Wheels/Tires: CG Citrus Wash And Gloss on wheels Meguiar's APC on tires and wheel wells Surf City Garage Tire Pro on tires Swissvax Wheel brush for wheels, calipers and small crevices EZ Detail Brush for wheel barrels Meguiar's Ultimate Quik Wax on wheels Wash: CG Citrus Wash and Gloss via Foam Gun and 2BM Meguiar's Microfiber Wash Mitt Meguiar's Water Magnet Metro Master Blaster Clay: Nanoskin Autoscrub Towel Meguiar's Last Touch Paint Correction: Rupes 21ES Meguair's G110v2 / 3" LC Backing Plate Menzerna PF2500 / Meguiar's 5" Microfiber Cutting Discs Meguiar's D300 / Meguiar's 3" Microfiber Cutting Discs Rupes Quarz Gloss Medium Gel / Rupes Green Medium Pad Pad Conditioning Brush Craftsman 500W Halogen Lights Brinkmann Dual Xenon Lights LSP: Wolfgang Fuzion Interior: Meguiar's Quik Interior Detailer Vacuum This vehicle was recently purchased and the owner wanted it refreshed. It had a ton of swirl marks and the paint was looking dull for this standards. Coincidentally, the owner is a fellow Autogeek. He usually details his own vehicles but he has more important priorities to take care of. I was honored that he chose me to do the detail for him. Knowing that he's a fellow Autogeek, I knew I have high standards to achieve. The owner chose to have a 1 step polish detail done. Here's a picture of the car when the owner dropped it off. I really wanted to start the wash but the car was still hot. While waiting for the car to cool off, I decided to start cleaning up the interior. Here are some pictures of it: Interior Before: Seat Before: I vacuumed the whole interior. Here are some after pictures: After vacuuming the cabin, I proceeded to wipe down the interior using Meguiar's Quik Interior Detailer and a clean microfiber towel. This stuff rocks! The sun was setting really fast and it was getting dark outside. I really wanted to get the wash process started before it gets black out. As usual, I always get started with the wheels. Here are the tools I used for this task: Spraying Sonax Wheel Cleaner: Letting Sonax dwell and do its thing: Brushing the wheel face: Cleaning the wheel barrel: Cleaning the tires: Cleaning the gas tank area: After all this was done. I foamed the car to loosen all the dirt and proceeded with a 2 bucket wash. After washing the car, I used my Metro Master Blaster to dry the car as much as I can. Then I used my waffle weave drying towel to dry the remaining water. After drying the car, I inspected the paint for the presence of bonded contaminants. There wasn't much rough spots on the car but I decided to clay it anyways. For this task, I used the Nanoskin Autoscrub towen with Meguiar's Last Touch as my clay lube. Now on to the polishing phase. The owner only wanted a 1 step polish. Since this is a German car, I wanted to switch it up and use a German polish appropriate for the car. I've heard great things about PF2500 being great for 1 step jobs so I chose this for the task. Also, I wanted to use this before it goes bad so what better time to use it than now. I elected to use my 5" Meguiar's microfiber cutting pad with my Rupes 21ES with the 5" BP installed. All the elite detailers are raving about this combo so I decided to give it a shot. Of course, I have my traditional DA (G110v2) hooked up with a 3" backing plate for those hard to reach areas. Equipment to be used: I was using PF2500 like how you would use D300 on the Meg's microfiber system. Prime the pad then just add 3 pea size drops per section. This in conjunction with the microfiber discs and of course the Rupes 21ES removes swirls like no other! I can literally see the swirls melt as the pad passes. It's AMAZING!!! I'll let the pictures do the talking... Driver Side Rear Door Before: Driver Side Rear Door 50/50: Driver Side Rear Door After: Driver Side Front Door Before: Driver Side Front Door 50/50: Driver Side Front Door After: Remember to always work clean! Brush your microfiber pads after every section pass! Driver Side Front Fender Before: Driver Side Front Fender 50/50: Driver Side Front Fender After: Driver Side Rear Quarter Before: Driver Side Rear Quarter 50/50: Driver Side Rear Quarter After:
Trunk Before: Trunk 50/50: Trunk After: Passenger Side Rear Quarter Before: Passenger Side Rear Quarter 50/50: Passenger Side Rear Quarter After: I saw some weird sanding marks by the gas cap area. I later found out that the dealer tried to repair a huge chip and they probably sanded it without even trying to polish it up. *sigh* Sanded Area Before: Sanded Area After: Passenger Side Rear Door Before: Passenger Side Rear Door 50/50: Passenger Side Rear Door After: Passenger Side Front Door Before: Passenger Side Front Door 50/50: Passenger Side Front Door After: Passenger Side Front Fender Before: Passenger Side Front Fender 50/50: Passenger Side Front Fender After: Of course you cannot forget the side skirts: The window sills were painted black and it was looking very tired... Before: 50/50: After: Same situation with the side mirrors: Before: For the large flat panels like the hood and the roof, I chose to use the 7" Rupes medium green pads and it's corresponding Quarz medium polish. Of course I hooked up the 6" 21ES backing plate for this. For hard to reach areas, I opted to choose my G110v2 with a 3" LC backing plate. I used D300 with a 3" microfiber cutting disc for this. After all the polishing was done, it was time to seal and wax the paintwork. To continue with the German theme, I opted to use Wolfgang Fuzion. A nice car like this deserves a nice wax like Fuzion. Letting the LSP cure. This is what it means to have a thin coat!!!
After about 15 minutes, I wiped off the Fuzion and I was left with an amazing, jaw-dropping and eye popping shine. Here are some after pictures: Sun Shots: Photoshoot: Approximate time: 15 Hours. Location: Phoenix, AZ What do you guys think? Opinions, comments and criticisms are welcome!
KILLER JOB buddy!! But if he's a fellow "Autogeek" he needs to be taught a proper 2-bucket wash method, lol. My paint on ANY of my daily drivers NEVER gets that bad.....wow.
Thanks a lot for the compliments, Alex!!! Thank you, Chase!!! The owner bought the car in that condition. It's a CPO car he purchased 3 weeks ago. He just didn't have the time to detail and I was so honored that he picked me. Thanks so much, Ken!! Means a lot coming from you.
Awesome job and write up! What differences did you find bt M PF2500 and Megs D300 with the 5 Megs MF pad? I use D300 with the Uber 5 MF pad and GG DA with great results.
On this detail and on the Rupes, I only used PF2500 on the 5" MF pads. I used D300 on the 3" MF pads. But I can share what I think when comparing it to my previous jobs where I used D300 with the 5" MF pads. I think PF2500 dusts like hell. Definitely a lot more than D300. I really like using D300 on MF pads because it doesn't dust. On the contrary, I think that the PF2500 dusting keeps the pad clean. The fibers don't matte down like how the D300 does. I think the MF pads stay cleaner with the PF2500 and it's easier to brush the pad. I don't think it's necessary to use an air compressor with the PF2500 to clean the pads where as I think it's necessary to do this with D300. The PF2500/MF cutting pads worked well on this paint system so I can't complain. If you have any more questions, please don't hesitate to PM me. Thank you so much, Brian!
