Restoring paint on my 88' 528e..looking for some advice

Hello all,

I have been "detailing" may cars for 15+ years by using sources like this forum and have been pretty successful by just following simple instructions, so it goes without saying how invaluable these resources are.

Most of the cars I have owned have been "newish" and never required anything more than clay bar, light swirl removal, glaze and followed by a wax.

Since my life wasn't busy enough already, I decided to pick up a beater locally which needs a LOT of TLC, both in interior and exterior.

I have done some cleanup but I am "stuck" at the paint restoration.

The paint seems to have zero clear coat remaining, (I am still trying to confirm if that car came with modern "clear coat" back in 1987). I have used an Orange pad + Prima Swirl removal and it has made a huge difference, although the paint is far from perfect. My work so far has changed the paint status from a 25 footer to a 10 footer.(as in car now looks OK from about 10 feet away). It now has at least some reflection and the haze has disappeared for the most part. There is still no depth or real shine in the paint.


I am looking for a polish+pad combo that would work with my PC Random Orbital buffer. I have never used polishes of any kind and frankly am a little scared of them.

I am attaching a few pictures of what I have done, and what my paint currently looks like.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

 

It looks like clear coat failure to me I may be wrong

 

yeah looks like clear coat failure as well. the 50/50 shots are great and show a large improvement.

the interior cleaned up nicely less the seats of course are you planning on restoring them.

 

Thank you for your responses...

Is it pointless to work on this paint due to clear coat failure? or should I still try to bring it back to somewhat life by using a polish?

Can you recommend a polish?

yes I was able to source a like new set of 27 year old seats (amazing how things can last when people take care of them)

they are not the correct color but I am still not sure about dyeing them...

 

Really fantastic job on the interior! Well done!

The paint on the other hand (as mentioned) looks to have clear coat failure. It would be an ongoing battle in trying to keep up with it (consistent polishing)

If repainting is not an option right now, I would recommend just keeping a nice sealant or wax on it at all times until new paint could be addressed. I don't have a whole lot of experience with Zaino polish (Z-2) But I can say from the amount of times I've had to remove it from paint, It has a very nice build up effect and could possibly be beneficial here? "temporally."

Well done again on the detailing! Would love to see more as it progresses!

 

Nice car! I have an 88 535is, the clearcoat on this era BMW was pretty bad, most didn't hold up well unless you were really on top of it from the start. All of the metallic colors were clearcoated, and the non metallic were generally single stage paint. Looks like yours might be Cirrusblau metallic? Check next to your strut tower and you'll see the paint code.

Not much you can do when the clear gets like yours is, what you have in your 50/50 is about as good as it will get unless you decide to go for a respray. Great work on the interior, those lighter seats are definitely an awesome contrast to the blue interior!

 

you are correct sir, it is cirrusblau metalic

I cannot do a respray any time soon so a polish/glaze/wax is my only option.

I am still looking for a proper/safe/recommended polish to do the job. Prima Swirl is just not cutting it, the 50/50 shot was after 5 passes with the swirl

Thanks again for the kind comments about the car..

 

Something like Meguiar's Ultimate Compound will cut faster than Prima Swirl, should get you to that 50/50 shot faster than the 5 passes you're working with. Both Ultimate Compound and Ultimate Polish by Meguiar's are an awesome duo that you can find locally. The step up from those two are the Meguiar's Mirror Glaze M100 compound and M205 finishing polish, Phil has M100 available on the DetailersDomain store site. Once you get to that level of clearcoat failure pretty much everything is going to be a temporary fix, once the UV protection in the clearcoat has broken down the paint ends up fading faster than usual. You could try a glaze as well as opposed to trying to cut deeper into the paint with a compound, Meguiar's M07 (#7) Show Car Glaze is a great option, it usually works much better on oxidized Single Stage Paint but it might bring some richer color out of your paint in this instance.

 

Thank you sire

I ordered Meguires M105 (seems to fit my needs and equipment better) and will report back as soon as I receive the new pads/Polish

I also ordered 2K Spray can Clear coat. I am going to try and clear coat the hood/roof/trunk lid (areas with most clear coat damage)

 

thank you amazon..

next couple of days will be interesting...

 

Made 2 passes with Meguires M105 + chemical guys Yellow cutting foam pad

The results are very encouraging, although I am really starting to appreciate just how bad a shape the paint is in...

I think at this point, I am going to M105 all horizontal surfaces, glaze and wax and repeat (glaze + wax) until I can repaint. There is NO "saving" this paint, not the horizontal surfaces (hood, roof, trunk)

I will continue to post pics as I make progress

Thank you all for your advice and help

 

Some more progress

A few Before and after pictures (Before pics of panels with Maguire's M105- After pictures show post Prima Epic/Amigo)


BEFORE ANY WORK:



AFTER Maguire's M105



AFTER Prima Amigo and EPIC