I have been thinking for some time that I should pamper my E46 M3 with one of the above. Having looked on the internet I'm now totally confused with the choices available. For example do I use the Zymol Z3 BMW glaze, or one of the hand crafted waxes. What's the difference between a wax and a glaze? What's the best, Zaino or Zymol?

If you are a 'Polish Guru' would you please provide me with some guidance.

Thanks,

Steve

You should see some links to my black sport evo. It would mark extremely easily. I used a detailer who uses Zymol, he came and washed the car and did a section of my bonnet and decided that he couldn't help. Alot of money was wasted here. Also the section he Zymol'd looked nice - for a day! Then the finish was NO different to the rest of the bonnet. This was a VERY expensive Zymol wax which was applied by hand. It was EXTREMELY disappointing!

John (C76JON) was my last chance before I decided to just sell the car. He came and did his stuff, used the Zaino products and the car stayed the same as he left it for 4 months until I decided to wash the car, and treat it with some more zaino wax. It it truely amazing stuff. Used in conjunction with a Porter Cable and microfibre cloths, it is unbeatable.

I would suggest you pm John and ask his advice. He has tried them all and some!

Hope this helps.

Nick @ TBMW wrote: I used to be quite into detailing (before the track bug hit!) and I found that it didn't really matter so much what you used in the end (each product only gives minor difference/preferences). The main results are in the prep of the paintwork prior to waxing. Hence why Paul got such good results - a Porter Cable does a great job of prepping paint... Zymol and Zaino is way way too expensive for what it is. Similar (if not better) results can be obtained from stuff that costs a LOT less. Meguiars Pro range being a good example. I tend to get a lot of stuff from www.seriousperformance.co.uk. It's all the high quality stuff that's imported from America/Germany.

i agree largely with what you are saying regards prep

prep is without doubt the only way to get magnificent results

there is no other way.........period

but i totally disagree with it doesnt matter what you use afterwards

zymol is wax.wax offers very little protection to your paint and will deterioate as soon as its applied and the sun and rain and washing the car will speed up that process massively.

synthetic sealants are the most durable on a paints surface

zaino has massive uv protection and will look the same months and months on after first application whereas wax wont and will need topping off regular

you say that other products will give better results and are a lot cheaper yet you say zaino is too expensive for you which suggests you have never tried it.with all due respect thats a strong claim to make without having tried??

also a point to make is that with zaino you use the smallest amount of product.it goes miles and miles.so 15 quid may to some seam dear but it will last for ages as the system when applied correctly performs best with less.

i have tried hundreds of products.85% are pure rubbish and 10 percent are good products that give good results

the last 5% are the best products that do give better results no matter their cost etc

jaw dropping results are not achieved with the magazine hyped products

meguiars do make some good stuff but the stuff on the shelf in this country is pretty dire.only using their professional bodyshop/detailing products do you get really good results

please dont think iam here defending zaino to the death because im not

zainos results speak for themselves.they make allsorts of products for glass,trim etc

they are good but not the best.imho einzett make best glass cleaner and 303 space protectorant is the best trim detailer

but what i do know is that having tried for many years many 1000's of pounds worth of products that as we speak zaino is THE best paint system available and if it wasnt i wouldnt use it.if another product appeared at 10 times the cost and it gave me better results id buy it

show me a meguiars product that will do this after an initial application

john

That is one amazing bonnet !

I use Zymol titanium wax and meguiars polish, but only after Zymol cleanse all applied with clean microfibres. Seems to work pretty good for me, but will have to save up and try Zaino.

The only point i would make, and i accept i am probably a relative novice, is that i find that you can get away with using a lot less of most products than people do and still get good or better results.  So i wouldn't say this was a positive reason to use Zaino.  If it genuinely produces better results that also last longer then that is a reason to buy it.

Holy sh*t that bonnet is like glass - I should really give the e34 a polish as it looks like she's not had one for a few years! She could certainly do with the C76JON treatment. I think I may be a bit far  away for you though! Fantastic work there mate

Paul

i can assure you that i didnt spend ages setting up lighting rigs and phoning david bailey when the shot was taken

so zaino has sent you samples?? which products did he send??

id be interested in which ones you tried and whether they were the pro polishes or not

i admit people may have preferences but lets face it the majority of people who want some kind of finish on a paint surface want it to be achievable in approx half an hour ,cost £4 and make the car faster

yes its a debate that will rage on for ever and i accept your point about best etc

but as an all round performer ie finish,application ease,removal ease,residue left,uv protection,longevity and price zaino is going to be hard to beat

john

Nick, The Porter cable is one of the reasons my paint finish looks soo good. The bodyshop who painted the car used thier usual buffer and products to get rid of the scratches which appeared 2 weeks after it was finished. Basically the glaze they used lasted 2 weeks and all the imperfections shon out like sore thumbs. They buffed and polished it again, but in direct sunlight the car looked a dog. Its only the zaino products, porter cable and microfires which have kept the swirl marks away. I use the porter cable to apply the wax/polish and rub off with the microfibre cloths. Also there is never any residue either. When I wash the car now, the water literally falls off the paint. It hardly needs drying once rinsed off.

Did you see my car in the direct sunlight Nick, if so, did you see any swirls?

Thanks for your views on Zaino and Zymol.

What 'kit' do I need to prepare my car prior to polishing, and how do I attempt to get a finish like John's?

I too use Zymol. The good stuff, not that cheap crap from Halfords!

A 'glaze' is the same as a wax. The Zymol pre-wax product called HD-Cleanse does all the hard work, involved in removing dead paint, swirls, tar etc etc. The wax then adds a natural looking deep shine that looks like you can dive into it, and adds a layer of protection over the car. This inturn means that when you wash the car next time it will look as good as it did when you first waxed it.

Personally I prefer the look that Zymol gives, as IMO it looks more natural. True the Zaino finish is amazing, but again IMO a little overcooked. If you are serious into detailing then fair enough, but I enjoy driving my car, and if it gets dirty then so be it. I wouldnt want to spend another full day re-applying the long list of products. What I wanted from a product was ease of use, and longevity, which I whole heartadly believe Zymol gives you. It is expensive but it does last a long time.

No disrespect to Jon, but I have seen write ups on Zaino before. The prepping list of products was huge! Pre-wax, then an additive, then something else, then the polish etc etc... For me I cant see any 'ease of use' with these, as you have to put so many products on. Maybe they last a really long time I dont know.

For my personal needs I am very happy with Zymol (Titanium Wax -specifically developed for SUVs, as it keeps tar and bugs off. Works best out of the 'affordable waxes'. And know I dont have a SUV!). It gives great performance, without being a pain in time and effort to apply.

srdenny wrote: I too use Zymol. The good stuff, not that cheap crap from Halfords! A 'glaze' is the same as a wax. The Zymol pre-wax product called HD-Cleanse does all the hard work, involved in removing dead paint, swirls, tar etc etc. The wax then adds a natural looking deep shine that looks like you can dive into it, and adds a layer of protection over the car. This inturn means that when you wash the car next time it will look as good as it did when you first waxed it. Personally I prefer the look that Zymol gives, as IMO it looks more natural. True the Zaino finish is amazing, but again IMO a little overcooked. If you are serious into detailing then fair enough, but I enjoy driving my car, and if it gets dirty then so be it. I wouldnt want to spend another full day re-applying the long list of products. What I wanted from a product was ease of use, and longevity, which I whole heartadly believe Zymol gives you. It is expensive but it does last a long time. No disrespect to Jon, but I have seen write ups on Zaino before. The prepping list of products was huge! Pre-wax, then an additive, then something else, then the polish etc etc... For me I cant see any 'ease of use' with these, as you have to put so many products on. Maybe they last a really long time I dont know. For my personal needs I am very happy with Zymol (Titanium Wax -specifically developed for SUVs, as it keeps tar and bugs off. Works best out of the 'affordable waxes'. And know I dont have a SUV!). It gives great performance, without being a pain in time and effort to apply.

wax does not give good protection

it deterioates from moment of application

rain and sun and washing speed up that process

no matter what zymol product

no matter what wax it does not last 

to use zaino for first time you need 3 products

a swirl remover/cleanser (which hd cleanse claims to be but its very poor at swirl removing )

z1 which is applied very thin and left on the panel then either z2 pro or z3 then buff off

there is so much disinformation about zaino its unreal

if you use the zfx additive in witrh your z2 or z3 you can miss out the z1 altogether so in fact only two applications are then needed which in fact is no more than zymol

the time and work in paintwork is the prep before top coats are applied

this is the same no matter which  end products you use.hd cleanse by zymol is nowhere near a good enough performing product for most prep applications

yes maybe on relatively new paint but as far as removing swirls its a poor performer.its for removing very light oxidisation but mainly acts to remove previous products used on paint so thr zymol wax has a clean surface to attatch to.

unfortunately too many people believe the hype.zymol is a quality product and will give good finish but i only really include some of their waxes in that statement and as already stated nothing that is sold at halfords!

to get zymol to give better performance you are far better off using a prep product from 3M,Sonus,optimum,poor boys,professional meguiars range , menzerna,einzette or zaino zpc

many of these products are never ever mentioned in magazines etc but are what are used by some of the worlds best detailers

they are not expensive and can be had on average for about 13 quid

nearly half that of zymol hd cleanse

put a tub of zymol or any wax out in the sun for a few hours and tell me what happens

thats exactly whats happening to it whilst on the panel

wax is not in any form by any manufacturer durable

and by this i mean true wax with carnuaba content

john

UweM3 wrote: SHEPSM3 wrote: John (C76JON) was my last chance before I decided to just sell the car. Sell the Sport EVO because it wasn't nice to polish??? Jesus, I wish I would have your problems.....

 Uwe, seems a bit extreme I know, but how would you feel once you've spend upwards of £5K trying to get your body/paintwork in as perfect condition as possible to end up with something that looked like you polished it with a brillo pad?

Zaino gets my vote!!

After C76Jon prepped my car and applied Zaino, I have applied about another 4 or 5 applications of Z2pro and the shine has got deeper and deeper.

Water just runs off the car when I wash it now and using good microfibre has made sure that no swirls have been put into the paint.

My car has never been sprayed and the finish turns heads. Had lots of positive comments from Joe public!!

That's one thing about left hand drive, you can have conversations with other drivers when you are stuck in traffic jams!

to have exactly the finish you had the moment you finished applying it

i would quite confidently say that 7-9 months is well achievable

like you say its a hard thing to actually predict due to differing conditions etc but this would be an average to worst case scenario

john

Hey Uwe, that wasn't just for the re-spray, but brand new wings, bonnet, sunroof, doors, windscreen, grilles, de-chrome trims (ALL) locks, handles, seals, badges and lights!  But now it looks fantastic thanks to John.

I was told not to mod a Sport Evo!  So thanks to you, I got the Evo2 for that

Oh, here is a couple of pics of sport evo to show the reflection which can be expected from Zaino if we're going there ...

here is mine with zymol

 Nice Mike!

Here's another zaino one....

M3cK wrote: SHEPS I could do with one of those in my bathroom

What a MCC Smart?

i dont think the advantage is being metallic or solid colour really

but dark colours,black ,blue,red etc do give a better initial impact imho

metallics are harder work to get blemish free imho but the results are as dramatic

M3cK wrote: SHEPS I could do with one of those in my bathroom

how about one of these in the bathroom

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-0512lamborghini-pg,0,3655134.photogallery?index=6 - http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-0512lamborghini-pg,0,36 55134.photogallery?index=6

So getting back to reality which products should I buy bearing in mind that I have chosen to go the zaino route?

Car has already been clayed and cheapy halfords polished so the next steps should be....

Do I need Z-7 Show Car Wash to prep or will any old cleaner do

A swirl remover such as Meguire's stuff

Zaino Z-2 pro with mix stuff ZFX Flash Cure Accelerator Additive (or just Z-1????) to prep

Zaino 2 Pro for polish

Zaino Z-6 Ultra Clean Gloss Enhancer Spray for protection

All applied with a random orbital sander and appropriate pads

How does that sound, I can get family to bring me the items a bit cheaper from Australia so can basically get the stuff I want

Some of those cars look dangerous. Its like driving a mirror down the road.

rr_ww wrote: Jon. A suggestion if I may be so bold If you get the time. (and I imagine it would take a few days! ) Could you do a full report (in relatively small steps) of what you did to Sheps car. From the first inspection (Step 1) to the final photos being taken (Step 75) . If you could intersperse it with links to the products (both liquid and hardware) used and any photos of the techniques used. I think ALL members on here would appreciate it, and it would go a long way to help ease the confusion over the whole process of getting a nice finish. I thoink it would stop all the questions you end up getting on these threads It might be worth getting it hosted elsewhere though. Rather than trying to put it in one thread on this forum.

i agree.  Would be good to know in a nutshell what is needed for the first time zaino users, where is the best place to get it from and how much it costs?

moved house friday so in total chaos at minit

mind you ive sorted the garage first!!!

so i can now prep cars at home if anyone needs help

please bear with me and ill get somat together

john

john

Check out this link to the E30 Zone. Midway through you will find a post from John which pretty much sums up the process.

www.e30zone.co.uk/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=25445 - www.e30zone.co.uk/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic &t=25445

It is not a complicated process but just a litlle time consuming to do the prep work. Once that it done the actual polish application is really quick and easy and my car looks better than when John did it a few months ago.

Mark