My first attempt to detailing: 325i

kei169 · 02-25-09, 02:05

Last week, I decided to detail my car for the first time. I was so nervous that I would burn the paint, at the same time, I was so excited to see the result as well. It turned out pretty good to me. I wouldn't be able to take out 100% swirls, but i think 70%.
I wasn't able to take a lot of pics since I was totally exhausted when i was detailing and I was so lazy to take out my camera.

:

:

hope you enjoy!

Total time spent: 14 hours

Wash:
Megular Gold Glass
ONR

Clay:
Fine Grade
ONR as clay lube

Polish:
SIP with Yellow pad
P085RD with orange pad, then white pad
Menzerna inspection

Sealant:
Jet Seal 109

LSP:
Swissvax Concorso
Fuzion

After washing my car, it looked JUST ok.

I clayed the hood only, see how much dirts it has. Can you image how dirty the car is

Some close ups picture on those swirls

Then i taped the car up with 3M 2080 tape, it worked pretty good

After the first pass of SIP, I could see some dramatic improvement already.

After 3 passes of polishing, It looked totally different especially when you see it in person

Then I sealed the car with Jet Seal, Follow up with Fuzion and Concorso, I put Fuzion on the front and rear bumper, the entire car was waxed by Concorso:

Result:

Some Beading shots:

Enjoy!

Lumadar · 02-25-09, 02:08

Great job for a first detail, heck, it was a great job for an experienced detailer! I was impressed with your ability to capture the swirls in the pictures- that can be tricky.

Good work.

jordanrossbell · 02-25-09, 06:46

Im pretty sure my first attempt was not half that good...great job!!

Got_Leather · 02-25-09, 08:53

Detail looks great, but why did you use the yellow pad to start? Why not just PFW or orange? Seems you could of done SIP via PFW or Orange, then a finishing polish on white and saved some time and still got great results. Either way looks good. I just personally hate the Yellow pads.

kei169 · 02-25-09, 09:31

Thanks,
haha!! I practiced for like 20 mins in order to take some pics on those swirls...
That is really tricky, I always wonder how people could take some pics with all the swirls in the whole panel.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lumadar

Great job for a first detail, heck, it was a great job for an experienced detailer! I was impressed with your ability to capture the swirls in the pictures- that can be tricky.

Good work.

kei169 · 02-25-09, 09:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by jordanrossbell

Im pretty sure my first attempt was not half that good...great job!!

Thanks bro!

d00t · 02-25-09, 09:36

Looks great Kei! Does this mean you're doing the upkeep on the corvette now?!

kei169 · 02-25-09, 09:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Got_Leather

Detail looks great, but why did you use the yellow pad to start? Why not just PFW or orange? Seems you could of done SIP via PFW or Orange, then a finishing polish on white and saved some time and still got great results. Either way looks good. I just personally hate the Yellow pads.

I tried a test spot on orange with SIP, but I couldn't see as much improvement as using the yellow one. I will consider using your routine next time!!
Thanks for your input!