# Menzerna 203S and which pad combo for BMW paint with minor correction??



## sharifgh (Oct 21, 2007)

Hi
I am going to be doing a pre-winter prep on my 2007 BMW in the next couple of weeks. There are minor corrections required, with the odd scratch repair required. I am wanting to use Menzerna 203S polish (one step), but wondering what is the best pad to use and spot pad to use? 

Thanks for your help


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## craig06typer (Oct 11, 2008)

Menzerna polishing pad the orange one.


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## Detail My Ride (Apr 19, 2006)

3M Polishing Pads for me with 203s. 3M do both a 150mm, and 75mm pad. I purchase mine from Here.

HTH,

Gaz


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

Agree with Gaz on this one, 3M yellow polishing pads are ideal with the 203S, they work very well. Alternative for me would be Chemical Guys Hexlogic White pad, or up to the green pad for a little more bite if needed. I'm not a fan of Menzerna's own pads personally, compared to those from 3M, Chemical Guys and Meguiars - they are too stiff for my liking, and they dont seem to be lasting as well on my fleet as the others.


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## sharifgh (Oct 21, 2007)

thanks for the info


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## sharifgh (Oct 21, 2007)

By the way I am using a DA polisher, the 3M pads are ok?


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## Porta (Jan 3, 2007)

sharifgh said:


> By the way I am using a DA polisher, the 3M pads are ok?


Yes. (5 min characters)


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## CleanYourCar (Jan 23, 2006)

Menzerna polishing or finishing pad for me. The finishing pad is excellent to give a level of mechanical cut and be that bit more forgiving. For DA I think the Menz pads are excellent and give that bit of extra bite that you'll probably need on a DA. I take the point the orange polishing can be quite firm out of the packet but they are what I've always used for a DA.


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## sharifgh (Oct 21, 2007)

Ok. I've checked what I already have in the garage. I have:
2 x Menz Orange Pads
1 x Elite car care "waffle" red pad (finishing)
1 x black Lake country finessing pad

Shall I stick with the Menz Orange pad and get 2 spot Menz pads? and will that be all I need to use with the Menz 203S?

I intend to use the Poorboys LSP with the finessing pad after the Menz 203S. 

Help would be great, as I intend to def order the Menz 203S tonight, plus any extra pads you recommend.

Thanks again


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## Nikon1149 (Oct 1, 2009)

After some research I think 203s will be the polish of choice for me too.

I do worry though, it will be my first attempt at any kind of car polish, and I will be using a MacAllister DA (the old one) on a black peugeot 206 with bad swirls, hologramming and RDS. Is this a wise choice? what would be a wise choice of pad using the Mac DA considering its no G220 and they only cost £30? Is the Mac DA any less capable of working with 203s than the 3 big boys of DA machines?


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

sharifgh said:


> Ok. I've checked what I already have in the garage. I have:
> 2 x Menz Orange Pads
> 1 x Elite car care "waffle" red pad (finishing)
> 1 x black Lake country finessing pad
> ...


If you are happy with the Menzerna pads then stick with them, they are not to my taste personally and if it was me I would be using a different pad such as Sonus SFX-2 white polishing or 3M yellow polishing, but this is my personal taste  You could get one of the above pads to try and see what you prefer as I find many people prefer the softer pads when learning to use the DA, and even experenced users prefer them too, but then there are some who like the Menzerna pads also - so you could try both and see what camp you fall into :thumb:



Nikon1149 said:


> After some research I think 203s will be the polish of choice for me too.
> 
> I do worry though, it will be my first attempt at any kind of car polish, and I will be using a MacAllister DA (the old one) on a black peugeot 206 with bad swirls, hologramming and RDS. Is this a wise choice? what would be a wise choice of pad using the Mac DA considering its no G220 and they only cost £30? Is the Mac DA any less capable of working with 203s than the 3 big boys of DA machines?


Its a good starting point, but dont expect miracles from it on the deeper RDS... its a medium cutting and finessing polish, so its capable (pad and paint dependant) of removing light to moderate swirls and marring but for deeper marks you may need to step up to Internsive Polish (85RD3.02), or perhaps even Power Gloss (S100), though the latter should be treated as a last resort and I wouldn't advise its use without first measuring the paint thickness.


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## Nikon1149 (Oct 1, 2009)

I think i'll be happy with a medium cutting polish for my first time, I don't have a paint thickness measure.

You mentioned beginners preferring softer pads, do you think maybe I should choose a polishing pad over a finishing pad considering my paints needs more correction? I do like the idea of using a softer pad for my first attempt though.


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

Nikon1149 said:


> I think i'll be happy with a medium cutting polish for my first time, I don't have a paint thickness measure.
> 
> You mentioned beginners preferring softer pads, do you think maybe I should choose a polishing pad over a finishing pad considering my paints needs more correction? I do like the idea of using a softer pad for my first attempt though.


Not all polishing pads are stiff though, only really the orange Menzerna one which is the stiffest I have come across on the market today... A 3M polishing pad, ideal for using with 203S and capable as a combo of light to moderate correction even on hard paints, is very soft.

Its horses for courses of course, some do like the stiffer pads, but in my experiene more people prefer the softer foams and find them easier to use, more comfortable to use and control.


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## Porta (Jan 3, 2007)

Worth to add to this discussion is that the orange Menzerna pad will soften up very much during the polishing session.


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

Porta said:


> Worth to add to this discussion is that the orange Menzerna pad will soften up very much during the polishing session.


I have noticed it soften but more in a "heavy sponge" kind of a way in terms of how the foam responds (not through excess product use or dampening either), rather than a spingy foam response... its the spingier response that helps absorb vibrations along with easy moulding around curves and countors, epecially sharper ones.


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## jyrkiboy (Oct 4, 2007)

I am working on one BMW at the moment and it is full of really bad deap scratches all over the car. First I used Menzerna 203 and CCS orange but it was waste of time. After several combos I took the ultimate solution wool pad and S100. Few pases and I was on right path. 

What I used:
- S100 + wool pad/yellow CCS curve Lake Country, rotary
- S203 CCS orange or white pad Lake Country, DA
- 106FA flat white pad Lake Country, DA
- 85 RD flat black pad Lake Country, DA


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## Porta (Jan 3, 2007)

jyrkiboy said:


> I am working on one BMW at the moment and it is full of really bad deap scratches all over the car. First I used Menzerna 203 and CCS orange but it was waste of time. After several combos I took the ultimate solution wool pad and S100. Few pases and I was on right path.
> 
> What I used:
> - S100 + wool pad/yellow CCS curve Lake Country, rotary
> ...


S100 is awsome! Try to finish out with a rotary next time, much more fun and I think it gives a little more gloss :thumb:


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## ribvanrey (May 5, 2012)

What you all recommend to hand polish using Menzerna 203s please? I have never used anything harsher than SRP and AG own cloths. I need to go that little bit harsher this car.


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## great gonzo (Nov 4, 2010)

Wow this is an old thread!!

Personly I would use Gtech's P1 by hand.


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