Tailored Automotive Detailing: 2007 740 Li

[D Tailor]

I give you the stately 750 Li. Here we a have a regular client. I work on this client's vehicles every 3 months and we performed his pre-summer detail one of his vehicles this past weekend.

This car is b i g. Lots of body to it. It gets washed quite a bit at the local wash, but it's one of the nicer ones in the area. I recommended some more extensive work for the summer the last time I detailed it, I told him this time I was going to be doing quite a bit of paint work and wheel work as well. My favorite part is that he always says "Do it." He asks me to treat it as if it were my own and I do.
I really appreciate clients like that because it lets me do my best work. Unfortunately if it were indeed mine I wouldn't let anyone or anything else touch it, and I would've spent another 20 hours on it this time around to jewel and perfect. But....here we go with what we did:

Total Working Time: 11 hours
Exterior:
Wash-foam gun/DP Xtreme Foam/Surf City Road Trip Grime Remover
Clay- Sonus Green/Sonus Glyde
Wash
Remove Front Wheels. Cleanse with Gloss-It Tire Gel and various brushes(Tampico, Nylon, and Boar's Hair).
Degrease and Scrub out wheel wells.
Pinnacle Bug sponge on stuck on grass (side skirts)
Plastic Razor some road paint and random road tar gunks.
Replace wheels...repeat on rear.
Optimum Compound with Yellow LC and Rotary at 1700
Optimum Polish II with White LC and Rotary at 1400-1100
Optimum FP with LC Gold and Flex at 5
Zaino CS (Left cure overnight), Z-5 ZFX, Z-8
Polish all chrome trim with WG Metalwerks and Seal

Interior:
Vacuum
Cleanse all vehicle shuts and remove wax residue from local car wash
Remove lint residue left on velour areas from local car wash towels
Dress Door Vinyl with WG Vinyl Protectant
Cleanse Dash and protect with WG VP
Seal wood and plastics with Z-8
Z-8 on mirrors
Cleanse and Nourish all leather surfaces with WG Leather Cleaner and Pinnacle Leather Conditioner
Spot treat upholstery with TOL Rug Renew
Cleanse Winter Mats and Dress with PB Natural Look
Rug Renew summer mats and insert
Scothguard all upholstery
Cleanse and Dress all seals with Gumi-Pledge


Glass:
Invisible Glass
Zaino CS

Engine:
Cleanse (TOL APC) and dress (CD-2)
Polish and Seal chrome grille

License Plate:
Polish and Seal

Some of the areas took some finessing and lots of helper tools such as plastic razors and q-tips were used to help out. I went through 22 MF's and 12 pads.

Enjoy the show:

[D Tailor]

Afters:

























































Thanks for looking!

[trippmann]

thats a very nice gift you leave for him inside! do you do that for every client? car looks great also!

[mrclrider]

excellent job..loving your new garage! how much do the key chains cost you??

[D Tailor]

Originally Posted by trippmann

thats a very nice gift you leave for him inside! do you do that for every client? car looks great also!

Thanks! Yes, I leave a keychain for every paying client that spends $100 or more.

[D Tailor]

Originally Posted by mrclrider

excellent job..loving your new garage! how much do the key chains cost you??

Thank you I like it too. If only I could get another 10 inches on each side I could open the doors all the way comfortably.

The keychains were about $3 each in bulk.

[Pats300zx]

Awesome job Dave. The keychains are a nice touch

[jmkiang]

Very nice job! The card, window sticker, mint and keychain are awesome!

I have a question for you, if you don't mind... is there some method to follow to detail an engine bay?? I've tried and get seem to get it as nice as the ones I see on here!

[D Tailor]

Originally Posted by jmkiang

Very nice job! The card, window sticker, mint and keychain are awesome!

I have a question for you, if you don't mind... is there some method to follow to detail an engine bay?? I've tried and get seem to get it as nice as the ones I see on here!

Thanks! I do each engine differently...depending on what it needs. I usually start with some degrease and a hose to start. Then I work my way down to specialty products and cleaners and brushes, engine MF's and always follow up with a nice dressing and a few wipe downs. If it's an exposed, older, or high-end engine, I skip the hose and spray degreaser and just do everything by hand.

[jmkiang]

Hmmm I see. Thanks. I guess I need a new type of dressing and cleaner. I've been trying Megs APC and 303.

[D Tailor]

^^ Sorry I can't be more specific but it really does vary for me. I've used anything from TOL APC, Amazing Roll-Off, Tarminator, 303, Engine Brite for degreasing. My brushes are my best friend. I've spent years collecting the brushes I use and as soon as the bristles wear I replace them. Tons of MF's. Basically just like the rest of the car, I assess and attack. I do start with underneath the hood though if that helps. Once I get the under hood (under bonnet), shuts, hydraulic arms, hinges, latches, etc, etc, clean...I start on the engine and surrounding bay. I literally do the whole thing and then come back to it several times throughout the rest of the detail just to make sure i haven't missed anything it to see if anything else seems to pop-out at me. Not all engines are done to this degree though...dpends on how much the customer wants.

[D Tailor]

I really like CD-2 as a Dressing for it's smell, look, and initial ease of use. I follow most of the directions, but i wipe down at the end. PB Natural look also looks good and holds up well.