Wet Shine Detailing : BMW E36 3-series Solid Black

[fishbonezken]

Hi guys, this is my first click and brag in Autopia. Hope you enjoy this write-up

Pre-Detail Evaluation

Vertical panels had a fair amount of swirling



The hood was really bad as it had heavy waterspots etched into the paint with a lot of cat scratches!






The wheels were okay on the spokes, the back of the wheels were caked with brake dust, the lug nuts area were also caked with brake dust.






Dirty exhaust tips





Cleaning

I started by foaming down the whole car, wheel wells and wheel with All Purpose Cleaner,





While the cleaner is dissolving the dirt, the wheel wells were sprayed with Super Degreaser. Then the whole car is thoroughly rinsed down.
Then the tires were cleaned using Super Degreaser diluted at 4:1. Look at the brake dust dripping off the tires!




Wheels were also cleaned with Super Degreaser at 4:1. First using a paint brush, which was to gentle to release any dirt, then a small bottle brush was used to get in between the lug nuts and the wheel. A bigger brush for the back of the wheel, and a sponge for everywhere else and behind the spokes. Wheel Brightener would’ve made the job easier.







Clean wheel! A bit disappointed because it would’ve been better with an acid-based cleaner.





And a dirty glove… LoL




The car is then washed with the two-bucket method and Hyper Wash shampoo. Clayed with Perma Glass No.2 clay using Last Touch diluted at 1:1 as lube. Re-washed and dried with some Last Touch…






Paintwork

A test spot was carried out on the hood. Two passes of M83/W-8006 and one pass of M82/W-9006 gave this result.




So the combination that is decided to be used throughout the car is two passes of M83/W-8006, more if necessary and one pass of M82/W-9006 to finish.

Trim and certain unpainted surfaces were then taped off to prevent polish from discolouring the trim.

[fishbonezken]

The hood of the car was in the worse condition, it has very heavy amount of waterspot etchings, the typical swirl and a lot of Random Isolated Deep Scratches (RIDS) caused by cat claws.





M83 did not remove any of them, so M85 and a wool pad was used, even then the scratches were only lessen very slightly. The RIDS were then wetsanded using very light strokes.



The whole hood was then compounded with M85 and the 6” Wooly pad, certain areas received several passes. Followed by a pass of M83/W-8006 and M82/W-9006 each.
This removed most of the cat scratches and made the deeper ones less obvious. The white spots in the pictures below are stone chips (the owner brings this car to the track!)

Hood After :





The rest of the paintwork received two or more passes of M83/W-8006 and one pass of M82/W-9006. The panels were not perfect, most still had some RIDS. Because there wasn’t enough time, the front and rear bumper, side lower panels(below the door) were polished with Autoglym Super Resin Polish.

Driver front fender before :




Driver front fender after :



Driver door before :




Driver door after :




Passenger front fender after (forgot to take before) :




Passenger door before :




Passenger door after :



Passenger rear fender before :




Passenger rear fender after :




Boot before :




Boot after :




Didn’t have time to took pics, so after polishing, car is then sealed with M21. Exhaust tips polished with Turtle Wax chrome trim something something…Trim received Meguiar’s Trim Detailer.

Sorry it was 7pm+, and there wasn’t much light left, hope these after shots are okay.

Afters :










Thanks for looking! Comments and critics are most welcomed.

[kleraudio]

Very nice work and great writeup! Love your job on the hood with the wetsanding, looks outstanding!!

How long did that detail take??

Jim

[fishbonezken]

Thanks for the kind words Jim!
well let's see....

the first day, cleaning, doing the test spot and taping took 6 hours (slow.. LOL )
second day... eight hours.

14 hours total...and exterior only, did not have time to touch the interior

[awahl63]

Did you use the rotary or PC? Great job

[fishbonezken]

oops sorry awahl63, forgot to mention. I used the rotary, Makita 9227C.

[SpoiledMan]

Outstanding process, work and write up!

[Dave1]

Very nice work....

[kaval]

very nice work. everything looked very organized and clean, and your results show it!!!

I look forward to seeing more C&Bs from you!

Kaval

[Pats300zx]

Fantastic work. I loved the awesome write up. What did you end up charging for the 14 hours of work?

[fishbonezken]

thanks for the compliments

Pats300zx,
you wouldn't believe it, in my country if converted to your currency, would come up to $45
Well I reasoned that I needed some customers first to showcase my work that could be done, then when there is demand I would charge the price appropriately.

How much would you pay for this type of job?

[JDookie]

Originally Posted by fishbonezken

How much would you pay for this type of job?

There are people in my area that pay $75 for a lot less.