As
@imprezaworks has commented on machines, ill follow up with the latter part.
For a beginner, Meguiars Ultimate Compound and Polish will probably be all you'll need. Theyre decent, not too expensive and do the job well. Prepare to need to spend quite a bit on pads. I used the Chemical Guys Hex Logic pads for ages. Recently found some Lake County pads for half the price but I cant really comment too much on those as I only used their finishing pads.
Pads last a fair while, but only if youre gentle with them. The general rule of thumb is 1 pad per panel of the car - more for the roof and bonnet. This is before they need cleaning out, or swapping, as they become clogged with polish. I managed to do my entire 140 with 2 pads, but cleaning them out a lot became tiresome!
Onto the paint: Honda and BMW have almost polar opposites in regards to paint hardness (Depending on the age of the cars). Generally, Honda paint is soft and BMW paint very hard.
@Gally might be better equipped to answer more specifically as my polishing experience is limited to about 4 brands/cars. For example though, the Tesla I ceramic coated recently had incredibly soft paint. My 140 has absolute concrete paint and I have to use a Microfibre pad to make any real progress.
Shout which age/models you have and someone might be able to help!
