Black BMW 545i - Frustrating to Correct

Totoland Mach · 05-05-08, 07:22

This car kicked my butt! It had a lot of scratches and swirls, so I did a bunch of wetsanding. Time for compounding: wool + 3M Perfect-It 3000 was not working fast or well. Wool + 3M Extra Cut...same. Okay, switch to foam cutting pad and Perfect-It and thought I had it...it worked for the majority of the wet sanding "haze", but a power wash showed I missed some areas. So, I correct what I missed and power washed again. Now, hopefully, the car is ready for glazing. I start glazing away with 3M Dark Glaze (really a polish) and start seeing some more areas I missed on the other passes. By now, I'm into the 3rd day on the body of this car. So, I break out my friend System One X3 and a polish pad to remove the stray spots and power wash again....ask me if I'm frustrated at this point.

I finally get the car 100% in compounding and polishing, give it a final power wash for the upteenth time and put a coat of Meguiar's #26 on it. (after a coat of Ultrafina which the dealer requires for all dark colored BMW's)

This had to be the hardest clear coat I've experienced on a Bimmer of ANY color...especially black. Usually, the black cars have a softer clear, but nooooooooooo, not this one.

Here's some finished pics...I didn't even take the time for the process pics. It's so black now, body lines disappear in the pictures!

Next up is a Black BMW 550i (nice performance ride)...start tomorrow. And, I'm going to start with a test panel for Start-To-Finish process.

Toto

kaval · 05-05-08, 07:26

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!! Now that's black!!!!!

You sure had a tough time but man, the results are well worthit!
Amazing job! I'd sure love to get one of those scissor jacks!

TH0001 · 05-05-08, 07:36

Brian and I had this problem on an 07 3 Series in Jet Black. Being used to the super soft paint, we ran into one that was off the charts hard. I think we ended up doing 3-7 passes of Meg's 105 and a wool pad and only removed 90% of the defects. It was just so stupid hard...

Hey, Moe! · 05-05-08, 08:44

Oh, my!! Now I remember why I like black cars so much!

Thanks for sharing!

99blackSE · 05-05-08, 09:14

You can really work those BMWs Toto, nice job!

tdekany · 05-05-08, 10:09

Very very nice result Toto.

Totoland Mach · 05-06-08, 04:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by TH0001

Brian and I had this problem on an 07 3 Series in Jet Black. Being used to the super soft paint, we ran into one that was off the charts hard. I think we ended up doing 3-7 passes of Meg's 105 and a wool pad and only removed 90% of the defects. It was just so stupid hard...

Well, that 545 is his brother in paint...

I've got to start on a 550i this morning...same year, same color. I'll see if it's got a super hard clear coat with some testing.

Toto

rydawg · 05-06-08, 07:36

Great job Toto!

I know some of the ones that I do have extremely hard clear. It makes Corvettes look like they have soft clear.

It's funny though, the ones that look like they are going to be the easy ones ALWAYS turn out to be the toughest ones and get stuck working on them 20 hours. Then the ones that look bad turn out to be easier then expected.

Accumulator · 05-06-08, 11:14

[Insert usual

regarding Totoland Mach's work here]

Totoland Mach- Now when *you* describe something as "frustrating to correct" it gets my attention

Interesting about the BMWs going from stupid-soft to stupid-hard

Way2SSlow · 05-06-08, 04:03

Toto,

I cant say enough how lucky that dealer is to have you on his staff! Thanks for posting!

Sludge · 05-06-08, 04:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Way2SSlow

Toto,

I cant say enough how lucky that dealer is to have you on his staff! Thanks for posting!

I too am a fan of your work. Being a little younger than you I am inspired by the beautiful details you turn out. Great job.

gmblack3a · 05-06-08, 05:32

Very nice work on the always PITA newer black BMWs.