E92 M3 Makeover...

Discussion in 'Show and Shine' started by Carn, Jan 20, 2010.

  1. Carn

    Carn Welcome to Detailing

    This past weekend saw yet another detail, this time in the form of a 2 year old BMW E92 M3. Having only covered a little over 13k km you can imagine my surprise when I finally got to see the car in all her 'glory' :yikes:


    Day started as most of them do with an early start, up at 6 and at the clients just after 7.

    The machine upon arrival...Must be honest and say the E92 ///M is growing on me more and more!
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    A quick inspection showed some general road grime
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    A few bird bombs, in this instance a lovely purple one!
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    Some spotted trim from who knows what...
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    More spotty trim and some filthy tailpieces
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    Wheels were also pretty grubby
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    Close up's
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    Worryingly the car was also covered in areas of deep RIDS with some staining in them (more pics to follow later)
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    Having spoken to the client it turns out the gardener was given the task of washing the car, upon which he either used the garden rake, or fished his sponges out of the flower beds prior to getting stuck in to the car :loud:


    1st things 1st and the wheels and arches were given a thorough once over...

    Sonax applied liberally
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    Starting to work
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    Detail brushes being put to work
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    Ez-Detail brush tackling the barrels and spokes
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    With the wheels out of the way I set about foaming the car while getting my buckets organised

    Hyperwash/APC combo doing it's thing
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    After getting all the tools ready I rinsed the car before tackling all the small details.

    Trim getting a much needed clean up with the aid of 10:1 APC and a Meg's Slide-Lock brush
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    Panel gaps and shuts
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    And lastly the door jambs
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    After attending to all the small details the car was foamed again and then washed with the Raceglaze lambswool wash mitt before being rinsed once again.

    With the wash completed I set about claying the car. Being white it showed plenty of contaminants and after fiddling with a sample clay and Meg's fine clay, I settled on Clay Magic's Medium bar for the cleanup operations. (no pics sorry). Overall the car had alot of small tar spots as well as plenty small rusty filings which the Clay Magic removed with ease.

    With the surface prep complete it was time to dry the car off and move her inside to inspect the paintwork properly under the lights.


    Once inside a quick walkaround with the LED torch revealed the following:
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    RIDS!!!
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    Not looking good thus far, lets see what the halogens have to say...

    Lots of swirls and marring
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    Overall the paint was in a pretty poor state and would require a serious amount of machine polishing to bring back to life. Prior to hauling out the gear I spent a few minutes taking some PTG readings from around the car to see what we have to work with.

    PTG readings were quite healthy all being around the 110 to 130um mark.
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    Paint correction started with trying a few combo's to assess what would get the job done both quickly and effectively. The deeper RIDS were polished by hand with Blackfire dual sided applicator pads and 3M FCP, machined with FCP on a green 3M compounding pad, followed by SIP & FA on the yellow 3M polishing pads. Areas with milder defects were corrected with a mix of FCP and SIP (1 drop FCP with a bit of SIP) on an orange Scholl polishing pad, again being followed by SIP & FA on the yellow pads to bring out the gloss.

    With the amount of work required on this car I didn't snap many correction stage photies aside from the following 2 quick before and afters...

    Before
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    After
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    After
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    At around 6:30pm the client and his wife invited me for some traditional italian pasta with meatballs and some lovely red wine...Who could say NO :headbang:

    With dinner out of the way I returned to the garage a little after 8 and attended to a few spot repairs before calling it a day. Total work time for day 1 was a tad over 12 hours and I was around 75% complete with the correction work :thud:


    Sunday arrived bright and early and with the missus in tow we headed off to complete both the exterior, as well as the interior (last minute request, hence the need for an extra pair of hands :applause2: )

    While I finished up on the exterior the missus set about preparing the interior. The results of her handiwork...

    Trim got 303 Aerospace and leather got the Raceglaze twins (cleaner and balm)
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    With the SO's chores out of the way she headed off to procure some lunch while I finished up on the correction work.

    Post correction reflections...
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    and gloss
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    LSP of choice on the white was to be my AWOL Werkstat Acrylic kit (Hi Sven :D ). In the absence of the Werkstat twins I decided to give the Collinite 845 a go.

    All I can say is WOW! I was expecting it to be a right PITA to remove but was amazed at how easily it went on and came off. Looks wise I feel it definately added that something extra to the paintwork. Not as crisp as the Werkstat Acrylic sealant, but slightly softer and more wet looking (I think the pics will portray what I mean)...

    Some reflection shots inside the garage
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    Lovely wet finish
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    Tailpipes were polished with Raceglaze Alutech metal polish. Really nice product!

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    Trim was treated to 303 and despite my best efforts some of the strange milky spots wouldn't budge :shead: Tires got Meg's Endurance Gel and glass was cleaned with AG Fast Glass.


    Outside for some pics in the overcast weather...

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    Final one
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    With the work completed Myself and the SO were treated to a tour of the clients newly completed masterpiece of a home, before sharing some drinks and snacks outside by the pool. Overall a challenging, but also ever so rewarding weekend spent detailing a fine automobile in the company of 2 of the nicest people I have ever met :thumb:


    Total time spent was roughly 19 hours give or take...The M5 lurking in the background is next. Thankfully the gardener hasn't been let anywhere near it :headbang:

    As always thanks for looking.
     
  2. slanguage

    slanguage OD On Detailing

    very nice work David. The misses did a good job on the interior.
     
  3. Chas

    Chas DB Forum Supporter

    Absolutely stunning car and even more stunning work
     
  4. agpatel

    agpatel OD On Detailing

    Great work! Hard to make white look that good but you did.
     
  5. Dust2Glory

    Dust2Glory Nuba Guru

    Man that looks stunning! Is that your Nissan Equator in the background?
     
  6. dsms

    dsms DB Forum Supporter

    Owner has great taste in cars and a beautiful home... just cant take care of his paint! Really excellent job, that trunk was messed up.
     
  7. kustomizingkid

    kustomizingkid Nuba Guru

    Very nice!

    Man that paint was hammered...
     
  8. d00t

    d00t Welcome to Detailing

    Looks great, sir! Awesome!
     
  9. GBS

    GBS Wax on..Wax off

    Very Nice! It looks pretty swirled up considering it only 2 years old and it that noticable on white paint.
     
  10. Deep Gloss Auto Salon

    Deep Gloss Auto Salon DB Pro Supporter

    Great work...

    Very nice job capturing the defects which, on white is not that easy to do!

    Who ever heard of letting the gardener wash the bimmer??? That's like letting the maid do heart surgery!
     
  11. detailersdomain

    detailersdomain Administrator

    great job great post!
     
  12. kei169

    kei169 Wax on..Wax off

    Wow...... nice job!
     
  13. MuttGrunt

    MuttGrunt Birth of a Detailer

    All those defects captured and showing on white?!?!? Way to save her and bring back the gloss!
     
  14. P1et

    P1et Official DB Moderator

    There's some money over in your area, very nice work on this one mate! That white paint looks LIQUID!
     
  15. supercharged

    supercharged DB Forum Supporter

    Amazing work, David! The more I use 845 myself, the more I like it...
    I see you like RG metal polish...can you compare it to some other metal polishes? What are your other favorites?
     
  16. cnut

    cnut Guest

    Terrific work on that white!
     
  17. tdekany

    tdekany Wax on..Wax off

    Very wet looking white paint!!!:thumb::thumb::thumb:
     
  18. 911Fanatic

    911Fanatic DB Pro Supporter

    Great job David! The SO did a fantastic job on the interior as well.
     
  19. billy

    billy Obsessive Detailer

    awesome job!!
     
  20. Carn

    Carn Welcome to Detailing

    Thanks guys, much appreciated :thumb:
     

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