Got a call from a client who had just picked up her brand new 2011 BMW 3 series about a week earlier and her nephew decided to attempt to "wash" her car. He also decided to take a "towel" and scrub two bird bombs away......leaving two nice circular rings (1500- 2000 grit) sandpaper like marks. My guess is that he used a brush or a brillo pad :yikes: The focus of the detail was to simply perform a new car prep with focus solely on the exterior, applying a durable coat of protection and removing the nephews artistic work. Car: 2011 Jet Black BMW 328 with X drive New car prep and protection Correction of the nephews artistry Exterior: Zep Citrus 3:1, 5:1 Sonax Full Effect Wheel Cleaner Uber spoke brush Swissvax Pneu Brush Various other brushes 303 Aerospace Protectant Chemical Guys Maxi Sudz 2 Uber Blue Clay Chemical guys luber Correction: Menzerna SIP via Uber Orange foam pad Menzerna Super Finish via Lake Country White foam pad LSP: Menzerna Power lock Paint Sealant via Uber Black foam pad Some Befores: Starting out with the wheels....Sonax FE applied and left to do its magic: Pre-Spray with Zep Citrus 5:1 in wheel wells, front and rear fascia, lower half of the body and on the hood where the dealer had obviously applied some sort of wax. After letting it dwell for 10 minutes, I then followed with a thorough rinse: The damaged area after the citrus pre-spray: Moving onto the wheels: Inner Drums were agitated with my Uber Spoke brush: The face of the wheel, around the lugs and the tight spots were of course agitated as well with my designated wheel brush The wheel wells were then agitated with a brush as well. All the jams sprayed down with Zep Citrus at 3:1 and agitated with my designated jam brush: Following this came the first wash using the 2-bucket method, sorry for lack of pics! I was hauling ass to get done before it got dark.....started the detail at 5:30 at night! Following the first wash, I then thoroughly rinsed and dried the car. The car was then sprayed down again with water and my Chemical Guys Luber Clay lube and the car was fully clayed with Uber Blue Clay. Not much contamination or oxidation found.....it is a brand new car. However I did run into a trouble spot here or there! I then thoroughly rinsed the car, prepared my two buckets and then fully re-washed the car again. The car was then rinsed and fully dried. Correction process________ The dealer had left some pretty bad swirl marks and being that I was ahead of schedule I went ahead and polished out a couple areas other than the damaged area. I chose to two-step polish with my two chosen polishes (see above). Being that this is BMW Jet Black.... arguably BMW's most difficult paint to maintain I knew this was going to be an adventure. I have performed full corrections on two other JB BMW 3 series as well as a Z3 so I've had some experience using the chosen polish combo on this specific paint. I chose to correct the two front fenders, the hood, rear decklid and of course the damaged area. Enough talk....moar pics SIP Breaking down with a Uber orange foam pad IPA wipe-downs were of course performed in between each polish step. The damaged area was hit with two passes of SIP and one pass of Menz 106fa to finish it out. Turns out the nephews artistic work was pretty hard to remove! The car was then treated to a coat of Menzerna Powerlock Paint Sealant via my Flex DA with a black pad. All glass was cleaned inside and out, all seals and weatherstripping were sealed with 303. Afters: Light was running out.....nothing I could do That damaged area after: Good night BMW Total time- Just under 4 hours Thanks for looking! - Dan K.
Had a good friend there with me, he knows the processes somewhat well so he's right there when I need something........kind of like a dentist assistant!
Yeah - good work with the hours of light you had. I wonder what the owner said to her nephew after this incident.
Dan K. - Great, great, work given the time frame, soft paint, and "artistic" work ! Bet your Flex 3401VRG was getting hot after awhile, right ? You turned that Bimmer into a beautiful car; we are proud of you !!! Dan F
Thanks for the kind words Dan! And yes the pumpkin on the flex was getting pretty hot! I wish I had more time and the opportunity to work on the entire car correction-wise, I have done other JB bimmers such as a Z3 I did a full correction on two months back......I really enjoy the JB come results time when all is said and done! Thanks much for the kind words!
Great work for such a tight time constraint. How do you find Zep on paint? I've read a few threads where people have had bad experiences using it. Members mention it can stain the trim.
I've been using it as a pre-spray for just under 2 years now, never had a problem with it. I've also read the negative experiences and complaints however I have never experienced any problems. Hell, my parents use them on both of our newer Jeeps when I'm away at school as a pre-spray as well during the rough winter months up here to loosen the salt and I have never seen it damage or cause pitting or clear failure. I ALWAYS make sure the paint is cool to the touch and out of the sun for all of the washes, if you are in direct sunlight, the Zep can dry up pretty fast causing the spotting but nothing different then as if you were performing your 2-bucket method and left the suds on too long causing them to dry. As for metal trim I avoid spraying the area with Zep or SG or any degreaser for that matter on the interior/exterior because I've seen SG stain interior aluminum trim. If so, I take a damp MF with water, wipe and then wipe dry with a clean MF......always takes away the residue left behind away and solves the problem. Thanks for looking! I really appreciate all the comments!
