^ I may be wrong but I don't think your polishing step #4 is being done with an actual dedicated cleaning polish, that's a topper with some mild cleaners like many over the counter waxes. I only point this out because you went through the trouble of using a swirl remover (correction) after claying. A dedicated polish (cleaning) is typically the next step before sealing (filling) and or waxing (topping).
This is the mother's dedicated polish
http://www.mothers.com/02_products/07100.html
Although I doubt you could tell a difference since you've already done most of the prep of claying and swirl-smoothing. I've only used a few polishes that actually made visible difference after similar prep.
Werkstatt Prime was one and Sonax Polish was another. These tend be aggressive and thus are not sold over the counter like Mother's, Meguiar's, Zymol, etc. and are more expensive than those brands. But results for these stronger polishes are impressive for such little elbow grease, particularly on mettalics where clarity magnifies a good result vs. a good result with a flat color.
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