BMW E46 M3 Carbon Metallic Black Paint Correction

Hey all! v|nsan|ty and I worked on a 2004 E46 M3 this weekend and although we have a write up on a E46 already, I decided to do another write up as we both have a soft spot for M vehicles. In addition, this Carbon Metallic Black was a very unique color and was in some serious need of attention.

The Subject:


Total Time: 16 hours over 2 days

Upon receiving this M3 I could already tell the paint was in very bad shape. BMW's Carbon Metallic Black is a paint color exclusive to the M line of vehicles and has a very unique hue to the paint. Under soft lighting the paint appears black, however with a bright light source such as direct sunlight or halogen lamps, the car takes on a navy blue hue.

The following pictures speaks volumes of the condition of the paint:










Exhaust tips and wheels were dull and needed attention:





We began with the wheels using Autoglym's Custom Wheel Cleaner at 1:1 dilution:


Chemical Guy's Grime Reaper at 5:1 was used on the wheel wells alongside the EZ Detailing Brush:


Raceglaze's Wheel brush for the inner barrels:


Raceglaze's detailing brush used for the wheel face and lug nuts:


Cleaned:


While Vince continued with the wheels I attacked the Exhaust tips with CG Grime Reaper with a Mini EZ detail brush and detailing steel whool:


Left side cleaned:


Completed:


We then foamed the vehicle, a quick spray revealed no LSP was present so we opted for a more gentle mix of CG's Citrus wash n Clear and Maxi Suds II:




Vince washed the vehicle using Citrus Wash n Clear and a Zymol Sponge:


I worked on the finer details:








After we washed the vehicle I brought it in for a quick inspection:

Buffer trails from a possible previous "detail"


Heavy marring was found throughout the vehicle:




The edges of the passenger quarter panel had some very heavy imperfections:


I began claying the vehicle with Sonus's Fine detaling clay and clay lubricant (Thanks to Autoobsessed for providing me with some samples):


The paint was heavy contaminated:


All taped up:



The Test:


The Carbon Metallic paint was a challenge to finish down. Paint hardness was in between BMW's soft Jet Black and their harder metallic paints. After testing a few combinations we opted for a 3 stage process starting with Meguiar's M105 on a LC Orange pad for the compounding stage, M205 for the cutting stage, and finished off with Menzerna's P085RD on a LC Black pad. On some severely damaged panels, Surbuf pads on M105 was used in place of the M105 on LC Orange combo.

50/50 shot of the hood:


Before:


After:


50/50 of the trunk lid:


Before:


After:


License plate before:


After:


Rear Bumper before:


After:


Front bumper before:


After:


B-pillars before:


After (deep RIDS remained as it was too deep to remove):


Front passenger quarter panel before:


After:


50/50 Shot:


Remember those buffer trails?


After:


Passenger door before:


After:


50/50:


Driver side door before:


After:


Vince did a fantastic job on this 50/50:


Side view mirror's before:


After:


50/50 of passenger rear quarter panel:


Driver side rear quarter panel before:


After:


After we have completed the paint correction, it was pitch dark outside so we called it a day.


The next morning we took the car out for a quick rinse:


With another day to work on the car we inspected the paint under direct sunlight and marked off areas that required further finishing:


Happy with the results we foamed the car one last time:


Menzerna Power Lock was used as a LSP:


Autoglym's Tire Dressing was used:


I turned my attention to the exhaust tips which were dull and water stained:


I took out Sonus's Metal polish and sealant (thanks again to Autoobsessed for the samples):




Finished:


We then buffed off the Sealant and took it out for a photoshoot:






















Thanks for reading!

 

Damn that looks good!

 

Looks awesome guys! Wonderful turn around.

Hey I was wondering, are you using 250W or 500W halogen lamps in your tripod as the light source for your pictures? I have 200W floodlamps in my garage that can't seem to capture the paint very well, so I may need to go shopping.

 

Looks great guys! 250w is good enough to catch imperfections.

 

Amazing job. Can't believe how neglected some of these nice cars are. That paint was horrible.

 

Another extensively detailed write up Adam! Excellent job!

Iceblade - We are using 500W bulbs in the tripod. I have no experience with the 250W but I would have to say the 500W emits a crazy amount of heat. Having the light behind you while polishing makes it feel like you're outside under the beaming sun.

 

Just beautiful work, guys !!!

I love detailing that color because it always looks great when done properly like you guys did it here.

I see Bimmers all the time, and this is one of my most favorite shades of black - your awesome work must have made the Client faint, right ??

Did you do that beautiful M engine compartment too ?

Thanks for sharing - you guys are really good !!!
Dan F

 

Nice tag team on that one! That was trashed for sure!

 

Great job. As a fellow E46 owner, I have found that the paint is very resilient. Great job, and please tell the owner to quit washing his car with 60grit sandpaper.

Love that car.

 

Looking awesome!

 

Great job guys!!! the car was trashed indeed.

 

Good Job Vince and Adam, you really turned the beast of a car around

 

Thanks for the kind words all!

Stokdgs, believe it or not, the engine bay was already super clean and had dressing on it already so we left it as is.

JoeyZ, Hahaha I linked this write up to the owner and he had a good laugh at your comment. He will keep that in mind!

 

Nice work, that looks a ton better!

 

that is beautiful! the e46 M3 is still one of the best looking cars out there IMO

 

Great work guys!