I finally got around to detailing my new to me 2005 M3. I bought it in Dec, 2010 with 11,300 miles on it in very good shape. There were a few swirls that you could see in just the right angle in just the right light, and a little bit of hazing in certain areas of the paint. The car was also in desperate need of claying as well. I am hobby detailer and not a pro by any stretch. Thanks to my dad for rockin' the pcxp. Exterior: CG CWC 2oz/gal Two BM Foam Gun 16oz CG CWC 16oz H2O Dread Lock Microfiber Mit Uber Yellow Sponge WW Drying Towels Gloss It Green clay with ONR Clay Lube Rinse Dry Tape Wheels/Wheel Wells: Mini EZ Detail Brush OPC 3:1 for fender wells and tires Sonax Dayton Full Size Brush for the barrels CG CWC Tires Dressed with CG VRP Polish/Protectant: Inspection with Brinkman dual xenon Paint thickness varied from 3.9-4.6 depending on area of the car measured Flex 3401 speed 3-->5/6-->3 with uber green and Menz 203 Power Finish PCXP with 4" uber green Menz 203 on bumpers, c pillar, and other tight areas 50/50 IPA Wipe Down BFWD via PCXP speed 3 with Black uber pad The interior I had detailed previously, and am awating a nice warm day to leatherique it. I also didn't get around to sealing the wheels, but think I might try Colli 845 and see what I get . In 1 week I'm considering either another coat of BFWD vs Pete's 53 vs Vic's red. Or I could go another coat of BFWD then Pete's 53 or Vic's Red. I'm also gonna throw in some Danase WG 2.0 at some point. OK some pics. Before cloudy: Wheels before: Sonax: Wheels After: Foam: Still Beaded after CWC via foam gun with 5 minutes dwell then CWC 2 BM wash. Sux. Clay not as bad as I thought: Still beading after clay, sux: I tried Menz SIP via Flex 3401 and Menz 203 PF with Flex 3401 green uber pad on both. The 203 gave higher gloss and took out what few defects there were without issue, so that's what was used. After Menz 203: My favorite post Menz 203 pic: After BFWD, clouds above: Next day. Some sun shots: Thanks for looking. Matt
Looks great, i've never heard of anyone using colli845 on leather seats though, let us know how it turns out!
The Collinite 845 was for the wheels, not the leather. I re-read my post, I don't think it sounded like I was going to use it for the leather? Maybe it did. No plans for Collinite on the leather though. Leatherique on the leather for me
Awesome car, I would love to see some pics. I was really close to buying a 2011.5 E92 M3, but they took away the from the factory power seats and started with some automatic kill switch at idle thing, and so I said enough is enough, and got lucky finding a low mileage e46 M3, plus it was half the price of the new stripped down E92 I was looking at There's nothing like the sound of that V8 up in the RPM range though.
nice! sorry bout the misleading CWC can strip lsp, CWG is the one i used but yeah experience wise, it hasnt stripped stuff for others but has for me so its flakey. I hate CG acronyms. SO CONFUSING!
Ya no doubt. But I love the E46's too. Such nice cars. I would buy another but I'd have no room for it..
Beautiful car and great job! Try an OPC pre-soak on the car before foaming if you want to get rid of the beading.
Hey bud. No big deal at all. I think it's all just smoke and mirrors if having the wax fulling stripped aids in polishing anyways. It turned out buttery smooth and really popped. I researched the CWG vs CWC thing and they are the same thing except for the CWG leaves the surface a little "glossier" after. I'm using it as a wax stripper solely so I went with the CWC. It really is a nice ride. I rocked a 1971 VW beetle for 15 years before I finally bought myself a car. I love it!! Thanks so much. I think your reading skills are still probably much better than my writing skills!! This is exactly what I'm going to do next time. I just need to research what ratio to use in the foam gun or how to dilute it in a spray bottle to pre-soak it next time Thanks so much. This is the 4th car I've done: my wifes 2003 IS300, my dad's 2002 F150, and my best friend's 2006 G35. I changed the oil, and did the entire exterior/wheel/tires/glass detail in 7 hours. It's definitely nice that the car is silver grey as the Menz 203 finished down LSP ready.
Wow look at the paint pop! I have my work cut out for me when I have to do my bro's e46 m3 this upcoming summer. It is swirl city.
Thanks so much. I'm not a pro by any stretch, but it turned out really well. Thanks bud! Yeah I'm going to be doing my buddies Phoenix Yellow 2004 E46 M3 in the next 4-6 weeks. I think I should charge him like $1000 cause it's swirl/oxidation city, but I'll probably end up having to do it gratis sadly I already have my plan in order. Same as on my car, but for polishing Meguiar's new microfiber cutting disk with D100 compound, then Menz 106fa with uber green and Flex 3401. That's my plan at least. If that doesn't cut it, then it's on to the surbufs with 105 on the Flex!! I hate using that 105 though. I hope I don't have to use it. Then one to two coats of 845 to top it. I'll put a thread up once I'm done with that too. Matt
