After testing several products I have found a polish that removes the micro swirls ( and scratch's ) on the external A pillars, wing mirrors and bonnet fake vents and keeps the high gloss finish of these areas..
The car was delivered with micro swirls from the dealers on the plastics, so its been a bit if a quest to find something that can remove swirls without being aggressive, and also maintain the high polish finish of the black plastic.
The product is Meguiars Plast-Rx its American, but available from several suppliers in the UK via the internet. It was designed to polish clear plastic covers used on plastic headlights etc. It uses an abrasive system that breaks down as you rub, so its getting finer as its worked in the process.
I have found it worked spectacularly well on the black plastic door A pillar trim and the wing mirrors.

Anyway, hope this of some use in the coming summer...  D4 2012 Santorini Black gone
RRS 2013 Santorini HSE Black gone
MY2016 RRS HSE Dynamic arrived September, but will it stay.. maybe not.

Just ordered mine from eBay!
Grant find - thank you.

Just the grand black interior to sort now....

Nice one Dave .... Mine aren't too bad but i'll def be getting some ... For sure worth having in the tool box ... 2014.5 SDV6 AB Dynamic ... Fuji /Santorini Pan roof and 22's
2013 Porsche Boxster S 3.4
2014 Audi A3 S line Quattro
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Thanks - found some on Amazon, too.

NB - there is also a product called "Plast X" - and that isn't the right one. MY2016 HSE D SDV6 - gone due to fuel dilution problems.

By the age of 50 you have the face you deserve - George Orwell.

Dave ... How much elbow grease required ?? 2014.5 SDV6 AB Dynamic ... Fuji /Santorini Pan roof and 22's
2013 Porsche Boxster S 3.4
2014 Audi A3 S line Quattro
---------------------------------

In Oz it is labeled as PlastX. Same product as Rx. Rx used in UK as PlastX was already registered so Meguiars could not use it and had to change the name.

andman wrote:

Dave ... How much elbow grease required ??

Great tip, thanks for sharing! MY15.5 Fuji White, SDV8 HSE Dyn Stealth Pack
Gone: MY14 Fuji White, 3.0 TDV6 SE
Gone: MY10 Stornoway Grey, 3.0 TDV6

I'll be after some tomorrow! RRS P460e
1983 2 door Range Rover ARB Bar X9000 winch ARB Rear Bar now semi retired.
Many big trips done in this one.
1982 Rangerover nearly restored.
22 Defender D250 with lots of stuff for outback touring
Nice 2013 Freelander TD4 manual (for daughter to learn on) with much better stereo compared with previous SD4 SE with Meridian which sounded bad!
2013 Land Rover Defender ute.

Peanut butter works great........smooth, not crunchy.......I'm not joking!!

Triumph_Dave wrote:

andman wrote:

Dave ... How much elbow grease required ??

I found on the A pillars very modest pressure worked well. Initially, I tried almost zero pressure and small amounts of polish, as I was unsure of the outcome, when I found the polish was not causing any issues, I increased the pressure slightly. You will find that the polish quickly disappears, so regular topping up of a small amount works best and working a small area at a time around 5-10 cm, then removing the polish residue with a fresh cloth to check that the micro swirls have gone.

On the wing mirrors I had 3-4 deeper scratches due to hedge foliage, as we have to drive down narrow West Somerset lanes and the wing mirrors catch each side. For these I had to apply a little more hand polishing pressure and regular topping up of the polish, again, I did not use large amounts, just worked the scratch area. It took longer to remove the deeper scratch, but it did work and resulted in the gloss black polished finish as per new car look. When working the deeper areas keep looking from different angles, as it polishes so well you have to catch the light across the scratch to make sure you have removed all of the scratch.

In all cases I polished by hand and used new micro cloths so no external grit contamination was introduced... The external gloss black plastic trim is very susceptible to scratching.. not the best choice of material for an "off road vehicle".

A much better option is poor boys black hole.

It's a fantastic polish with fillers. Durability is ok, but I'd recommend a coat of wax layered on top for deep shine, swirl reduction and durability MY10 HSE 3.0 TDV6 : Santorini Black : Ebony Interior w/Anigre wood : Privacy Glass (total) : Sunroof : Sidesteps : Hybrid TV : Detachable Tow Kit : Spare Wheel Cover : 22" Dished Supersports

The main factor with poor boys black hole is that although its a very good product, it mainly fills the micro scratch's rather than removes them, so it does not produce a 100% permanent fix. The micro swirls can re-show after the protective wax layer has worn away. It will however show a good short term result. D4 2012 Santorini Black gone
RRS 2013 Santorini HSE Black gone
MY2016 RRS HSE Dynamic arrived September, but will it stay.. maybe not.

But plast-X is a fillet based product also.

I've used several different products on the soft plastics, none of which are particularly durable.

I am reasonably well versed and competent in detailing, having done it as a hobby over the last 10 or so years.

My wash technique has ensured absolute minimal marring on the rest of the bodywork, but the softness of the c pillar in particular is ridiculous.

For that reason, black hole with a coat of a durable wax (currently using Bilt Hamber double speed wax - is as durable as the old favourite collonite 427 and is much easier worked) is the best solution I have found, but to each their own.

Out of interest how many times have you had to perform the plast-X treatment? How long is it lasting?

Cheers

Ross MY10 HSE 3.0 TDV6 : Santorini Black : Ebony Interior w/Anigre wood : Privacy Glass (total) : Sunroof : Sidesteps : Hybrid TV : Detachable Tow Kit : Spare Wheel Cover : 22" Dished Supersports

The Plast-X was the only product that I have found (so far) that will also actually polish the scratch out in the plastic, rather than just fill it and get back the factory level shine.
It has managed to polish out the deeper scratches on the plastic finish wing mirrors caused by hedging ( needs a bit of time to do this). In most of these fine product finisher types there are amounts of filler, as it gives an apparent quick fix. but after a fair amount of experiment I found the Plast-X to work. I also have poor boys black hole available and use it on the paint, ( previous last two LR's were Black and the paint scratched just by looking at it!) this works fairly well short to medium term on the paint, but as you say it needs to be covered with a good wax finish as a protector. I use Victoria wax.
One point the Plast-X states NOT to be used on a paint finish.

Re - Plast-x treatment, so far its lasted ok for at least 4 main washes, over a period of a month and a bit with no wax applied over it, but I always snow foam first and then use the two bucket method to avoid grit contamination. My problem is that our LRS and other 4x4 gets genuinely used off road, so I have got used to the never ending cycle/chore of external paint/plastic inspection. The external materials are not good for a "premier" vehicle supposedly happy off road.. I mentioned this to our dealer who stated that they have to rework polish just about every secondhand LRS and FullFat they sell to get the scratch and marks off, at least as many as the paint/plastic will allow.

Dave D4 2012 Santorini Black gone
RRS 2013 Santorini HSE Black gone
MY2016 RRS HSE Dynamic arrived September, but will it stay.. maybe not.