BMW e46 M3 Interlagos Blue Detail+Correction

Discussion in 'Show and Shine' started by xbr50, May 30, 2011.

  1. xbr50

    xbr50 Any Rag Vehicle Washer

    v|nsan|ty and I are at it again, this time with his brother's 2006 BMW e46 M3.

    The Subject:
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    Total time: 18 Hours over two days

    v|nsan|ty's brother purchased this 2006 M3 in January of last year. This M3 is complete with the M Competition package that includes the unique Alcantara wrapped steering wheel and unique rims. The gorgeous Interlagos Blue color is exclusive to BMW's //M line of vehicles.

    A quick look:
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    It was clear this vehicle needed a lot of work. Although my initial impressions of the paint was that it was in "ok" condition, Vince insisted it was in terrible shape. It was not until we brought it inside the garage and had proper lighting that I discovered this vehicle has been SEVERELY neglected and improperly washed. With the correction process the success rate varied as some panels obtained 80-90% correction while others a mere 50-60% as the imperfections were too deep to safely remove. More on this later...

    We began by giving the vehicle a foam bath with a mixture of Duragloss 902 and Chemical Guys Citrus Wash:
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    While Vince washed the body I began on the finer details:
    Exhaust tips were cleaned with Chemical Guy's Grime Reaper at 5:1 dilution and a Mini EZ Detail brush:
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    Comparison:
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    I used P21s' Metal Polish to finnish the exhaust tips:
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    Vince used Autoglym's Custom Wheel Cleaner on the //M Wheels:
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    Using the RaceGlaze wheel brush for the inner barrels and Swissvax brushes for the face:
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    Wheels wells were also cleaned with Grime Reaper and a EZ Detail Brush:
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    I attacked the engine bay with CG Grime Reaper and a assortment of brushes:
    Before:
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    All dried:
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    More cleaning:
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    We brought it into the garage were we began on the interior:
    CG Green Clean was used in the door jams:
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    Einszett Cockpit Cleaner was used for interior panels:
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    Pedals were cleaned with CG Grime Reaper and a trusty tooth brush:
    Before:
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    Cleaned:
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    Don't forget the moon roof:
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    Some left over polish residue from a previous "detail":
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    We began claying, the foam bath and wash seemed to have worked well as the car was relatively free of contaminants:
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    Behind the license plate was a different story:
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    We tapped off the car in preparation for the correction stage:
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    We got some proper lighting and this is when I began to realize the terrible condition the paint was in. It was clear this vehicle was improperly washed, and we suspect a previous "detail" may have gone wrong:

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    The Test:
    Armed with the knowledge that BMW has relatively hard paint and the overall condition of the vehicle we began testing pads with Meguiar's M105 compound. We tried the medium cutting Orange and the heavy cutting Yellow. In the end we opted for a 2 stage correction with Meguiar's M105 on a Yellow pad for the compounding stage and M205 on a black pad for the finishing stage.
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    We began with the hood, here you can see that a previous "detailer" has used a rotary without taping the sharp edges causing damage to the edge:
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    After a few passes with M105 and M205:
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    Front quater panel before:
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    After:
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    50/50 of the driver side rear quarter panel:
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    Before:
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    After:
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    We began on the trunk lid:
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    A close-up 50/50 shot showing just how deep the imperfections were:
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    We were approaching midnight and called it a day until tomorrow morning.
    The next day I re-visited the trunk lid and finished with a near 90% correction:

    Before:
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    After:
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    Remember the trunk lid before?
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    After:
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    Passenger rear quarter panel before, Yikes! Here we were able to reach a 70%(at best) correction:
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    After:
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    Passenger door before:
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    After:
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    Before:
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    After:
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    As Vince took over for the front passenger quarter panel I began with the hand polishing of the smaller details using a palm applicator pads and Menzerna's PO203 Power Finnish:

    Driver door handle before:
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    After:
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    Mirrors were done as well:
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    Look at that reflection!:
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    Rear lip spoiler:
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    Vince finished the front passenger quarter panel with great success:
    Before:
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    After:
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    We moved onto the trunk lid using the smaller 4 inch pads:
    Before:
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    After:
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    Before:
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    After:
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    Taillights before:
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    After:
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    Once the paint correction was completed we took it out for a wash using Duragloss 902 and began applying the LSP's.

    Remember the picture in the begining when the vehicle arrived? As you can see it lacked any sort of life in the paint as it was dull and lacked reflections:
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    When we pulled it out of the garage the difference was unmistakable, the paint was brought back to life with reflections and depth:
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    GTechniq C2 Liquid Crystal Sealant was used as a LSP for the paint:
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    Blackfire's Tire Gel was used on the tires:
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    Meguiar's #40 was used on the engine bay:
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    Here's the engine bay when the vehicle first arrived:
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    After:
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    Einszett Rubber care on the weather stripping:
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    LeatherMaster's Leather Care on the seats:
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    Some final reflection shots after the GTechniq C2 Crystal application:
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    Thanks for reading!
     
  2. Kaban

    Kaban Welcome to Detailing

    Excellent work! Really impressive turnaround.
     
  3. v|nsan|ty

    v|nsan|ty Obsessive Detailer

    An extensively comprehensive detail for a deservingly complicated car. Another great job on the write up Adam.

    Lol don't forget it also has the alcantara wrapped shift lever. Cleaning alcantara requires a bit more delicate care than a material like leather. We started by lightly agitating the material with a brush and holding a vacuum close by to ensure the majority of dust particle wouldn't fly around and land on the carpet. After that, we took a damp MF, lightly wrapping it around small sections of the steering wheel where a bit of pressure was applied to squeeze out some further dust and oil from dirty hands. Overall the wheel and shift lever were quite clean since I had cleaned them previously a few months ago. The first time I cleaned them, the MF had to be switched once since it came out completely brown.

    In this circumstance with the wheels, it was helpful to have a variety of brushes. The Raceglaze XL Wheel Brush was perfect for the barrels while the EZ Detail Auto Wheel Brush was great for the wheel wells. If there were more wheel gap, another brush could have worked but since the EZ brush is quite flexible it was a suitable choice for the job at hand.

    Hope you guys enjoy the read!
     
  4. dsms

    dsms DB Forum Supporter

    Fantastic work!
     
  5. Socal Brian

    Socal Brian DB Forum Supporter

    Great job! I enjoyed the write up.
     
  6. mikenap

    mikenap Jedi Nuba

    One heck of a writeup and turnaround. Great work guys, the results speak for themselves.
     
  7. premshine09

    premshine09 Jedi Nuba

    Writeup read of the weekend!
     
  8. amercour

    amercour Birth of a Detailer

    Looks awesome! Car looked old before and now it looks lustful.

    p.s. We have that same leaf blower.
     
  9. aml5578

    aml5578 Any Rag Vehicle Washer

    Looks great
     
  10. bryansbestwax

    bryansbestwax DB Forum Supporter

    Good stuff vince and adam. Lots of time taken, for a great result.
     
  11. P1et

    P1et Official DB Moderator

    Looks fantastic! Pics of the steering wheel?
     
  12. hamza7

    hamza7 Welcome to Detailing

    Great write up
     
  13. v|nsan|ty

    v|nsan|ty Obsessive Detailer

    Thanks for all the compliments fellow detailers!

    As requested, here is a picture of the steering wheel. This picture was taken with a BB so definitely not a showcase of picture quality, but I'm assuming P1et just wants to see the steering wheel.

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