Autoglym... any Good?

[Dean83]

I got my new 335d f30 three weeks ago and twice it's been to my local carwash. They do try to do a good job but already my car has picked up a couple of fine scratches, exposed zips on jackets touching my car made me cringe too! Given I paid extra for the individual Citrine Black I want to keep it swirl free and so I'm going to DIY from now on. There is an Autoglym package that includes:
325ml Bodywork Shampoo Conditioner
325ml Super Resin Polish
325ml Extra Gloss Protection
500ml Clean Wheels
500ml Instant Tyre Dressing
300ml Wheel Protector

This is £31. I will be hand polishing as I don't have a machine. Any views on this kit? Good enough or am I better spending my money elsewhere?

[Ninja59]

325ml Bodywork Shampoo Conditioner - is okay
325ml Super Resin Polish - is good, is mostly an all in one containing fillers, polishing and wax content - It fills more than anything though, if that is what you want
325ml Extra Gloss Protection - hateful product, and for some reason AG seem incapable of understanding that putting this on after SRP reduce durability all round with the solvent content of the EGP also stripping some of the fillers in Super Resin Polish
500ml Clean Wheels - use it once maybe and then get them sealed with either a proper ceramic wheel sealant or just a wheel sealant - it is acidic in nature and your diamond cut wheels could suffer. Once sealed use the Shampoo above to clean with wheel brushes in a 3rd bucket. However if it were me I would just get some Carpro IronX and forget about wheel cleaners, I have not used an actual wheel cleaner for years because things IronX contain degreasing agents anyway...
500ml Instant Tyre Dressing - an okay product but takes some time to dry
300ml Wheel Protector - useless.

Oh and get some proper wheel brushes (Wheel Woolies), wash mitt (Carpro wash mitt I like), drying towel, buckets (get the 10 litre building ones from Amazon if you can),

Edited by Ninja59 on Tuesday 17th October 10:05

[HedgeyGedgey]

To get those swirl marks out fully you'll need to machine polish. I've found the super resin polish to leave a milky residue once taken off but it does give a nice feel and beads quite nicely. For what you're after itll be fine. No matter what dont polish in circles, thats how the swirls get there, straight lines only. Washing with a sponge try to avoid the circular motion too

[crankedup]

This thread needs to be transferred into the bodywork and detailing section.

Personally I wouldn't bother with autoglym, there are far better options available.

[designforlife]

SRP is good, and i've always liked their rubber and vinyl restorer...but the rest of their line isn't anything to write home about.

[Ninja59]

HedgeyGedgey said:

To get those swirl marks out fully you'll need to machine polish. I've found the super resin polish to leave a milky residue once taken off but it does give a nice feel and beads quite nicely. For what you're after itll be fine. No matter what dont polish in circles, thats how the swirls get there, straight lines only. Washing with a sponge try to avoid the circular motion too

Milky residue is down to using too much usually.

Do not polish in circles? So what is a machine doing? In reality swirls are caused by grit and other dirt being caught up on the surface, if grit gets caught up by something in contact then RDS will occur instead of a swirl when going in a straight line. The end result is simply a different type of defect being introduced.

The failure is more down to not using clean equipment, lack of lubrication or excessive pressure.

[Agent XXX]

Why have you got swirl marks on a brand new car?

Anyway, AG stuff is ok. Not great but OK.

[HedgeyGedgey]

Ninja59 said:

HedgeyGedgey said:

To get those swirl marks out fully you'll need to machine polish. I've found the super resin polish to leave a milky residue once taken off but it does give a nice feel and beads quite nicely. For what you're after itll be fine. No matter what dont polish in circles, thats how the swirls get there, straight lines only. Washing with a sponge try to avoid the circular motion too

Milky residue is down to using too much usually.

Do not polish in circles? So what is a machine doing? In reality swirls are caused by grit and other dirt being caught up on the surface, if grit gets caught up by something in contact then RDS will occur instead of a swirl when going in a straight line. The end result is simply a different type of defect being introduced.

The failure is more down to not using clean equipment, lack of lubrication or excessive pressure.

My dads spent all his life as a sprayer, trust me hand polishing can put the swirls in. The machine is able to spin at xxxrpm and its actually taking away a very fine layer of the lacquer. Before you use a machine you should measure the thickness of the paint so you dont polish through because of this. Polishing in circles is a big no no by hand in short, the swirls were put into the OPs car because of the dirt and grit thats on the sponge yes, hand polishing in the circles you'll be making them deeper and deeper into the lacquer as you're going with them not against

[Yipper]

You will need a polishing machine for about £100 to polish out those swirls.

Or you can cover them up and fill them in temporarily, with something like Soft99 Scratch wax.

[AllyBassman]

AG's shampoo is a good traffic film remover, safe to use on any treated car.

The EGP is a pain to buff out due to the dust it produces... but does offer good protection.

[Ninja59]

HedgeyGedgey said:

My dads spent all his life as a sprayer, trust me hand polishing can put the swirls in. The machine is able to spin at xxxrpm and its actually taking away a very fine layer of the lacquer. Before you use a machine you should measure the thickness of the paint so you dont polish through because of this. Polishing in circles is a big no no by hand in short, the swirls were put into the OPs car because of the dirt and grit thats on the sponge yes, hand polishing in the circles you'll be making them deeper and deeper into the lacquer as you're going with them not against

Any process can put swirls in from anything, not just polishing. From poor lubrication to dirt or grit.

I have been using a machine polisher for over 7 years and detailing for over 10. I understand the machine is removing clear, however even then a machine can still introduce defects like any other material used against the paint (although there are other defects not related to grit and dirt).

The fact still stands though the only reason to do straight lines is to reduce the risk of swirls, and instead if anything does happen you create RDS. RDS can be more tricky to remove in some cases, but flipside are less obvious under direct sunlight and in most cases only obvious under strip lights.

[Otispunkmeyer]

HedgeyGedgey said:

To get those swirl marks out fully you'll need to machine polish. I've found the super resin polish to leave a milky residue once taken off but it does give a nice feel and beads quite nicely. For what you're after itll be fine. No matter what dont polish in circles, thats how the swirls get there, straight lines only. Washing with a sponge try to avoid the circular motion too

For the machine, not sure if this is decent, but for £114 I thought it wasn't bad:

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/polishing-machines/d...

A DA polisher, 2 decent pads, 2 different Megs compounds to polish with. Nothing that abrasive so likely a safe way to at least reduce the fine scratches and swirls.


Oh and I too have read not to polish in circles by hand. A DA machine is a lot more "random" in that its going around, but also up,down, left,right, diagonally etc all the time. I was reading that polishing by hand you can do a bit left-right, then change and go at a different angle and so on so you go through a range of directions.

Edited by Otispunkmeyer on Tuesday 17th October 10:36

Edited by Otispunkmeyer on Tuesday 17th October 10:39

[HedgeyGedgey]

Otispunkmeyer said:

HedgeyGedgey said:

To get those swirl marks out fully you'll need to machine polish. I've found the super resin polish to leave a milky residue once taken off but it does give a nice feel and beads quite nicely. For what you're after itll be fine. No matter what dont polish in circles, thats how the swirls get there, straight lines only. Washing with a sponge try to avoid the circular motion too

For the machine, not sure if this is decent, but for £114 I thought it wasn't bad:

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/polishing-machines/d...

A DA polisher, 2 decent pads, 2 different Megs compounds to polish with. Nothing that abrasive so likely a safe way to at least reduce the fine scratches and swirls.

Yep that'll do just fine bud, fairly certain we used to have to same or similar done us good and lasted a while

[Dean83]

Agent XXX said:

Why have you got swirl marks on a brand new car?

Anyway, AG stuff is ok. Not great but OK.

It's not too bad at the moment, I just noticed a couple of minor scratches when looking over it at the weekend which is no doubt down to the car wash. What I'm looking to do is start washing it myself to prevent it getting worse. I also want to get rid of the few marks that are already there and then apply some protection for the winter.

[CarsOrBikes]

If you just want to look after the car day to day all that stuff is ok, personally I'd clean it often, don't be shy with new cloths and sponges, and polish the wheels the same way you do the paint, and do it often. You'll get bored soon enough though I guess, but if not, carry on and don't press to hard polishing.

[mgv8]

super resin polish has a little bit of a cut in it. Can help sort out problems but only on the right paint. Being a new car this should not be a problem. If you have the cash take it to a pro for one go-over and you will see what it can look like. After that just keep it clean and waxed.

[Dean83]

Ninja59 said:

325ml Bodywork Shampoo Conditioner - is okay
325ml Super Resin Polish - is good, is mostly an all in one containing fillers, polishing and wax content - It fills more than anything though, if that is what you want
325ml Extra Gloss Protection - hateful product, and for some reason AG seem incapable of understanding that putting this on after SRP reduce durability all round with the solvent content of the EGP also stripping some of the fillers in Super Resin Polish
500ml Clean Wheels - use it once maybe and then get them sealed with either a proper ceramic wheel sealant or just a wheel sealant - it is acidic in nature and your diamond cut wheels could suffer. Once sealed use the Shampoo above to clean with wheel brushes in a 3rd bucket. However if it were me I would just get some Carpro IronX and forget about wheel cleaners, I have not used an actual wheel cleaner for years because things IronX contain degreasing agents anyway...
500ml Instant Tyre Dressing - an okay product but takes some time to dry
300ml Wheel Protector - useless.

Oh and get some proper wheel brushes (Wheel Woolies), wash mitt (Carpro wash mitt I like), drying towel, buckets (get the 10 litre building ones from Amazon if you can),

Edited by Ninja59 on Tuesday 17th October 10:05

Thanks... So in summary, I'm better off elsewhere. Already ordered the wheel brush, cloths etc. Will have a look into the ironx. What would you recommend as a light polish and paint protection for the winter?

[TwistingMyMelon]

Years ago when I actually cleaned my cars , I found Autoglym stuff good for the price. Yep there might be better and better value products out there, but as a whole all their stuff does a pretty good job across the board.

Often its trial and error depending on the finish and paint of your car, some products work better than others

[SkodaIan]

The exterior shampoo is a good trade off between quality and cost for regular washing, and works fine (mixed at a higher concentration) for routine cleaning of the wheels too.
Super resin polish is more designed for people who want to polish a car once or twice a year, and does a good job for that, but is too abrasive to use regularly. Incidentally, it's actually better for polishing gel coat of fibreglass boats than it is for car paint!
The other stuff in that kit is all a waste of time (I think they include it in the kit as the only way of getting anyone to ever buy it)
The other Autoglym product which I do think is excellent is the interior shampoo, as it cleans greasy marks off really well and doesn't add the 'hire car' smell many other products do.

[Ares]

Worth taking it for a 'new car' treatment at a detailer. I did that with my QV. £150, all day process, results were spectacular and three months on the car still gleams.







As for Autoglym. It's OK, there are far better but the cost goes up exponentially.