Menzerna FMJ Polymer - First Use

I just finished polishing my 03 Black Cabriolet with Menzerna FMJ polymer and I wanted to share my initial impression. I have been a devoted Zaino user on my autos for about 7 years. I loved the fact that Zaino just seemed to last longer than anything else that i had tried. However, on my Black Cab Zaino did not come close to the liquid shine that I saw when I first bought the car. The dealer had it detailed with Zymol Carbon and the paint had tremendous depth and reflecting light in a very appealing way. FMJ - I read about Menzerna FMJ on the Properautocare.com website. Their review raved about how this new polymer left a wax-like depth and liquidity while having the long lived properties that most like in polymer coatings. I washed the car first with Dawn. Used the Zaino Clay Bar with pulled alot of tiny dots of road tar. I used my Porter Cable random orbital with an Orange medium cut pad with 3M Rubbing Compound to take out a couple of minor scratches and the deeper swirl marks. I followed that up with another round of Porter Cable with a green finishing pad with 3M Final Finish. The 3M rubbing compound did a great job of removing the swirls and left very little haze. I actually got better results this year using the 3M products that I did last year with Menzerna polishing compounds. It took me about 5 hours total to get to this point, working continuously but carefully. In the late afternoon (low light) I applied the first coat of FMJ. Frankly it is a wipe on, let haze, wipe off exercise. The FMJ bottle suggests working two foot squares, frankly, I did whole panels at a time. Once FMJ hazes, it takes very little effort to remove the residue and get to a awesome shine. Putting FMJ on and removing it from the entire car took less than 40 minutes. Results: Though I will put a couple of pictures up when we get some sunlight I can tell you that there is no hype to this product with regard to how the coating makes the car look. The paint looks equivalent to a high quality carnuba wax job. First, the shine is definitely there, similar to what you would expct from several coats (over a couple of days) from Zaino. However, FMJ definitely has the depth and liquidity that you should expect from a good wax job. BTW: I did two total coats of FMJ. I am definitely impressed with the ease of use and the intial results that FMJ has delivered. It remains to be seen how FMJ will stand up in good ol' Colorado sunshine (and high UV). The reviews suggest that FMJ could last 6 months, I hope so, but I will let you know how it holds up later. I know this was a little long but I though those of you that liked polymers on their Porsche's would be interested. Next up: My Lapis Blue Cayenne is getting the same treatment.

Cay-Ute, thanks for the write up. I am anxious to see the pics. I have a Lapis Blue 996, so I would also love to see pics of the Cayenne when you have finished with it.

Tim, you are welcome, I will get a couple of pics of the 996 this weekend, will be a week or so to tackle the Cayenne, I have to work out the "rub on, rub off" soreness.