Time to polish the glass...
 

I've been using this ginormous bottle of Einzette glass polish for nearly 10 years now. It's probably 1/2 full.

http://www.my02.com/images/windscree...spolishcan.jpg

But this was the first time this year I've polished the X5's glass. It really needed it. Does it bother anyone as much as it does me when acid rain gets on the glass? The roof is the worst (the black spots):
http://www.my02.com/images/4.8is/acidspots.jpg

Or how about that silly line that sticks around even after you clean glass that has a wiper like the front or rear?

Cleaner applied...
http://www.my02.com/images/4.8is/windscreenline.jpg

AFTER cleaning :banghead::
http://www.my02.com/images/4.8is/cleanedwindscreen.jpg

Syooo.. tape off the car and clean first (see the silly line?)...
http://www.my02.com/images/4.8is/rearclean.jpg

Then get to polishing!

After pics when I wash the car again. It was raining when I finished the glass polish. Want some weird looks from your neighbors? Wash your car to get all the residue off the paint in the rain.

I have the exact Einzett can you have for about 7 years now, only it's unopened. never used it once.
I know you posted about this on the 'Fest, I believe. How are the results? Any micro-scratches after polishing (like swirls)?

Thks

So you spray your windows clean first, then use polish on a buffer?

The hard water spots on the glass are really starting to get to me, I have a bottle of "Mothers Water Spot Remover" I picked up on a whim from Pep Boys last year, it doesn't do shit when applied by hand.

I need to pick up a 3" backing plate and 3" pads from DD on my next order, they would work awesome on the tight corners of the glass I would imagine. If I can't find any einzsett glass polish I may just use the Mothers stuff on the 3" pads, I'm sure the right pad with the polish will help alleviate the water spots.

Btw, seeing the seal on the top of your windshield reminds me that I need to replace mine.

Interesting...can one 'hand' polish/rub vs an orbital polisher, or is the cleaning effect only benefited by a power polisher?

I would say mD if the spots are fresher/light, hand polishing might help, with a decent amount of elbow grease.

But just like correcting 10+ year old paint of swirls and defects, doing the same on factory glass is going to take some power, I'd recommend at least an orbital buffer to save your arms from falling off, and will probably take a quarter of the time to do as well.

I love the stuff. I did post on the fest ab doing this on my E39- about ~5 years ago- LOL.

No swirls at all. The idea behind the glass polish is that it is free of silicates. It also evaporates/dries very quickly. It's easy to remove, but the residue is hell on the seals- thus the tape.

I apply with an RO and an orange/polishing pad. I have had a Flex for a number of years, but a PC would also work. I have not ever seen swirling on glass, but I suppose with a very dirty pad- an an ill-placed pebble/sand- it is possible.

I clean the glass beforehand just to be certain it is free of large debris that might get into the pad. I usually use a pad that I have used on my paint a few times. This is the pad equivalent to Weekend Update for SNL characters. Once it's used for glass, I throw it away.

I find the results amazing. But then, I pay attention to this kind of thing. The front windscreen is so clean and fresh that I swear I can see more clearly. The same is true with the rear- even through the rear view mirror. With the sunroof glass exposed, I see no more little etches from the water spots. It just *feels* better inside looking out.

From the outside looking in, the effect is similar to seeing a car with paint that's been well cared for and polished regularly. The glass seems to 'glow' with brighter reflections. It just LOOKS clean. People who don't know will likely wonder why the car looks so clean even with a little dirt on the paint- it's hard to figure out if you're the type that doesn't keep a clean ride.

It probably took me as long to tape the car as it did to apply and remove the polish. I did the job with a rainy day car wash in about 3 hours. I am old and out of shape, so the hardest thing for me was up and down the folding platform I use to gain access to the roof and windshield. The first few passes with the Flex polisher got nothing through the water spots, but as the polish begins to work into the glass, and as the speed of the polisher amps up, you can see the spots clear through the polish. I'm (just a bit) obsessive, so I am sure I ran more times than was needed. I figure I'm there, I may as well be double sure it's getting clean.

One thing that I learned through the years of doing this is that you should consider this one of the first steps in your detailing routine. It's counter intuitive bc we're used to cleaning windows at the end of our wash time. The residue is a b!tch. If you're new with the runny polish, it will sling into little clear coat/paint-unfriendly spots- get them off. That's why I wash it after.

I am looking to this weekend to run some polish through the paint and to seal with my long standing favorite- Zaino. It should really wake up the car if both the glass and the paint are looking great.

Nothing beats a Cyclo Polisher for almost any cleaning or polishing job. These maclines have pad movement of over 20 ft per second yet never burn paint.

Cyclo Polishers

I bought one in the 80s and it's still running strong, I use it on glass with Mothers cleaner wax (ultra-mild abrasive) if there are water spots and finish with Turtle Wax Ice wax (like this wax because it lasts longer then anything I've used and can be used on glass, paint, plastic, uncoated polished alumimium (my wheel have uncoated polished alum lips)).

Just used the paint cleaning pads for the first time last month, can do in 15 min what it takes 8 hrs to achive with claybars!

http://cyclotoolmakers.com/autoscrub.php

This machine is the ultimate timesaver/backsaver.

Prop, how do you think this glass polish will work on the headlight lenses?

I hear you all on the buffer...mine wore out/broke a few years ago.
Doubt I will buy a new one just to polish the glass, lol!

And, the rest of the Stable gets hand washed/Zaino'd a couple times a year.
Not a power buffer fan.
Thanks...mD

Not well. I mean, maybe a little, but nothing like what is usually needed for badly pitted headlight lenses. I doubt you'd see much difference using this stuff on a headlight lens that really needs the full monty.

For tails and headlights, I just use the same polish as the paint. In my most recent relatively light applications, that has been Zaino's Z-PC followed by Z-AIO and then layers of Z2. The hardest stuff I have had to use is 3M's clear coat safe compound and maybe a wool pad. I only break it out when I have paint that is fighting me. I used it for the first 2 years of the green X5's life with me. By the time I was done, it looked like a dark mirror. I've only needed it the first time on the blue one.

Ooooooh, I have a friend with one of those. Love the old school look and letting the weight of the thing do most of the work. The Flex has been the only upgrade that I have needed from my first porter cable RO. I was pretty heavily invested in pads and bonnets as well. I think if I started to do it professionally or more than a couple times a year, I would pick one up.

Hrmmmm makes me wonder about Ebay.... :eeps:

This is getting to be a detail thread real fast haha.

TiagX5, love the Cyclo polisher and never saw one before! It's awesome basically combining 2 4-inch heads and having them overlap, I'm sure it works just as good as a traditional polisher using 1 pad!

I have a first generation Porter Cable 7424 (not the XP) and its been great for going on 9 years now, I have 6 inch pads and it just keeps on trucking. I'm actually going to get a 3 inch backing plate and pads and use it solely for dedicated small work, like polishing glass, and polishing the Shadowline trims on my X, as well as buffing the paint on my Triumph Storm.

Once I get the 3" backing plate setup I'm going to treat myself to a 3rd Gen Griot's Random Orbital, the power is amazing compared to my first gen PC (speed 6 on my PC is like speed 4 on the Griots), the backing plate is now vented to expel some heat away and extend pad life, and its fully lifetime warrantied, if it breaks, you get a new one.

mD, you are a man among men to hand polish/wax the fleet every year, I know you are a retired man, you should invest the 150 or so in a PC and some pads, will make your job so much easier!

I first used a friends Cyclo while trying to remove yellow/orange rust stains in the finish of my white '80s Jeep Limited that was parked at a GF house while away on vacation, the lawn sprinklers were using well water with high iron content (the jeep was wet down with iron water and baked by the sun every day for 2 weeks). I tried several different products using a Snap On variable speed buffer with wool and foam pads and an 11" ran-orb polisher, was not satisifed with labor/result ratio. A buddy brought over the Cyclo and it made the job almost effortless (made the 11'' ran-ord feel like I was wrestling an epileptic midget in the throws of a seizure). Picked one up the following week!

I used to hand clay (hours of effort and need to throw out the clay if it's dropped), got the nanopads and solution from Cyclo and now the paint cleaning job is 1/10 the time and effort. Counter-balance is perfect on the Cyclo too, no more numb hands/arms after cleaning/waxing jobs.

American built/owned for over 60 yrs. Cyclo has pics on their site of commercial use units over 50 yrs old coming in for service that only need motor brush replacements and cords. You can't kill them.

Aircraft maint/repair shops use these to polish windscreens, clean interiors and polish paint and bare aluminium to a mirror finish without a SINGLE swirl.

E-bay sells used units for over $200.