i had a black s2000 and took off the s2000 off from the side here is the steps i did with flawless results
spray it down with 3m adhesive remover.
floss it nice and clean to take off the metal
3m again.
go inside make some ice tea (summer time)
go back out 3m again
go back inside
go back outside 5 minutes later and rub gently with pinky and slides right off like slime on a verticle board

Dawn clean it
polish
buff off
wax buff on. clean it and admire it

oh yeah clean the rest of your car too

 

No matter how careful you are, you still get little scratches. I suppose your S2000 isnt black. If you have something other than black, you might think its perfect, but there are scratches.

 

I too recently debadged my 3 week old black 6MT coupe. After reading the recommendations on the forum, I used dental floss and goo gone. I used a
Q-tip to apply the goo gone directly to the left over adhesive, waited a minute and used my fingers to remove the rest of the adhesive. I did notice some shadowing from where the goo gone was applied and some very faint scratches. After washing with dawn, I applied some Klasse cleaner/polish and the shadowing and scratches disappered.

You are right though, scratches are inevitable with black.

 

s2000 was black like i said. berlin black

 

I just debadged my 05 black coupe this weekend, and even though I had read this thread and was careful, I ended up with a few tiny scratches. The "5" was the first one I removed, and I was a little too aggressive with the cotton towel and goo gone, and left many small small scratches in that are. Oh well... even one coat of Zaino helped tremendously, and I think that more will eliminate them...

The rear of the car looks so much better - even if you are destined for a couple scratches visible from a foot away, it's worth it!

 

god i just got my car on thursday a black 6mt and about a hour ago i took off the g35 and had little scratches from useing only my fingure nail . I ran to auto zone and got meguiers scratch filler. F this im gonna let a body shop finish the rest of the shaveing. Hes a friend of the family. Im glad im not the only one that did this.

 

You see? Impossible no matter what you do. I took almost 2 hours to do this, and not even like that. If after doing this slowly during two hours (my hand burned and got a red color from having stupid goo gone on it for so long) I still got scratches, there defenitelly is no way arround it.

 

Any pics by chance of what it looks like, the scratches and the debadging? I got my black coupe 2 days ago and I think this is something I want to do

 

I dont think I can take pictures that show the scratches. They are verry small. You really have to look for them if you want to see them. If you dont mind that, then go ahead. It's not like you get a biiiiigg scratch or anything.

 

scratch remover and wax would clean up those little scratches and scuff marks

 

scratch remover? Never heard of that. What brand is that? All I know is that 3M makes products that body shops use that can fix those little scratches, but to do that... an orbital is required (dangerouse on inexperienced hands).

 

I had a brand new black GTP in 2001...bought it with 30 miles on it. Black is nice when it is clean but YUCK! when it is dirty and after it gets some years on it. No matter how careful you are you get swirls. That Meguiars ScratchX you are talking about does not FIX the problem, it only covers it up. It is kind of greasy and plays a trick on your eyes in the sunlight but it does not fix them...trust me I know from experience. Once you wash it several times the swirls start to come back slowly. Try it...I'm telling you the stuff fixes nothing.

And the Zaino fix is BS too. They claim to be 100% abrasive/cleaner free so there is no way they are covering up/fixing swirls.

Coming from a guy with almost 4 years of experience with a black car...be happy with your car now. After a few years you're gonna need to buff it out otherwise the swirls will keep piling on.

I'll never have another black vehicle, but this is only my opinion and I'm trying to help

 

^Ditto^. I'll likely never own black again. Last car was black, which is why this one is white.

As for the scratches, I see a lot of "I used Goo Gone and wiped it off...", yet most seem to have skipped right over the process that's going to create the scratches. What did you use to wipe it off? "...just a fingernail" NEVER use your fingernail. It's harder than the finish on the car. I've tried nearly every automotive cotton towel (small ones) on the market and most are cheap, abrasive cotton/poly blends, regardless of the 100% cotton claim. They will **** your finish up!

Has anyone just used a claybar to remove the adhesive?

 

Bolded quote above is what most people miss about washing their car. Does anyone know what causes swirl marks? Dirt, abrasives, and cloth. Only debadge when your car has just been washed GOOD. You are bound to rub any dirt around the badges and make those nice little scratches around the badge. When dirt is on the surface of your car do you lean up against it? Do you use your shirt to whipe off a spot AFTER you have already washed and driven the car? Your shirt just caused swirl marks. Guranteed. Once you have washed your car it is already dirty again...so the day after you wash it dont walk out to it and say "gee I missed a spot" and whipe it off...that causes more swirls. Even if you haven't driven it...dust and dirt in the air has already landed on it and you rubbing your shirt across it effectivly turned it into sandpaper.

All towels cause swirls too by the way. Like Ron said here they are all full of crap. You need to be 100% sure about your towels. And if they have that nylon edging around them CUT IT OFF! That will scratch it up too.

Sponges, wash mits, they all hold small abrasives in them from your last wash job. You have to wash out anything you use to clean your car if you want to use them again.

Swirls are unavoidable...but minimizing creating them makes you happy for longer. I now have DGM so they don't show up as pretty

 

Hello all this is my first post and although I haven't debadged the Infiniti yet. I have however debadged my 04 Dodge Rumble BEE (Black). I used Goo Gone and an eraser wheel to remove excess glue then followed w/a good quality wax and whammo it is sweeeet! No shadows whatsoever. Happy motoring to all.