1998 BMW M3. Polished & leather restoration. Esoteric Auto Detail.

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BMW's M3 is a classic regardless of the year, and this 1998 model was in exceptional condition for a 10 year old vehicle. The owner of this car has another '98 M3 in Purple (Techno Violet I believe it's officially called) that I will be working on in a few weeks...then comes his brand new Z06 after that!

The paint was in pretty good condition. It had its fair share of swirls, but still had a lot of gloss to it as the owner does a great job of keeping it clean. We opted for a more simple polish on the exterior instead of going for full correction. This way I could dedicate more time on the interior.

The past 10 years hadn't been as forgiving on the interior as the exterior. The leather is (very) light grey...almost white. There was a tremendous amount of staining, and built up dirt and grime that I knew wouldn't come out with the standard chemicals. After my initial meeting with the owner, we opted for a restoration package on all leather surfaces courtesy of Leatherique. I haven't found another product that does as good of a job bringing life back to neglected or aging leather as Leatherique does...it's expensive, but it's worth it.

In the end, the exterior had a beautiful glow to it and it was smooth and slick (thanks to Optimum). The interior went through a complete transformation, and the owner couldn't believe how nice it now looked. Another satisfied customer!

Total time: 8 hours

Exterior Cleaning:
Wash with Chemical Guys Citrus Wash & Clear at paint prep ratio (for stripping any wax)
Clay with Chemical Guys fine clay and ONR lube
Wheels washed with P21S Wheel Gel
Engine cleaned with Megs APC+
Door shuts cleaned with ONR
Tires dressed with Sonus Tire Gel

Polishing:
Menzerna SIP with white pad. Rotary
Optimum Poli-Seal with white pad. PC

Sealed with Optimum Opti-Seal for long term durability
Waxed with Optimum Car Wax

Interior Cleaning:
Vacuum interior and trunk
Clean all surfaces with Woolite/water
Optimum Protectant Plus
Megs Interior Detailer
Leatherique leather restoration system (Rejuvenator + Prestine Clean)

Tools:
Makita 9227c rotary polisher w/Megs W66 backing plate
Porter Cable D/A polisher
Blaster Sidekick blow dryer
Canon Rebel Xsi with 18/55mm lense

First to the interior.

As you can see, there's a tremendous amount of buildup on the leather surfaces. This is the armrest area in the backseat passenger side.


The driver's seat was the worst as would be expected.





The backseats were very dirty as well. Some of the label from the seat belts had even transferred onto the seating surfaces and were difficult to remove.



10 years of armrest grime!



Closeup



And on the passenger side as well



The armrest was showing some dirt and wear as well



Leatherique to the rescue!

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When using Leatherique, you need time and heat. First you apply the Rejuvinator liberally to all surfaces. This is a deep conditioner and it soaks into the leather and brings all of the dirt to the surface. The best way to do it is to apply, and then let the car sit in the sun with the windows up to create a steamroom effect. If the temperatures are cooler out, you can cover the surfaces in plastic and then heat it up with a blow dryer. You can leave it on for 4 or 5 hours if there's a lot of heat, or you can do like I did and also let it work its magic overnight.

After the Rejuvinator has worked, then you clean the residue and dirt off with the second step (Prestine Clean). Spray it on, buff it off, and then go back and wipe it all down with a damp towel.

Applying the Rejuvinator with a foam brush:



Here's what it looked like with it soaking in:



I put plastic on the seats to protect the seat belts



This shot shows just how dirty the leather was



After. What a huge difference!!











Remember how nasty that armrest area was?

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The backs of the seats were plastic, and were beat up badly from years of shoes. They cleaned up nicely with Megs APC+ at 10:1









And now for the exteriors. I didn't take before shots because it was pretty clean.

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Thanks for looking!

[Bigpoppa3346]

Nice work. That OCW is really nice stuff, eh? I use it on like 95% of my standard details (no correction), it adds a really nice glow, and I've seen it last a while too.

The rims are a little ghetto fabulous though, IMO.

[Premium]

Nice work!

[artikxscout]

Wow great job on the leather. How much of the RO did you use on the leather when you used it. Did you have to wipe down all the leather first before you applied it? I used it on my car and it didn't come out as nice as yours. I probably didn't go over it with a damp towel afterward.

[Petrucci_M3]

Great job on the detail man, you saved the paint and interior. That car though makes me want to throw up, terrible taste in mods, coming from an E36 M3 owner here.

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Originally Posted by Bigpoppa3346

Nice work. That OCW is really nice stuff, eh? I use it on like 95% of my standard details (no correction), it adds a really nice glow, and I've seen it last a while too.

The rims are a little ghetto fabulous though, IMO.

Thanks. Yes the OCW is really good stuff and I use it in most applications as well. It's easy to use, it looks fantastic, it's inexpensive, and it has good durability.

Originally Posted by Premium

Nice work!

Thank you!

Originally Posted by artikxscout

Wow great job on the leather. How much of the RO did you use on the leather when you used it. Did you have to wipe down all the leather first before you applied it? I used it on my car and it didn't come out as nice as yours. I probably didn't go over it with a damp towel afterward.

Thanks. I can't really say in terms of ounces. I poured a bit into a bowl and applied it with a brush. I don't think I used as much as the directions said (up to 4oz per seat) because it will run on the vertical surfaces. I did not wipe down the leather first...just vaccumed out the crusties. I let the RO set for about 22 hours...4 of those in 80 degree sun.

Originally Posted by Petrucci_M3

Great job on the detail man, you saved the paint and interior. That car though makes me want to throw up, terrible taste in mods, coming from an E36 M3 owner here.

Thanks. Yes it was a big difference afterwards.

[RitcheyRch]

Looks good.

[U-piter]

Thats awesome. Seriously good detailing!