2004 Phoenix Yellow M3 Correction Interior/Exterior Detail

My buddy bought a 2004 E46 M3 with 75K miles about 8 months ago, and we've been trying to set a date to get this done, but had been unable to make it happen. We finally set a date and got it done. The car was heavily swirled, with RIDS abounding. The interior was fairly hammered as well having never been detailed. The leather was shiny and slippery and overall needed a little TLC. Anywho, I gave him a crash course on how to use th PCXP and polish. He handled the PCXP and 4" pads for the smaller areas, and I used th Flex 3401 orbital on the larger areas. My wife and dad also pitched in to help as well. We got it done in about 9 hours, so probably total of 18-20 man hours or so. I gotta stop doing this for free btw. Man....... Here's what we did.

Exterior:
CG CWC 2oz/gal Two BM
Foam Gun 16oz CG CWC 16oz H2O
Rinse
Re foam
Rinse
Dread Lock Microfiber Mit
Uber Yellow Sponge
Swissvax detail brush for the emblems with 1:1 of CWC and distilled water.
WW Drying Towels
Uber blue clay with ONR Clay Lube
Rinse
Dry
Tape
Glass cleaned with stoner's and a blue surgical towel.
Rubber window seals and cowel treated with 303 Aerospace
License plate cleaned up
Exhaust tips polished with wenol chrome polish and sealed.

Wheels/Wheel Wells:
Mini EZ Detail Brush
OPC 3:1 for fender wells and tires
Autoglym Wheel Cleaner
Daytona Full Size Brush for the barrels
CG CWC
Uber fender Brush
Tires Dressed with Adams VRT
Wheel wells dressed with Adam's Wheel Well Dressing
Wheels sealed with collinite 845.

Polish/Protectant:
Inspection with Brinkman dual xenon, and in direct sunlight.
Paint thickness varied from 72 (yikes) in the lower panels just forward of the rear wheels to 135 depending on area of the car measured
Flex 3401 speed speed 5.5 with uber yellow and Menz SIP. This worked really well to rid of all but the worst RIDS. I didn't chase them all.
PCXP with 4" uber yellow with SIP on bumpers, c pillar, and other tight areas
50/50 IPA Wipe Down
Menz 203 power finish on uber green speed 3-->6-->3.
Chemical Guys EZ Creme Glaze. Didn't really like this stuff for some reason. IPA wipe down from now on.
BFWD via PCXP speed 3 with Black uber pad
Chrome front grills and kidney grills polished with Menz 106FA to bring back some luster.
Headlights and tail lights compounded with Meg 105 and surfuf 4" pad on PCXP at speed 6, then polished with 203 and uber green.
Lights sealed with BFWD

Engine (didn't spend much time on this for lack of interest):
OPC 3:1 spritzed. Agitated with various brushes and boars hair brush
Rinse
OPT dirctly onto underside of hood until clean.
Dry
Adam's VRT on large areas and In N Out spray on tighter areas

Interior:
Vaccuum
Mats and Rugs treated with folex and cleaned
Leatherique Rejuvinator Oil to all leather surfaces. Let sit for 10 hours.
Pristine clean to remove rejuvinator oil after 10 hours.
Einzett cockpit
Adams in and out spray.
Got rid of the bugs


I only agreed to do this as my friend agreed to maintain the car properly after we were done.

OK some pics. I think overall it turned out really well for how hammered it was........

On arrival. Good grief.



Dull hood


Dull car:



Dirty mats



Clean Mats:




Wheel Cleaning:


Bugs:



Dead Bugs Now:




Fender well business:



Bubble bath:



Wash:


Dirty Motor:


Engine Cleaned and dressed:





SWIRLS:







I'm terrible at catching the swirls with the brinkman. Sorry:

















An anesthesiologist and an ER doctor polishing a car:



After shots. Sorry but the sun was going down by the time the selant was getting buffed off.







Swirls be gone:





Clean Wheels:







Interior After:












My buddy got home and took some beauty pics with his nice camera and some good light.



















Thanks for looking. Hope you enjoyed it. I love these cars! I have a grey e46 M3 and it's an awesome rig!

 

I love the way these M3's look, great work!:thumb:

 

Thanks buddy. I had to not post the rear view shots cause of the license plate being in a few of them :-( Oh well.

 

Incredible work, don't think I've seen that color before.

-Kody-

 

Nice turn around!

 

Great job guys. Turned out fantastic.

 

People will definitly see that thing coming now, great work.

 

Great job! Love M3's too

 

nice job

 

Yeah, it's quite unique. I actually like it allot strangely.

Thanks so much!

Your help on my projects have aided me tremendously!!

Like a flying bumble bee!!! Thanks!!!

Thank you!

Thanks so much!!!

 

Nice job on the detail! Personally I really dislike that color. Seen it in person and don't understand the appeal at all. Those cars are insanely fun to drive though.

 

That's not the first time I've heard that

 

Beautiful work and definitely a rare color. Nice!

 

Nice work on a rare car.

 

good job on the car.

the before shots make the paint look heavily oxidized.

i love the parking garage shots, makes the paint have a hint of green to it.

i always liked these kinds of shots..... they can either makes paint muted, or enhance them with very little post processing

 

Nice work, great car!! Looks like the owner really enjoyed it before bringing it in

nice socks too

 

I've only seen his in this color in person ever. Definitely an acquired taste.

Thanks buddy.

The pain WAS heavily oxidized for sure. His parking garage shots were nice. There was no enhancing of the photos in photoshop or anything. Just the right lighting, a nice camera, and a little skill I guess. I'm terrible at taking pictures. He says that the car actually changes color depending on the light throughout the day.

Yeah he just got back from Big Sur and hadn't washed the car in like a month. He lives in Santa Monica. I had my work cut out for me to say the least. It's amazing what a good wash will do for a car though. It looked so much better just after the wash alone.

Glad you like the socks. You must always represent the alma mater!!!!

Matt

 

Nice job. Love that color. Great job on the floor mats. what did you use??

 

We spritzed it with folex, agitated with a brush, and wiped off with an all purpose mf towel. I've used chemical guys stuff and zep high traffic but neither one was nearly as good as folex. And u can get it at home depot for pity's sake!!

 

Nice work on the M3! That's the first time I've seen an M in that color.