Another marathon session on another BMW. This one had tons of swirls, scratches and chips. If I touched up one spot, I touched up 30. I put 20 1/2 hours into this one. I ended up wet sanding the deck lid and several bad spots. There was one really nasty scrape on the right rear fender where it meets the trunk that I filled in but could not wet sand smooth b/c it was right at the edge. I tried Langka after letting the paint cure for 24 hours and it still pulled all the paint right out of the chips. Langka needs to go on paint that's like a week old or older I think. The customer was supposed to come at 1pm today but showed up at 9am so I had to photograph it with him standing there. Consequently there are not as many after shots and no close ups of all the trouble spots. I really wished I'd shot some pics inside last night! Sorry. The Process: Engine: This customer wanted the engine done (most don't). I did it first and gently power washed it down and sprayed Zep Citrus and agitated with some soft brushes. I rinsed again and immediately dried it off with my 200mph 2 cycle leaf blower. I then applied 303 Aerospace to the plastic and metal pieces. I started it and let it run for 10 minutes. Wheels/Barrels/Wells/Tires/Exhaust Tips: You may wonder why I included Exhaust tips in this section but I used a tip I learned from JL (and one I highly recommend!) which is to use Megs WB on chrome exhaust tips. Saves a lot of time with Autosol. Wheels and barrels were cleaned with Megs WB and rinsed and then sprayed with Zep Citrus to neutralize and then rinsed again. Tires cleaned with Zep purple. Wells cleaned with Zep Citrus. The wheels were subsequently hand polished with DG 501 and then sealed with Collinite 845. The wells were treated with Adams Undercarriage Spray. The tires were treated with DP Gloss gel. The tips were cleaned with P21 soap and sealed with Colli metal wax. (the insides did get Autosol..they needed it) My choice of wheel brushes and cleaners: Foam/Wash/Clay: The car was rinsed and then foamed with a mixture of DG 901 with 2 ounces of Zep Citrus added to the foam cannon and allowed to dwell for a few minutes. It was then washed with 2bm and pulled inside to clay immediately while still wet. Clay of choice was CM blue. Head/Tail Lights and Side Marker Lights: I thought the side marker lights on the front fenders looked cloudy as did the headlights so I applied Autosol to them. It improved the side marker lights a bit and the headlights then got polished via rotary and a 3" black pad with DG plastic polish. Defect Removal: I wet sanded where I could to get out the majority of the defects. The hood was just plain nasty and the clear coat on this car (I swear!) was made of granite! Why? It took a 8" white 3M wool pad (the most aggressive pad I own and made I believe) and Menz power gloss to get the scratches and swirls out of the hood. It alone took a few hours. I had to follow that stage up with an LCC orange pad with Megs 105. That was then followed up with UCCL and a white LCC pad. I then applied DG 501 (by hand) to clean the paint and to make the flake jump and then DG 601/105 by hand. It was followed up by Colli 845. I know it's more work, but I'm really diggin this combination! The panels that were wet sanded got started with the white wool and M105 and on from there. I love how incredibly fast the M105 works with wool. I was really, really pushing on the rotary to get the correction I needed here. But, hey, it worked and that's the only thing that matters to me. Most chips were filled and not wet sanded to save time otherwise it would have added a few more hours to an already incredibly long detail. Interior: The interior was badly marked up on the scuff panels for both the driver and passenger as well as the carpet had some nasty stains including salt stains from the winter. The driver's door panel was particularly stained as were the seats. The scuff panels got Ken's AG pad sprayed with Zep Citrus and then steamed. It took several passes to get all the marks out. A magic eraser was also used gently to assist on the worse spots. The door panels were also cleaned with the same combo of pad/Zep/steam. They were treated to 303 Aerospace after. The seats got the same treatment. The dash was also cleaned with the same. All the leather pieces were treated with 303. The stained carpeting was vacuumed thoroughly and then sprayed with Zep High Traffic and agitated with a stiff brush. It was then steamed and extracted and then steamed again. Glass was cleaned with Zep and 2 mf method. Interiors usually take me 1 to 1.5 hours...this one took me 3. BEFORES: AFTERS: Thanks for looking. Your comments are appreciated.
wow Richy, what a transformation. I have thought about using Zep Citrus & Zep Purple but just wasn't sure what i could use them on since on Zep Citrus it states not to use on automotive type stuff but man i need to get some. What uses would it be good for? As well as what uses for the Purple?
I looked through all new posts, and saved your detail for a "desert". Stunning work, as usual, Richy! Impressive touch ups! My wife has identical ('04 E46 325Ci) BMW, and when I used flood method washing the engine, somehow I triggered oil sensor, which had to be replaced. Luckily car was under warranty at that time...I've been using "dry" method on BMWs from there on, where I clean and degrease as usual, but instead of "flooding" rinse, I used a wet towel and a bucket of water I've been rinsing that towel in...
I love it sir! What was the customers reaction? Did they even think it was possible to be that clean again?
Thank you very much. The purple is much stronger stuff. I mix it at 1:4 as well. I love it for cleaning tires..the brown junk just rolls out of there. That's the primary use but if there was something really grimy in an engine, I'd use it there too. I go through much more Citrus than I do purple. Thanks a lot Luis! Thanks very much..I was very happy with how it turned out. I just wish I could have photographed it with some effort and not be rushed and also get to shoot it with a mid day sun. Oh well..beyond my control. Waseem...Thanks man! I've been so busy with these jobs (got an H2 less than an hour after that one left) that I haven't had a chance to see that DVD yet. I really want to get at it. Sergei..you're too kind, man. To be honest, I hate doing engines. I find the best way to cut the grime is with water and a good degreaser followed by pressure washer. The pw scares me around sensors and what not so I don't spray close to them. I then immediately blast the hell out of everything with the leaf blower. It's a 2 cycle that blows 200 mph. That definitely gets rid of the water. I prefer just not doing them. I only do my own once a year. Your method sounds good for rinsing. I will try that next time...thanks for the tip. Thank you..glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the kind words Matt. The actual owner did not pick it up...he's in Florida until Saturday. I am eager to hear his reaction to it. His father seemed pleased with it for sure.
As usualy Richy this is phenomenal work. The transformation was awesome compared to when you first got it. Seems like you have been detailing a lot lately, never hurts to be busy!
Chas..thank you buddy. Between the winter and being out of commission for 3 months with my knee surgery, I've got quite the backlog of cars to do. I think I still have 8 or 9 left to do. Got 2 weeks of vacation a few weeks from now..gonna try to bang of a bunch then.
beautiful. i see that its shorts time in canada. this car refutes the saying "when pigs fly" it should state that pigs are allowed to drive and destroy beautiful works of art. your patience with the correction was monklike.
Goodness that was a nasty one Rich. Hard clear is nice if it's kept nice. However, once people start not caring for it, it can be quite a bear to get it looking like new again!
You are welcome, Richy. The whole idea behind this is to eliminate water trigerring sensors...Japanese cars never been a problem to me ( I did many Hondas/Acuras, Nissans/Infinitis, and Toyotas), but on german cars this wasn't the first case I heard of, so I really wanted to be carefull...when that happened on my wife's car, oil light started blinking going from yellow to red, and from red to yellow...something like this usually isn't covered by the warranty...
Dave..thanks a bunch for your comments. I think the owner had just recently purchased it so this is the way it came. Some monk I am... a cigar smoking one at that!! hahahaha Thanks P1et...I always appreciate your comments bud!! I just finished an H2 that I'll be posting probably tomorrow night. It had quite hard clear as well.
Great job Richy! I see you are using 845 after dg105. I've done the same on the wifes car to see the durability of this combo. I always find your details to be an opportunity for learning with good tips.
Thanks MArcus..I always like to share what I've learned. I was playing with the 501/601/105/845 combo over the winter and was really impressed with it. I decided to use this combo on customer's cars.
