# Meguiar's M210 & M110 Initial Impressions...



## Steampunk (Aug 11, 2011)

I picked up Meguiar's Mirror Glaze #210 Ultra-Pro Finishing Polish, and Meguiar's Mirror Glaze #110 Ultra-Pro Speed Compound recently, so I thought I'd share my initial impressions... I have had less than an hour's wheel-time so far with both products, and no pictures as yet. However, I will be posting a full, long-term review on these at some stage, and I will try to update this thread as I get some photos, and more time to play with them... :buffer:

These were the products that excited me the most from SEMA last year, and I had very high hopes for them, as they were billed as long-awaited upgrades to M105 and M205... The initial hype was that M210 was a finer, better lubricated polish for finishing more easily on the softest paints (Something M205 has always struggled with on its own, without resorting to some rather extreme tricks.), and that M110 finished and cut better than M105, with a longer working time and the least dusting of any of the Meguiar's compounds.

Here are my initial observations...

*M210:*

M210 is _very_ different than I expected... Whereas M205 is somewhat more waterborne, and tends to be my go-to finishing polish on solvent-sensitive materials due to how I can work with it, M210 is the most _aggressively solvent based_ polish I have used in awhile. It reeks of mineral spirits, and based upon the way it reacted with my '68 MGB bootlid I use as a test panel (Featuring the original BMC enamel), I will give the following warning to those interested in this polish:

_*Do not use this polish anywhere near cellulose or acrylic lacquers, alkyd or acrylic enamels, vintage finishes, solvent-sensitive PPF's/vinyl wraps, or any other solvent sensitive paint or plastic material!*_

Modern urethane paints, and even some modern automotive plastics are typically quite solvent resistant, so this shouldn't be much of an issue for most of the users of this product... However, if you were intending to use M210 on a classic vehicle with original paint, or on another material that is proving to be solvent sensitive, you will need to look elsewhere. Maybe some day Meguiar's will release an M210 'V2' that is gentler on these materials, but with the current 'launch' version, this is an issue to keep in mind...

When I tested it on a more modern finish, I started seeing this polish perform more as initial reviews from other detailers had indicated, though it was still a surprise as it felt nothing like the other Meguiar's polishes I had grown familiar with...

The abrasives it contains are certainly finer and more consistent than M205, based upon the initial results I see, and it is very well lubricated, with a very viscous feel between the pad and the paint. Also, unlike other Meguiar's polishes, it seems like a 'less is more' product in regards to pad priming... A few drops, as Meg's recommends, surprisingly - for those used to SMAT products - seemed sufficient... It definitely doesn't have M205's cut level, and at first glance seems to naturally fall into the usage of a jeweling polish, though I will certainly be doing more testing to tell. I can fully understand in my first test, how other detailers are suspicious of whether or not M210 will prove to be as versatile as M205... Only time and further testing will tell.

The one thing that I can say about M210, is that on modern paint types (Where the solvents aren't attacking the paint.), the wipe-off is unreal... It wipes off like Blackfire Wet Diamond (Sorry, dating myself... 'Blackfire Paint Sealant', now. ), or Menzerna Power Lock. It's bizarre... It just doesn't feel like wiping off an oily polish, but more like the easiest sealant you've ever used.

*M110:*

Since I'm always on the search for 'the ultimate finishing polish', M110 was a lower priority for me, but to my surprise I actually took to working with this one the easiest... I'll have to confirm once I get some MSDS sheets, but the solvent content does not seem as high as M210 based upon the mild smell, and the absence of noteworthy reaction with 51-year old paint. If you're a Meg's SMAT user already, this will feel more immediately familiar, as well... The priming process and working feel is pleasantly inline with what we are used to, but improved in some subtle, nice ways.

Again, I'm going to have to put a lot more hours, and a lot more paint under these products before I can tell, but M110 feels more in the range of an 'updated M105' than an M101 alternative... Its working time on foam pads is certainly longer, dusting MUCH less... Unlike M101, which feels gritty between the fingers and cuts paint like a chainsaw on textile pads, M110 feels very smooth and is more pleasant to work with on microfiber. Its initial cut is - again - not as high as M101, but with textile, it still has a tremendous amount of cutting ability; at least equal to M105.

On soft paint, it still loads quickly due to high material removal, just like M105 and M101. This shortened the working time more than what I think you would normally see on harder finishes, and left a crazy amount of scouring with a Buff & Shine Yellow Foam pad (Same material as CG's Hex Yellow.) and CarPro Cool Hybrid pad, just as I would have come to expect from M105 or M101... No real upgrade for users working on soft paint. With supplemental wetting and pad cleaning, I was able to keep it running clean, and finish down with a very light haze and micro-marring on my test panel that a finishing pad/polish would pull out no problem... However, this is the same methodology and result I would expect from M105 on soft paint. On a harder paint, it did seem to finish much better, and I can see it being a little better than M105 potentially... Again, time will tell. However, it definitely does not finish as well, or as easily as Scholl S3+ XXL on the materials I tested it on. Still, with the right technique, I always feel I have more control, and can cut more defects with non-diminishing compounds than with diminishing ones...

Wipe-off wasn't as surreal as M210, but was definitely much easier than any of the other Meguiar's compounds, including D300. In my limited testing, I had no real mess to clean up, cutting through some RIDS and P1500 sanding scratches. Big upgrade on M105 in this regard... It worked really well with the Cool Hybrid pad, and didn't really clog the fibers like stickier polishes can; I can see this being a real hit with microfiber pad users... At the end of the set, it washed out of the pads really easily, and didn't stain.

I'm looking forward to testing this compound further...

-

If you're interested in either of these products, I hope that this is of some use... As I get more time with them, I'll post more, so feel free to check back in for updates... As always, thank you for reading.

*- Steampunk -*​


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## stangalang (Nov 27, 2009)

Nice to see you back brother, been a while

Thanks for posting about these. 210 interests me due to its promise to perform well on modern sensitive paints, doing a lot of landrover/jaguar products a reliable polish can be hard to find.


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## diesel x (Jul 27, 2013)

Great review!

It good to see you posting again.


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## spyder (Jun 15, 2010)

Always enjoy your reviews, thanks for sharing !


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## Steampunk (Aug 11, 2011)

stangalang said:


> Nice to see you back brother, been a while
> 
> Thanks for posting about these. 210 interests me due to its promise to perform well on modern sensitive paints, doing a lot of landrover/jaguar products a reliable polish can be hard to find.


Nice to see you, too... It has been a few years. I hope you are doing well... 

I have some some softer modern paints lined up when the weather turns even a bit warmer, and I'm also curious to see how M210 performs on Piano Black plastic trims and pillars... Those are always a nightmare. I'll keep you posted...

- Steampunk


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## Steampunk (Aug 11, 2011)

*Thread Update: *

I've gotten the MSDS sheets back from Meguiar's, and spent a fair bit more time with M110.

Based upon the vague ranges of chemical content, M110's petroleum/solvent content sits between M105 (Least; most water-based.) and M101 (Most solvent based.)... I've still not had any reactivity issues with it on vintage paints, or sensitive 'sticky' plastics. M210's MSDS sheet was a bit of a surprise, as I was expecting a vastly different range of water/petroleum content than M205, but the total water content was listed similarly (60-80%)... It's the balance of the remaining petroleum/solvents that is causing the reactivity I've been seeing, which is clearly quite different than M205 (You can smell it.). A good lesson, underlining that MSDS guessing-games do not always pay-off, and that surprisingly small variances in chemical makeup can result in big differences in the end product… Interestingly, Meguiar's do not mention any of their 'trade secret conditioners' (Which have been listed in their products for many years, including M105 & M205.) in the MSDS sheets for M210 & M110…

Since my initial impressions post, I've tried M110 with a few more pads, machines, and paint types… I've got to say that I am very impressed with what I'm seeing.

I tested it with my Festool Rotex on a commercial, single-stage white paint finish (The sort you find on lorries, vans, etc.); this is one of the toughest, hardest finishes I've personally ever worked, and the scratches and swirls were deep… In this case, I used a Lake Country Thin Purple-Foamed Wool pad. Only four lima-bean sized drops of product on the pad, just to see how it would do… Wool can typically get away with a little less product.

Speed 4, forced-rotation engaged, high pressure, using some pad tilt on RIDS and in tighter spots, I was truly shocked by how much more correction M110 was achieving compared to S3+ XXL on the same pad and paint… With M105, I would've been reaching for a spray bottle of distilled water (Nitrous for SMAT users.) after the first pass or two with this much speed just to keep it running and break up the pad glazing with this little product, but M110 kept plowing through pass after pass, and in short order I found myself with a solid 80% defect correction where S3+ XXL was at most 50% after its full cycle… Most impressively, no dusting was to be seen. It ran smooth through the whole cycle, without too much heat generation, and it wiped off with a damp MF without any trouble. Due to the extreme hardness of the paint, and the fact it was white and spoiled with horrible orange-peel, the finish quality after compounding on wool was surprisingly decent… Given the application, I probably could've passed it off as a 1-stage.

I've also been using it on my '68 MGB test panel (original acrylic-enamel.) with a variety of pads and machines/methods, against various coarse sanding scratches and RIDS. This material is fairly soft, but the defects are quite deep, and it is a good test of the finishing ability and lubrication of the product.

Working by hand, I have found M110's massively improved working time to be of great help, as it can keep cutting without loading up almost instantly like M105 on MF… This enables one to tackle deeper defects with less product consumption. The scratch pattern is fine, and very uniform, hinting at quite tightly graded abrasives (Something the German polish manufacturers have always been good at, and it's awesome to see Meg's finally stepping up their game.).

M110 is an _animal_ with a CarPro Cool Hybrid pad; especially once I got my technique dialed in… Very manageable pad loading, long potential working time even with high material removal, and the cut wasn't that far off a P1500-grit sanding disc. Forced-rotation, speed 3, high pressure… Still, with pad cleaning, a water spritz, free-rotation mode on my Rotex, and a bit of pressure, I was able to achieve a surprisingly light haze/micro-marring on this quite soft paint… I'm not used to using pressure for the finishing stage, but it worked. No single-stage pad staining when it came to cleanup. Meg's products tend to be pretty good about this…

With foam, I'm a little less wowed… It feels optimized for wool and microfiber… It runs pretty smooth on textile (Much smoother than M101… M101 on textile has long been my 'Go Nuclear' option, but you get beaten-up in return for that cut on textile with a DA, due to machine recoil from high surface friction.), but is a little on the grippy side with foam on my forced-rotation machine… It's still effective, but if you're cutting on foam for the finishing potential versus fiber, you're not going to see it with this compound like you will with some, and M101 ('Foam-Cut' Compound) will still cut more in trade for the scouring you get. On B&S Yellow, Meg's Burgundy, Scholl Concepts White Spider Sandwich, and Rupes Blue foams, I prefer other compounds at this point.

Spinning up M110 at around 4000 RPM on my Rupes Nano iBrid on the rotary setup, paired with the dust-generator 2" Rupes Blue foam pad, I was physically unable to get this compound to dust… Using edge pressure, I built up a rather dangerous amount of localized heat in the process of trying to prove a theory, but M110 soaked it up and refused to dust or gum-up despite the lubricant thinning out from high-friction shearing… I've not seen dust so far with M110 with any pad/machine combination, hammering it with more speed, and for more passes than I would normally use. Summer heat/humidity may change this, but so far I'm impressed. It has also been much easier to remove compared to other Meguiar's compounds and polishes, irregardless the pad combo… This alone is a huge improvement for Meg's.

All the normal SMAT tricks work to get even more from this compound… Water spritzing, ****tailing, progressive slurry dilution, pad mixing, etc. They are just less _necessary_ than they have ever been… This is a massive upgrade on M105. On fiber pads - whilst M101 still has the edge in ultimate cutting potential - M110 is so much nicer to work with on MF or wool that it would still probably be my pick at this point…

Hopefully this helps… Stay tuned for more updates. :thumb:

- Steampunk


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## Sheep (Mar 20, 2009)

Great posts! I haven't replaced my M105 as I find I only need Ultimate Compound and MF for most of my details (100% removal is never in the cards or budget). Knowing that M110 is nicer to work with I will be adding it back into the mix as a heavy hitter for those bad spots IE: "I took off the tree sap with a SOS pad".

Nice to see you posting again, I haven't forgotten all the advice you gave me back in the day, I owe a lot to you!


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## Socal Brian (Dec 4, 2011)

Very thoughtful and insightful! Thank you Sam for everything you share with the detailing community and me individually in the past. Great to see you back!:thumb:


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## Steampunk (Aug 11, 2011)

I am glad my test results are of use... It's a lot of fun experimenting with products, and writing these again.  

Recently, I've been comparing M110 with Scholl S2 Shock 2 Cut... It looks like 2019 is a good year for compounds. I'm actually surprised how nice both of these are to work with; kind of a game-changer... :buffer:

More testing results on their way...

- Steampunk


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## sm81 (May 14, 2011)

Take Last Cut in test group also


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## Steampunk (Aug 11, 2011)

sm81 said:


> Take Last Cut in test group also


It's on my radar... 

- Steampunk


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## Steampunk (Aug 11, 2011)

*Thread Update:*

Okay, finally a bit of time to play more with M210...

During a rare warmup last week, I used this on some insanely soft jet-black plastic pillars on an R56 MINI with Rupes Yellow, and Rupes White pads on a Rupes iBrid Nano (12mm orbital throw selected.)... First fully primed (Normal KBM), and then with only a few dots (Per Meg's advice for M210). Trying multiple techniques to see if I could get it to finish down... This is one of those materials that is physically impossible to touch without lubrication between your softest microfibers and it, without getting marring. Getting it to finish out abrasively (Without filling) - and then remove the polish and clean the surface without marring - requires some of the craziest processes I've ever had to use, so I felt it a good testbed of M210.

For those hoping that M210 is a silver-bullet finishing polish, capable of finishing down on the softest of materials with any finishing/polishing pad, on any machine, without having to resort to tricks, it isn't. The marring is still notably worse on this material than Scholl S40 using the same pads/machine (Which is harder to fully strip, but once done, shows itself to still have a finer scratch pattern than M210, with less scouring from swarf.), though it is a significant improvement over M205. I feel I could _potentially_ get this to finish down on this material, but it's going to take some more experimenting, and some more specific tools and techniques to do so before it has a chance (Short-throw DA, larger diameter pads which allow for more isolation than the Rupes ones, possibly dilution and supplemental lubrication.). Pushing polishes on an extreme material like this is really very useful in judging their true character. Seeing the type of marring they cause is often more informative than getting a perfect result on an easier material.

I still consider these my preliminary results, and will be putting a lot more hours behind the product before I post my actual review.

One area of success I have had recently is in using M210 with slurry polishing. This is a Kevin Brown trick that I've been using on solvent sensitive paints. If you're curious, you can learn about it more here:






http://shoutengine.com/AMMONYC/podcast-26-kevin-brown-water-polishing-method-8617

I'd especially recommend the podcast.

Given that a number of the very soft materials I've encountered have also proven to have at least some degree of solvent intolerance, I was very disappointed to find M210 to cause solvent staining on the vintage paints, and what I suspect to be solvent softening (The polish became very sticky to remove, though no lasting effect was seen. Something I've never seen with M205.) on one of the gloss plastics I tested it on... As such, I was very curious to see if I could mitigate this by diluting it with water, and using it as a slurry. A technique I already do with M205.

By using it at ~25-33% concentration diluted in distilled water in a spray bottle ('H210'), I was able to solve the solvent reaction issue on my vintage test panel. The resulting finish was flawless, when combined with free-rotation mode on my Rotex, and a pad that offers decent structural isolation of the abrasives (A Meguiar's DA Yellow Foam Disc in this case; my second choice to the Scholl NEO Honey Spider pad for this technique.). I also found it less time consuming, and more effective than M205 used in a similar manner, as I could use a much higher concentration of polish in water before problems appeared (With M205 used as 'H205', I'm sometimes as low as 1-5% product concentration in the slurry or less; more so due to marring than solvent reaction.). This meant I no longer had to use a progressive dilution, and could just use one dilution level of product to actually both remove light marring, and then complete the finishing work.

Hopefully this helps... Stay tuned for more. :buffer:

- Steampunk


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## Socal Brian (Dec 4, 2011)

here's some additional insight on M205 v. M210:


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