been fairly successful in preventing adding swirl marks on my jet black e90. I use one mit for the upper parts of the car that dont get as dirty and then I use another mit for the lower parts which get dirtier. So far it seems like the only swirls I have added were from cleaning a couple bird bombs, cant wait till it warms up so I can try out the porter cable to remove them. While keeping a black car clean is a pain, when you get it detailed it gives you the most satisfaction imo.

You are one lucky guy.

here is one with 600 miles on it a after 2 washes: first by dealer 2nd by owner.

[tdekany]

Afters: I couldn't even use the pc on it - it just chewed up the paint. Only rotary worked on it. Touching this perticular color by hand? good luck guys!

[pander5]

That looks incredible after. What was your specific process and products?

[picus]

tdekany - the one you did is an e92, the one "328i" has is an e90. JB on e90s seems to be harder than JB on the e92s. I've had the same issue you had on JB e92s. After one dealer wash:

[IMG]http://****************/pics/335123106/k.jpg[/IMG]

And of course the afters...

[IMG]http://****************/pics/335123106/l.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://****************/pics/335123106/i.jpg[/IMG]

How long will that last? Who knows. Soft paint.

[328i]

After reading on here I was scared of trying to use the pc to try to remove some of my swirls, but I was able to remove most of them using menzerna final polish II and had no problems thankfully. After reading some of the horror stories on here I was expecting lots of swirls from the dealer once I went to wash my car the first time, but mine must have done something right because the paint was in good shape. Picus didnt you try to contact bmw of NA about the soft paint? I'm wondering why the coupes jet black is so much softer than the sedans.

[picus]

No I didn't. Odds are unless a lot of JB e92 owners complain BMW isn't going to care.

[ny325]

Does anyone know of a really good detail shop in (n.j) north bergan that can possibly remove swirl marks. I also have jet black.

[dawgdog]

No paint has more depth than Jet Black but these recent paints are so soft and scratch so easily. With my Jet Black M3 I had to do a full detail including polishing at least every 3 months to keep it pristine. The only way I would get black again is if I had a garage at home and at work. It wasn't practical to have a high quality detailer take care of my car as it would have been too much money. Instead, I learned how to detail my car, and though there is an investment involved, we have several cars and I have no trouble caring for them now.

[Paul330d]

My jet black 330d has ZERO swirl marks on it and I have washed it nearly every week since I got it 10 months ago. The secret is to use touchless car washes, then wipe down immediately with a microfibre towel BEFORE you drive home.

[brocken]

that's a good tip Paul. The only thing is to be careful of which touchless you use. We had some nasty weather and I had road grit I didn't want to hand wash off the car so I took it to a touchless place. The pressure was so high that it left micromarring on the hood and little pits on the roof. I realized that our paint is so soft that the extreme high pressure can be a bad thing.

tdekany and picus- great job on correcting the defects on those cars, looks great.
When I brought mine home after I stupidly let the dealer detail the new car it looked similar to those photos(not quite as bad though). I didn't feel brave enough to try a rotary on my car but I finally got a random orbital(PC). I tried a couple different products and pads and finally got most of the lighter swirls like that off with Optimum Polish and a blue pad. I tried some different yellow pads and those just left hazing. The hood especially took a lot of work. I actually used Megiuar's DACP and that helped a little.
If I feel really brave I might try Optimum compound or hyper compound this spring when I do another detail. Unless you're a foot away from the paint it looks like the after photos with the halogens shining on the car. I was frustrated at first, trying different things, but after a couple passes with OP and it looked like that I was ecstatic. I'm not 100% satisfied though(wife thinks I'm crazy) because if you're up really close you can still see the heavy scratches left by the dang dealer(probably used a fricken motorhome brush to wash).
Or, maybe I'll just leave it because I saw it a couple days later in bright sunlight and you couldn't see the hazing you'd see on almost any black car. That put a big smile on my face and my wife was really impressed(she helped me a lot with the polishing).

[dtelle]

Originally Posted by Paul330d

My jet black 330d has ZERO swirl marks on it and I have washed it nearly every week since I got it 10 months ago. The secret is to use touchless car washes, then wipe down immediately with a microfibre towel BEFORE you drive home.

Same method...same result.....my jet black did have any swirl...
high pressure wash, always a clean microfibre...
I refused that the dealer wash my car after a inspection.

[dmboone25]

Originally Posted by Paul330d

My jet black 330d has ZERO swirl marks on it and I have washed it nearly every week since I got it 10 months ago. The secret is to use touchless car washes, then wipe down immediately with a microfibre towel BEFORE you drive home.

I thought touchless washes left a film on the car--so drying with ANYTHING was a bad idea after going to one....

[bimmernotbeamer]

Originally Posted by leosong11

www.autopia.org

I'll also add that detailersclub.com is great resource for detailing information on the internet. We have the most knowledgeable Zaino users posting on our site as well as Sal himself who posts occasionally.

You should check it out as well.

To the OP. Jet black won't scratch more easily. However any scratches you out in the paint will be much more noticable. The end product you use is not nearly as important as the technique you employ when washing and drying. Improper washing and drying technique are the #1 cause of swirls.

As for which wax to get, I would say Z5Pro for black.

[bimmernotbeamer]

Originally Posted by dmboone25

I thought touchless washes left a film on the car--so drying with ANYTHING was a bad idea after going to one....

They do. If Paul looks closely enough he will see a brushed haze in his paint in bright lighting.

[Paul330d]

Originally Posted by DavidN

They do. If Paul looks closely enough he will see a brushed haze in his paint in bright lighting.

I did notice a slight dulling of the paint a couple of weeks back and decided to give the whole car its first polish & wax. I was a bit hesitant since this was obviously going to involve touching the paintwork (thereby risking swirl marks), but I was careful and the results seem good to me (nice shiny black paint again and no swirl marks).

I should maybe point out that I only ever use the 'wash' and 'rinse' settings at the touchless car wash, avoiding the 'wax' and 'finish' settings because I don't want any cheap chemicals on the car.