# Scholl S20 black or S3 Gold?



## Brick Top (Mar 1, 2014)

Hi guys, I've recently bought a carbon black BMW e60, lovely car but covered in swirls and light scratches with the odd more moderate and deep scratch. I've already purchased orange and white hex logic pads so ideally will be using these for the correction but Im not really sure which compound so go for. I've tried poorboys ssr 2 but that isn't touching it so looking to invest in something bette and I'm torn between these 2. Can anyone offer some advice on the 2, it will be used on a daily machine. 

Thanks


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## Sawel (Aug 5, 2016)

Can't speak for the pads as I've never used them but S3 Gold XXL has more cut and can finish down quite well with the right pad.

S20 has good cut and finishes down extremely well. Most BMW's have hard paint and IF yours does then S20 will get the job done. It won't provide the out and out cut that S3 Gold XXL has but enough to get the job done on hard paint and the finish is excellent.


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## cleslie (Feb 19, 2006)

I've just done my car with S20 and it cleared away light swirls easily and that was on hard VAG paint. The S3 will have more cut and remove more defects but does generally need to be followed by a finishing polish to refine.


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## Radish293 (Mar 16, 2012)

S20. I've used S17 and S40 as a combo and also experimented with S3. S3 had a great hit but needed the two others to get a finished result. S20 will do the whole job in one go. It does need to be worked longer and will Lille need a spitz od detailing spay to work it. It's also more cost effective. If it doesn't do the trick then up it with S3.


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## chongo (Jun 7, 2014)

If you do have hard paint then I would go S3 gold on a orange cutting pad followed by S40 on the white pad or black if you want it done properly but if you are looking for just a one stepper then S20, but you might be left with some deeper scratches, it just depends what you want.


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## AndyN01 (Feb 16, 2016)

I think start with S20, if that gives you the results you're looking for then great.

If not, then follow Chongo and use S3 accepting that you'll probably need to finish afterwards.

Looking forward to the photos :thumb:

Andy.


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## Brick Top (Mar 1, 2014)

Thanks guys, I've ordered the s20 and will see how that goes and I'll get some pics! 

I take it the claims of S3 gold being a 1 stepper by scholl a little exaggerated then? 

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk


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## steelghost (Aug 20, 2015)

Brick Top said:


> Thanks guys, I've ordered the s20 and will see how that goes and I'll get some pics!
> 
> I take it the claims of S3 gold being a 1 stepper by scholl a little exaggerated then?
> 
> Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk


I suspect it would only work for fairly hard paints, and the final finish would not be as clear as a "proper" two stage polish, but would be ok for a lot of people, especially with a wax on top to disguise any residual compounding haze.

NB never used it, just guessing :thumb:


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## Sawel (Aug 5, 2016)

Brick Top said:


> Thanks guys, I've ordered the s20 and will see how that goes and I'll get some pics!
> 
> I take it the claims of S3 gold being a *1 stepper by scholl a little exaggerated then? *
> 
> Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk


Not at all, it depends on the task at hand. You can use S3 XXL Gold with Scholl orange foam for a good one step finish but it won't do much if you have a lot of moderate to deep scratches.

The thing is, when people use S3 XXL Gold they're mainly using it for cut combined with a cutting pad. I normally use it with a wool pad or Scholl white spider pad for pretty heavy cut and always refine after. It's the pad that provides most of the cut and the compound complements it.


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## chongo (Jun 7, 2014)

Brick Top said:


> Thanks guys, I've ordered the s20 and will see how that goes and I'll get some pics!
> 
> I take it the claims of S3 gold being a 1 stepper by scholl a little exaggerated then?
> 
> Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk


Take a look at this


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## chongo (Jun 7, 2014)

Sawel said:


> Not at all, it depends on the task at hand. You can use S3 XXL Gold with Scholl orange foam for a good one step finish but it won't do much if you have a lot of moderate to deep scratches.
> 
> The thing is, when people use S3 XXL Gold they're mainly using it for cut combined with a cutting pad. I normally use it with a wool pad or Scholl white spider pad for pretty heavy cut and always refine after. It's the pad that provides most of the cut and the compound complements it.


The discussion is about S3 gold which has less cut than S3 XXL:thumb:


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## Sawel (Aug 5, 2016)

chongo said:


> The discussion is about S3 gold which has less cut than S3 XXL:thumb:


Point taken, but maybe he's too lazy to put XXL at the end?


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## Brick Top (Mar 1, 2014)

No pictures yet but had a whirl with the s20 today, good few hours put into correcting the bonnet alone but really happy with the results, it's come out immaculate! Couple of passes with an orange hex flowed by white and sealed with red and it looks great. Should be quicker around the rest of the car now I've settled on a technique that works well but I'm just going to concentrate on 1 panel at a time and get that as good as I can so may take quite a few weekends all in all. 

Thanks guys

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk


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## Sawel (Aug 5, 2016)

Brick Top said:


> No pictures yet but had a whirl with the s20 today, good few hours put into correcting the bonnet alone but really happy with the results, it's come out immaculate! Couple of passes with an orange hex flowed by white and sealed with red and it looks great. Should be quicker around the rest of the car now I've settled on a technique that works well but I'm just going to concentrate on 1 panel at a time and get that as good as I can so may take quite a few weekends all in all.
> 
> Thanks guys
> 
> Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk


S20 is an incredibly versatile product no doubt.


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