My rear bumper was mistakenly treated with 3m imperial hand glaze, and now the paint looks like crappola/bumper is all scratched up. It's a black A4, is there an easy fix for this?

Maybe I should try 3m rubbing compound and then the glaze?

IHG is not abrasive so unless it was used on a dirty car there shouldn't be a problem. Are you having a hard time removing it? Maybe try lightly misting it with some water or detailing spray to help buff it off? It can be very difficult to remove once it dries.

OK, will do. I'll also try to get some pics of the bumper to post up tomorrow. Thanks.

removed all of the fillers, silicon, wax and so on from the surface so that now what's revealed is a "clean" bumper with the usual surface imperfections. if this is the case then you will need to apply you favorite "black paint" products to recreate the previous look. while it's possible to machine buff the defects, this takes more skill and time on the angular surfaces fo a bumper.

of course this assumes that the glaze has been completely removed and the material used to apply it didn't damage the paint, but ihg does a good job of cleaning paint and clean paint shows surface imperfections most clearly...


cheers

<center><img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/80562/bumper.jpg"></center><p>
This had no effect. Anyhow, here is a picture of the bumper.

What do you mean by "black paint" products? I am a total noob with this...

It baffles me as well. Of course, popcorn baffles me, so that's not sayin much.

Shaken well before use too... Maybe I'll have to get it repainted... It looks terrible.. :(

and another taken at a greater distance from the car would be useful...allowing us to see the entire bumper. got another photo??

it appears that it's not the full bumper but rather one surface lengthwise. paint above and below looks good. the white area looks like extensive oxidation of the clear coat caused by a solvent, heat or both....or acid etching. i assume this black has a clearcoat...but there is one audi version of black that's not clearcoated.

anyway i'd swing by a detail shop and/or auto paint shop and have them take a look. if you go to a detail shop they might quickly apply a small amount of several products to patches on the area to see if anything works. if they have any luck removing this...it might be worth it to have them do the entire car.

as for black paint products......clearcoated black tends to show minor paint imperfections more so than lighter colors. getting a "mirror finish" on black usually requires progressing through 2-4 polish grades with or without fillers, before applying a protective coat of wax.

most of the car care retailers online explain this process for a give product line...

again visit a good detail shop before considering a repaint. while this does look bad from here......it's impressive what an experienced shop can do...

cheers

<center><img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/80562/pict0012.jpg"></center><p>And you're right, it really is just down the width of the "top" of the bumper. I'll try swinging it by a detail shop on Thursday or Friday when I have the day off. Anyone here from Austin? Does anyone know a good detail shop?

is that the previous owner (i assume you didn't buy the car new) had 3m scotchcal (clearbra) applied to this area, that looks to be about the width of the trunk lid. if so, this could be residual adhesive but more likely is oxidation/damage from using an overly aggresive solvent to remove the film.

keep us posted.

cheers

With rubbing compound... At first I tried out two polishes in order of lowest to highest grit. These did a little, so I decided to break out the rubbing compound. After about 30 minutes with the rubbing compound, the paint was looked ready for some final touches with some polish. All said it took about an hour (experiment + work time) to get that nasty oxydation out of the clear coat. Things are looking shiny and new once more. I will post pics when they're available.