Hey all, Back at school means back to working with the European highline dealership in town as well as working out of my garage at my apartment and expanding my business down here in NoVa as well. I was able to spend a good five days working here and there between classes on this Jet Black M3. We (dealership) had bought the car in hopes to sell it on our lot however after much discussion we are moving it through auction instead. Some facts: 2003 BMW M3 97,000 on the clock SMG tranny Needs: New top New Roundel emblem Front bumper to be re-painted New windshield We decided to replace the majority of the list of course before moving it to auction as well as allowing myself to work my magic on it to correct the serious paint defects it had and bring it back to life! Products used Wash - CG Citrus Wash - Aquartz FE Cut - Sonax FE - Two MF mitts / lambs wool mitts - SV Wheel brush - Uber Wheel brush - Zep Citrus - Opt. Power Clean - ONR - Uber Blue Clay Correctional Process - Flex DA - Porter Cable DA - Various Uber/ LC flat pads- Orange/ green/ white/ Black - Megs 105 - Menzerna SIP - Menzerna 106FA - IPA LSP- Menzerna Powerlock Interior: - SV boars hair brush - SG diluted 3:1 - Compressed air - Leatherique Rejuvenator left on for 2 days - Carpet/ mats all extracted with hot water and Folex - SV leather brush Motor: -designated motor brush - Zep Citrus - compressed air - Opt. Power clean for heavier spots - Dressed with 303 AP The headlight lenses were also wetsanded with 2k grit and finished down with M105 and Menz SIP Some before pics: Wash process: Sonax doing its thing: Opt. No rinse heavily sprayed on entire car.....helping loosen and debris The 2 bucket method was repeated twice, with a decontamination step in-between which included a lengthy clay bar cleansing as the car probably had NEVER been clayed before :yikes: Aquartz FE cut was also applied to the rear section of the car as there were obvious iron deposits all over the rear bumper and deck lid Dried and put under the lights in the garage for inspection: After a pass with M105, Menz SIP and Menz 106...... Reminder.....yes the roundel was replaced Pass. Fender before: Mmmmm mmmm good: 50/50 after: Pass. door before: Mirror before: After: Pass. door after: Drivers side door after: Drivers side fender before: After: Teaser: ........final stretch! A full IPA wipedown was performed inbetween each correctional step.......Menzerna PL applied and curing: While the Sealant was curring I moved my focus onto finishing up the interior. Leatherique Oil removed......Lexol pH cleansing.......all interior carpets/mats extracted......all interior trim cleaned and degreased Afters: *I apologize for the lens blur in some of the pics, it did not fully open......this was a friends camera and not my SLR which I left at home! All in all this M3 was the softest of any of the JB BMW's I have ever worked on.......after finishing this puppy I was pretty excited to see it finally finished. Thanks for looking! - Dan
Dan - Beautiful job !! It was hammered ! 97k miles of paint abuse !! It looks brand new - everywhere ! Having owned a new Jet Black 3Series in 2001, I can just imagine how beautiful this car is in person - nothing better than this color done perfectly, as you did here. Thanks for sharing Dan F
Thank you for the kind words! And yes the car was hammered.....my uber clay was hurting after taking out 97k worth of oxidation and contaminants! Working with JB is a pain in the arse sometimes as it is so soft, however with patience and several hours the results are the most rewarding! The depth and reflection that PL gave it really finished the work off right! Thanks much once again -Dan
wow you made that car presentable again. I would never buy a car like that if i saw it in the (before) condition. But now when you guys put this in the auction, it will really go fast.
