2001 Audi A6 Quattro

[Pete]

When the owner brought me this 79K mile car last weekend, I knew I had a long job ahead of me.

1) Audi paint is very hard
2) This car had scuffs/scratches on every panel
3) It was an all black car

Fortunately the interior was in nice shape, so I could spend the vast majority of time on the exterior.

[Pete]

Subtle difference on the inside after spending around an hour and a half

All the materials are in great condition and are of high quality. This always makes an interior job go better.

[Pete]

The exterior was another story. Here are various befores that show the level of correction required.

[Pete]

After the prep wash, I had a surprisingly smooth surface. With the level of compounding required, I didn't bother to clay anywhere. I tested a few products, beginning with Optimum Polish and a green foam polishing pad. I ran it at 1400 RPM on my DeWalt rotary and used fairly firm pressure (approx 10-12 lbs.)

EDIT: I was mistaken on this green pad. It is a light cut classic Edge velcro pad.

If you look closely, you can pick up the polisher marks that it left.

Several passes later, I realized that I had maxed out OP's abilities. The finish did look better, but there were some deeper marks I wanted out.

[Pete]

In order to remove the deeper finish flaws, I tested a variety of products from Meguiar's and settled on a fairly aggressive combination.

In most cases, later model Audi's have such hard paint that being too aggressive isn't much of a worry.

My choice was M85 Diamond Cut Compound 2.0 with a 3M wool light compounding pad.

I went over the whole vehicle twice and worked the product around 1600 RPM. The first pass removed the majority of the non-sandable scratches. The next pass caught the last few and gave me a consistently abraded finish to refine.

Regrettably, I have no pictures to show this intermediate step's results. The finish had very little change in gloss, but it did have more clarity. I could see that I now just had to remove polisher marks, albeit fairly deep ones.

[Pete]

A big part of this project was to test the abilities and limits of Optimum Polish on such hard paint. As noted in another thread about OP, the results are honest. It doesn't fill or leave a greasy film to remove after the product breaks down.

I also wanted to compare it to the products I'm more familiar with using. I did use Meguiar's M83 Dual Action Cleaner Polish with a W8000 pad in comparison. While this product worked much faster than OP and had more cut, it left a much less consistent surface. Moving down a notch in aggression, I used M80 Speed Glaze. Finally, I used their M82 Swirl Free Polish. Each of these was run with a W8000 foam pad around 1400 RPM.

I didn't feel the abrasives worked the same as with Optimum. Even the Swirl Free Polish left marks that definitely would not pass as a final polishing step. This is a complaint I've had about that product since I first used it in 1995. OP's level of clarity and consistency was noticeably better than Meguiar's. OP did work slower, though it dusted a bit less than any of the three Meguiar's products, none of which I would consider to be dusty themselves.

My desired results came from Optimum Polish and a Meguiar's W8000 foam polishing pad at 1400 RPM on the DeWalt. Surprisingly, I had to make two passes on the entire vehicle using 10-12 lbs. of pressure. In some areas, it took yet another pass to bring my wool compound marks out. Still, I was left with some fine polisher marks.

Using a softer Meguiar's W9000 pad and Optimum Polish did virtually nothing to improve the finish. The pad is simply too absorbent and doesn't allow the abrasive to work on the surface. I now saw that I'd have to finish with the Cyclo.

[Pete]

Being very new to the Cyclo pads, I decided to use the green with OP. While they might be too strong in some cases, this is factory Audi paint.
*Hard* paint
I used Optimum Polish and worked away.

Again, OP takes more time to break down. I ran the polish for 3-4 minutes in each 2' by 2' area. For smaller areas, I used less polish but spent the same amount of time. Unlike 6" pads on a PC or DA, these things actually generated some heat. Interesting

Lesson learned: do not cut it short with time or pressure

[Pete]

With the refinement done, I wanted to make the paint look deep and rich, so I chose Meguiar's M26 liquid wax. This is a product I've used since I first went beyond simple cleaner/wax. The final results you see are nearly 9 hours of taping, compounding, polishing, waxing, and finishing. While it wasn't ready for the showroom, I felt confident that the owner would be happy with the results. I know I was.

[Pete]

More after pictures

[Pete]

Outside, overcast sky around 7 PM

[Pete]

More

[Pete]

2001 Audi A6 Quattro

[Nimble]

Oh my gosh Pete! You do amazing work!

[Jose]

That is outstanding, Pete! Now I know not to take any Audi's until I get my rotary! Beautiful results and nice job!

[Pete]

Thanks, guys

Not EVERY Audi is that hard (or as challenging) as this one. There is a brighter blue on S4's that is extremely sensitive. It's almost a bad dream compared to the hard paint. Some cleaner waxes will even leave marring :?:

A Cyclo/DA/PC would be able to get solid results by itself, but it would be a lot more time and effort. I wouldn't want to try doing this car over again without a rotary.

[BigLeegr]

http://www.danaseforums.com/forums/files/resize2001_audi_a6_split_rear_bumper_635.jpg

Hey!! Somebody splashed some white paint on the car as you were taking the picture!! :o

J/K! Looks great!! Nice write up on the differences in polishes!

[Pete]

Thanks, BigLeegr

Generally, I'm not much of a writeup guy because I worry people will think I'm showing off.
Figured I would put this one up since I was learning new things about a product I'd only used a few times otherwise

Oh, that's not white paint. I was putting on a striping package to add horsepower :lol:

[Russecu]

Pete,
Very nice job and a very informative write up. That racing stripe is already starting to fray on the ends. :lol: One thing I like about OP is how many combinations of pads you can use to do correction.

[wifehatescar]

Looks like a long day! Good work!