I completed this car last weekend. It was quite nice to work on.. a VERY well maintained car. I would say it was already at 85% but the owner wanted it as perfect as possible, and to pay attention to certain things, like the black trim, carbon roof, and really bringing the gloss white out of the M3. This car is very tastefully modded with ecu flash, Dinan header back exhaust, filter, and all black badges inside/out. Beautiful black/white combo! Anyways, on with the pictures..! When I first got the car Friday morning: (Notice how only the inside tip is dirty. That's because even Dinan has a little form over function in them! Since it's a straight piped exhaust, to increase flow it only goes to one pipe, instead of flowing to both--I thought it was really cool!) Minor dirt build up: Tire sling: Wheels not bad at all: The owner had requested I pay particular condition to the engine bay. As he's an enthusiast of detailing, he has a fair amount of products. One is black wow. Unfortunately he applied this to the engine bay. And knowing how finiky black wow is to work with.. I knew it wasn't going to be pretty!! Smearing galore... Before: I first pressure rinsed the engine bay down, then sprayed a liberal amount of P21S TAW to all surfaces. While that was dwelling, I went ahead and foamed the car. I did this with a heavy concentration of Optimum Power Clean due to the owner keeping the car freshly sealed and waxed with a JS109/Swissvax Glacier combination. Everything was then pressure rinsed down, including the engine bay I pulled the car inside for a lightly claying. It wasn't too bad, but I wanted to be sure I had a perfectly clean surface, I chose Sonus Green poly clay for the lack of contamination on the paint, and the soft texture of the clay. After the car was taped, I attempted to take pictures of the defects. The car, as I said, was in very good condition, but had a decent amount of RIDS clusters and some light wash marring. On with the polishing! I figured I'd use the "money combo" on this car with P0203s and a PFW pad. It wasn't cutting it! I ended up stepping the combination to the following three step: 3M UK Fast Cut Plus and a 3M UK Green Pad, with some areas requiring a PFW pad, followed by M205 with a LC Black pad on the Flex DA, and then to gain the level of gloss both the owner and I were after, I finished it off with 3M Ultrafina and a 3M UK Blue pad. Some 50/50's before ultrafina. Another pass was made to ensure those last few RIDS were taken care of. I pulled it back in to continue polishing. Getting the front bumper: The condition of the black trim on the mirrors: Generally speaking most cars of the same make, the jet black, or basic gloss black paint will be softer than the other colors. Using this idea, I didn't go nearly as aggressive with the black trim. I used a 3M UK Green pad and PO203S, Followed by M205 on both 3M UK Yellow, and finally again on 3M UK Blue pads to ensure correction, and ample gloss. After: Black trim around windows before: During: After: Then I turned to the carbon roof. Take percautions with heat transfer, I used 3M FC+ and a 3M UK Green pad, followed by 3M Yellow pad and 205, and then 3M Blue and ultrafina. Before: After: Moving on to the trunk: I didn't take many progress shots, as shooting with the brinkman, and even flash, after the whole care was polished, was making just bright white screens and no actual correction shots. So I gave up on the rest of the durings, and was counting on the sun being there when I was done. The first layer of protection for the car was two coats of Blackfire AFPP applied with the Flex DA and a LC Gold pad: Blackfire worked in to the paint and left to cure: While it was curing I moved on to the glass. It was polished with a combination of Werkstat Prime, and topped with Blackfire AFPP. Here's prime: I then moved on to the engine bay. Seeing what black wow had done to the plastic covers, I tried my new go-to trim dressing, Poorboys Trim Restorer. Here's a 50/50 of the engine cover: What I like about the poorboys is even though it seems to be oil based, it's not nearly as thick as black wow. And it's easily buffed off glass--unlike black wow. Also, once you've applied it to the surface, if you buff it dry, it will leave a perfect satin finish. Adding UV protection, AND good looks! After: I then buffed off the AFPP and let it cure. Last time I went straight from AFPP to a Nuba it hazed like no other. So I gave it some "cool down" time so to speak. So I moved on to the interior. Not much was needed because it was in great condition. I vacuumed and groomed the carpets. And cleaned/conditioned the seats with GI Leather cleaner and satin leather polish. Before: After: Even the trunk was taken care of: Taking care of the details: Some of the other details included 1Z Gummi Pfledge on the seals, Acrylic Jett on the wheels, and megs HD 2:1 on the tires/wheel wells. Exhaust was polished with M205. The owner supplied Swissvax Glacier as a final topper. Afters: (warning.. I got a little overzealous) Black mirror trim: Thanks for looking! As always, C/C welcome! eace: Aaron
The M3 front bumper has to be one of the easiest to polish for me. Nice work on the M3, Aaron. I suppose you got him from M3post haha
very nice work, Aaron! I really like it. Question for you, why did you remove a handle off your Makita? Do you feel more comfortable polishing this way? I know it is probably personal preference, just wondering... Also, did you manage to wrap a towel around you Flex polisher? Why? Does it makes it run quiter? Does it overheats?
Thanks a lot! I really like Glacier. Like all swissvax, goes on easy, comes off easy after proper cure time. What I noticed different about glacier to the concorso I put on this car a few weeks prior was that the glacier really makes the white POP and makes it super bright. Where as the concorso seems to be after reflections. Thanks, Kei! Thanks! Sure did I found I get better control over the makita if I'm controlling it that close to the pad as opposed the 3" higher with the handle on. The handle is good for long sweeping passes for hoods and roofs, but overall, the no handle seems to work easier for me, especially on the small areas of polishing, and the verticle panels. It does look naked without the handle though . And the towel on the flex, I put my hands right on top of the motor for better control and it gets REALLY hot especially when polishing the whole car with the flex, as opposed to just applying a sealant. Plus makes it more comfortable to work with Thanks! Looks above Thanks! Thank you! Thanks! Thanks Denzil! Thank you!
Aaron that looks fantastic. Great work. That LSP combo makes it look like whipping cream. Gorgeous! Any time someone who is into detailing hires you to work on their baby, that's one heck of a compliment. And a well deserved one!
hmmmm...very interesting...you ended up having two machines naked, you covered one with towel, and left another undressed...:yikes::
Thanks a lot, Karl, really appreciate it! Thanks Roger! Thanks! Thank you, Dana! Thank you sir What can I say... Thanks a lot!
