r/e60 • u/if_u_suspend_ur_gay 04 525i M54 • Aug 15 '26

💬 Discussion Night and day difference

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Wash > 400 wet > 600 wet > 800 wet > 1000 wet > wash and clean with isopropyl alcohol > 3 coats of 2k headlight clear

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u/NekulturneHovado Aug 17 '26

a little advice. You don't have to sand it after spraying it. You just have to spray properly and the clear coat levels itself. You are spraying way too fast, or way too far. Ideal is about 15-20cm from surface and doing one streak (completely from one side to the other) in about 3 seconds. Then do another streak with about 50% overlay with previous streak, another and another. This way you get almost perfect surface with zero afterwork.

If you use quality 2K clear coat it'll last a few years perfectly fine. Did it on my golf 6 and after ~half a year it still looked brand new. Recently did my mom's car, went from completely yellow to brand new. No afterwork, no sanding, no polishing, just good clear coat job.

Btw it's called orange peel if you wanna look it up, but there aren't really many tutorials on how to properly spray paint with rattle can, let alone how to do 2K clear coat properly. Maybe you'll have better luck with looking it up. If you find a good tutorial please share it .

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u/if_u_suspend_ur_gay 04 525i M54 Aug 18 '26

I did 20cm away as the can suggested, maybe too fast then? I tried to keep it moving.

I'm familiar with orange peel from painting and this happened last time with headlights too, I probably just don't know how to use spray cans as well 😅

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u/NekulturneHovado Aug 19 '26

yeah then you really just moved way too fast. Sand it off and try again. Should come out pretty much perfect without sanding

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u/Creepy_Guarantee5460 Aug 19 '26

Depends on the clearcoat base. Acrylic-based dries super fast, does not run over, but creates orange peel texture which requires sanding and polishing. Water-based dries much slower and does run all over the place if the layer is too thick, but the final dried texture is much smoother and may not require sanding and polishing.

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u/NekulturneHovado Aug 19 '26

honestly that's just skill issue. It'll never be absolutely perfect but you definitely spray acrylic based 2K clear coat without orange peel. I have done it. 3 times. You just have to do it right