I was trying to polish out the swirl marks on my wife's 2001 Audi A4 1.8TQ and was having a difficult time doing so. Are Audi paints "hard" or are my polishes not abrasive enough? This is what I was using:

Porter Cable 7336 (7424) 6" orbital
Griot's 3" orbital
Griot's #1 Machine Polish
Griot's #2 Machine Polish
Finesse It II
Wolfgang "Yellow" cutting pad
Autogeek "Orange" cutting pad
Griot's 3" orange pad

Out of above, I assume that the Griot's #1 is the most abrasive that I have. But even when using it with the Wolfgang Yellow, it still takes forever to get the desired results. I.e. - the smallest, "non finger nail catching" scratches take like 15-20 min or more to disappear with a lot of #1 polish used. I set the PC at #6 or #5 to work the polish in.

Am I doing something wrong? Or are Audi paints just that "hard" that it takes a long time? Or what harsher/abrasive can I use to get better results?

 

I always used 3M Perfect-It II compounds. Some paints might be "harder" or of a higher quality. Try using 2000 or higher grit sand paper lightly. I also usually set the buffer to 1000 RPM. Make sure to hold the buffer at a slight angle to the panel as well. About 5 degrees should do it.