Swirl scrathes on windshield & sidescreens

[bimmerholic]

Any detailing otais have come across swirl scratches on their windshield & sidescreens of their rides? Mine have plenty of short length swirl scratches all over my glasses. They're of roughly the length of 2-3mm each. And millions of them scattered all over the glasses. See the story goes like this. Initially after getting my car, there were plenty of watermark on the glasses. I used this chemical called tomcat (which worked wonderfully in getting rid of those watermarks....and it comes with a sponge together). As the glasses were covered with watermark, i wasn't sure if the scratches were there already in the first place. But after removing the watermark with the given sponge, i saw swirl scratches on the glasses. How can i remove these scratches on glasses?Thanks in advance. Cheers.

 

[evilnickwong]

Polishing with cerium oxide compound is the best way to remove scratches on glass. Not sure about buying locally, but I get mine from ebay.

 

[bimmerholic]

Polishing with cerium oxide compound is the best way to remove scratches on glass. Not sure about buying locally, but I get mine from ebay.

Thanks for the quick one! How well does it work and is it applied over a sponge/soft cloth and go round in circles over the entire glass to remove those scratches?

Got a picture of the product you're using? And any before and after pics of your attempt?

Thanks.

 

[evilnickwong]

It's used on a felt polishing pad on a rotary or similar powered buffer.

No specific brand though, it's pretty generic stuff. No photos sorry haha, I didn't take any the last time I did it.

 

[bimmerholic]

Bro,

Are your windsheild covered by insurance! if yes just get the replaced..ofcos u need to break them 1st...lol

Yes, i've heard of this crooked way of doing things before. But there's no way on earth am i gonna smash my own windshield that's for sure. No i didn't buy insurance coverage for windshield

 

[bimmerholic]

It's used on a felt polishing pad on a rotary or similar powered buffer.

No specific brand though, it's pretty generic stuff. No photos sorry haha, I didn't take any the last time I did it.

Thanks for the info bro. I really appreciate it. I think i'll find out from the local polishing guys if they happen to have this cerium oxide powder. Is it easy for the scratches to disappear when used with powered rotary buffer? Or does it take an elbow grease to go along with it?


Once i was in AB, I noticed a guy working there rubbing some sort of powder at one point of the front windshield of a 750iL E66. It looks something like sand beige powder which i when i googled "cerium oxide", looks just like it. But he was doing it manually.

 

[evilnickwong]

If using a buffing pad on a rotary/drill/etc, not hard to remove the scratches, just patience and time haha. Not sure if doing it by hand will work as well, since I have machine, I didn't bother trying lol.

Check this link out for some photos:
http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=95965&highlight=cerium+oxide

 

[bimmerholic]

Wow...that glass turns out to look like new!...I so want this cerium oxide! Thanks bro for sharing the link.

So as long it's a glass polish with cerium oxide in it, it should do the trick.....product wise. Labor wise, plenty of patience and time

 

[viewfinder]

Auto Bavaria may sell such a product. Check out page 9 of the BMW accessories. Well if you manage to find it at AB do let me know (hopefully does not cost a bomb).

 

[bimmerholic]

Auto Bavaria may sell such a product. Check out page 9 of the BMW accessories. Well if you manage to find it at AB do let me know (hopefully does not cost a bomb).

It states there as "glass polish". One day will drop by and read the ingredients of the polish and see if it has a throat choking price tag