# Aerospace 303, What am I doing wrong?



## Benny Boy (May 9, 2007)

Hi, 

I bought some Aerospace 303 for the exterior and interior trim on my R56 Cooper S I bought about a month ago. 

I applied some last weekend and it looked great but after 150 miles in the rain this week it has pretty much all washed off. :doublesho 

A couple of water drops landed on the door card and where there were is now a lot lighter than the rest.

I thought this stuff should last weeks not days. 

I applied it with a meguiars foam applicator.


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## petemattw (Nov 3, 2008)

Did you clean and degrease the areas you applied it to prior to application?


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## shine247 (Mar 1, 2010)

There are better products, 303 is water based and does not last long on external surfaces. Better for engine bays, interior trim which remains dry and seals. 

Even if you repeat the application cleaning the externals really well, it will not last long. You should look at Solution finish or Gtechniq C4. They will achieve the result you want.

It is the product rather than you so try one if the above.
Gtechniq C4 is getting mentioned a lot just now but either will work. They both restore trim but will also keep it looking how you want it longer.


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## atbalfour (Aug 11, 2019)

As above... 303 is no use on exteriors, maintains an OEM sheen on dashes and gives nice anti-static properties.


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## Benny Boy (May 9, 2007)

petemattw said:


> Did you clean and degrease the areas you applied it to prior to application?


Yes it was fully cleaned before application, it had a snowfoam prewash with valet pro then washed with bilt hamber, Bilthamber apc in the wheel arches and wheels.



shine247 said:


> There are better products, 303 is water based and does not last long on external surfaces. Better for engine bays, interior trim which remains dry and seals.
> 
> Even if you repeat the application cleaning the externals really well, it will not last long. You should look at Solution finish or Gtechniq C4. They will achieve the result you want.
> 
> ...


Thanks, I will look for something else, thought I would give this a go as have been using megs stuff for years (as the bottle was lasting ages and was about 15 years old :lol and fancied something different. The cost of the Gtechniq C4 put me off but if it works then I will try it out.

I guess the same goes for the tyre dressing as well which is angelwax elixir. Again been using megs endurance tyre gel for years and loved the look, (same bottle for over 10 years :lol but got fed up of the sling.


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## andy__d (Jun 27, 2018)

Benny Boy said:


> Yes it was fully cleaned before application, it had a snowfoam prewash with valet pro then washed with bilt hamber, Bilthamber apc in the wheel arches and wheels.
> 
> Thanks, I will look for something else, thought I would give this a go as have been using megs stuff for years (as the bottle was lasting ages and was about 15 years old :lol and fancied something different. The cost of the Gtechniq C4 put me off but if it works then I will try it out.
> 
> I guess the same goes for the tyre dressing as well which is angelwax elixir. Again been using megs endurance tyre gel for years and loved the look, (same bottle for over 10 years :lol but got fed up of the sling.


C4 Works
Follow Properly the cleaning needed And application instructions 
say hello to TWO + years of Black trim you only need to wash dirt/remove tar spots from


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## robby71 (Jun 4, 2006)

I tried 303 on my Mini F56 trim, like your it looked great for a couple of days but after the rain it washed off.
I have since degreased the trim and applied AF Revive which is staying nice and black - not sure on durability as it hasn't seen much rain since applied


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## Benny Boy (May 9, 2007)

robby71 said:


> I tried 303 on my Mini F56 trim, like your it looked great for a couple of days but after the rain it washed off.
> I have since degreased the trim and applied AF Revive which is staying nice and black - not sure on durability as it hasn't seen much rain since applied


I have been looking at the gyeon, gtechniq and solution finish and decided not to go with any of these. Instead I have gone with (for now) AG bumper and trim gel. I think it is what was on the car when I bought it in early May and the trim looked amazing for quite a while (until I used the valetpro snow foam) and it repelled water nicely.

At just over 7 quid a bottle and once a month application/top up it seems a suitable choice.


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## atbalfour (Aug 11, 2019)

While the Autoglym stuff has a darker glossier finish it's also a messy and oily product and generally never lasts long sadly!

Pay the price or buy twice when it comes to trim products I'm afraid!


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## Imprezaworks (May 20, 2013)

I found the stuff crap tbh.


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## Soul boy 68 (Sep 8, 2013)

I use 303 purely in the engine bay, works a treat.


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## Stoner (Jun 25, 2010)

Soul boy 68 said:


> I use 303 purely in the engine bay, works a treat.


Exactly this. :thumb:


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## Jonny_R (Oct 23, 2012)

Cant beat a coating like Gtech C4, CarPro DLux etc for this application imo.

Yes the likes of 303 and others used to be the go to when i started properly detailing 8 years ago but things and technology move on.

In my opinion a little more work in prep up front for 2 years trim protection is worth it, so i would just bite the bullet and go with a coating if it was me. Can use it on your wheels too if youve got any left


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## Carscope (Sep 4, 2019)

All I will say is don’t buy the wipes, they are bloody awful 


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## uruk hai (Apr 5, 2009)

I use Autoglym Vinyl and rubber care and it works well on exterior trim as well as interior and under bonnet use.


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## streaky (Dec 2, 2006)

Soul boy 68 said:


> I use 303 purely in the engine bay, works a treat.


And another user of it only in the engine bay.


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## Carscope (Sep 4, 2019)

Anyone tried megs hyper dressing? 


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## v_r_s (Nov 4, 2018)

Just get a coating. Cheaper in the long run


I did a small test area on an 03 Corsa on the external trims. 2 brands of water based stuff and car pro dlux
All areas were fully de greased and panel wiped down.. the water based products were terrible!!! Patchy lasted a day upto a week. Car pro dlux is going strong and looks like a brand new plastic in comparison


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## robby71 (Jun 4, 2006)

Eturty said:


> Anyone tried megs hyper dressing?
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I bought a gallon (well 3.75 lt) of megs silicon free dressing when i got my Mini thinking it would be ideal for all the black trim and i'd use it to top up maybe each month - what a waste - used it once and it left streaks (thought silicon free wouldn't do that) so never used it again


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## tosh (Dec 30, 2005)

Eturty said:


> Anyone tried megs hyper dressing?
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Yes, have it, use it
Still water based so doesn't last long at all. Fine if it's dry, but then any kind of water and it's gone. 
I just use it on tyres now at 1:3; top up every week.

303 have an external plastic spray (for garden furniture for example) but never tried it. Should be more weather resistant.

The only thing that lasts on external plastic (that isn't a coating) is Solution Finish. It'll last 3-9 months depending on weather and wash technique.

If you have time to do the prep and application, I would be using something like Gtechniq C4 or Carpro DLux. You should get a few years out of that. needs an absolutely clean and degreased surface to bond to though.


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## Carscope (Sep 4, 2019)

I use carbon collective trim on the exterior and wanted to try hyper dressing on the engine, I have car pro perl I could use as well but haven’t tried it 


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## NeilG40 (Jan 1, 2009)

As a side note 303 works really well on my Roland V-Drum cymbals especially useful when I've been playing a Foo Fighters song bashing away at the crash cymbal.


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## tosh (Dec 30, 2005)

Eturty said:


> I use carbon collective trim on the exterior and wanted to try hyper dressing on the engine, I have car pro perl I could use as well but haven't tried it


CC trim is a Ceramic, so that should last years. Perl, Hyper Dressing, 303 are all water based (or at least can be diluted with water) and work similarly, but Perl lasts way longer (silicon oxide). The nice thing about Perl in all applications, is when it fades away, it still leaves rubber and plastic very dark. You can tell it's truly gone when it stops beading water.


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