Please forgive me for cross-posting, but I believe this may be a more appropriate forum.

My daily driver is a 1999 Acura CL 2.3. It has 109K miles and runs very well. (Engine has only 55K—long story) I am still happy with this car and I see no reason to get rid of it, especially considering I also have a weekend/fair-weather car. The only problem with the Acura is that the car’s exterior is looking quite aged. There are a number of small dings/dents and the black paint job has a few minor chips and scratches. What are my options for rejuvenating the car’s exterior? Since the Acura is just my daily driver and it does not have a space in my garage, I’m not planning to spend a lot of money nor am I expecting to have something that will look showroom perfect. What I don’t want is a paint job that will soon look worse than the aged factory paint job that I currently have.

My weekend/fair-weather car is a 2002 BMW 325ci. It has only 33K miles and is in near-perfect condition. There is only one minor ding but there are a few small chips in the paint. I imagine that touch-up paint will be able to fill in these chips. Is there a special technique for applying touch-up paint? Is it something I should do myself or should I take the car to a professional?

Thank you for your help!
--MB

I asked a similar question and got this...
Expresspaint.com for the paint, it gives good directions & is fairly reasonable.
Also, try this wax: http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/B0002JN510.01-A1T0VEFK4F7RX4._AA280_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B0002JN510/ref=dp_image_0/104-4255879-1194304?ie=UTF8&n=15684181&s=automotive)
it runs about $13 a bottle, but it really brings out a shine! It works especially good on dark colors. Should do great on your black car! Look at my photos, it's shining like a diamond!

MarkBean,

With your factory-matched touch-up paint (usually available at the dealer or auto parts store), you can use a product called Langka (www.langka.com (http://www.langka.com)) to help smoothen the "blob." Using it is a bit of an art form, but the results are quite nice. If you Google around, it's discussed quite a bit on other forums.

Prior to that, I'd probably clay the surface to remove embedded contaminants. After just washing your vehicle, run your fingers lightly across the surface -- if you feel little bumps, you really need to clay. Under normal circumstances, claying should be done once or twice a year (if not more). Mothers and other major makers sell a good consumer clay bar. In the Mothers Clay Bar Paint Saving System (a kit) you get a clay bar (enough to clay two or three cars), lubricant, and you also get a sample size of their Carnauba Cleaner Wax which has some pretty aggressive polishes as cleaner waxes go. Give that a try.

That particular Zymol, I understand, has fairly mild polishes and probably won't "restore" the finish to your liking.