1st post, 1995 BMW M3 (approx 16hr detail)

[Zakko]

(I`m reposting this from my other forum, M3Forum.net`s detailing board)



I spent 6 hours on Friday, maybe 8 hours on Saturday, and two or three hours on Sunday detailing my car. I finally convinced myself, like the others have said before me, that it`s better than 99% of the cars on the road and I should be satisfied. I swear I feel like I should`ve earned a badge saying I`m an official detailing OCD nutcase.



This was my first weekend to get to use my PC and I was stunned at the results! Took a bit more work than I expected but not too bad really. Got TONS of scratches and swirls out, though some still remain, was running out of time with other things I had to get done.



Friday:

Meguiar`s Hot Rims All Wheel cleaner

Meguiar`s Deep Crystal car wash

Gold Class Leather Cleaner & Conditioner on all seats + steering wheel + lux trim

Porter Cable + SSR2.5 + Edge Blue pad (switched to green pad after trial and error)



Saturday

Tide to Go Stain remover on the steering wheel stitching followed by another round of conditioner (blue/red stitching is brilliant now!)

Nevr-Dull Wadding Polish on the exhaust tips + about 1" inside

More PC + SSR2.5 + Edge Green pad

PC + SSR1 + Blue pad

Meguiar`s NXT Tech Wax

Cleaned the windows

Dusted interior

[rush to the clean car concours BMW Iowa meet in town and find out it`s SUNDAY, not Saturday. Come home with a free can of engine degreaser from the mechanic that hosted]

Detailed the engine with degreaser, sprayed everything down, wiped everything down, used the Nevr-Dull on some misc metal parts, got absolutely anal about getting the brake fluid cap and dipstick top perfectly clean.

Black Magic on all engine compartment hoses

[8pm grocery run and WHAM huge devastating door ding... *sigh*]



Sunday

Black Magic on all exterior plastic trim

Touch ups on windows and main body panels

Cleaned doorjams, door edges, trunk edges, hood edges

Pulled the K&N filter and cleaned/oiled, slightly stronger and definitely smoother acceleration now

Fixed a loose kidney grill

Fixed a loose air intake

[10 minutes to clean wife`s black Explorer lol]

Off to the meet! Quick detail and dusting

[got a glowing recommendation for a mobile dent removal service from the guy who won the M class trophy with his M5 *rock* \m/ ]



I`d say at this point the only thing I`d like to see is a little bit more on the scratch removal for some spots I didn`t get as well as I`d like to. Also, the shine I`ve got isn`t quite as deep/wet as I`d like. I`m guessing this is a possible combination of two things, I think I need to ssr1 again a bit more thoroughly and I probably need something a bit more than a single coat of NXT Tech Wax to finish it. Any suggestions?



images:

before

http://www.zakko.org/wp-content/galleries/may2006detail/images/before.jpg

before

http://www.zakko.org/wp-content/galleries/may2006detail/images/before_1.jpg

before

http://www.zakko.org/wp-content/galleries/may2006detail/images/before_2.jpg

after

http://www.zakko.org/wp-content/galleries/may2006detail/images/after_1.jpg

after

http://www.zakko.org/wp-content/galleries/may2006detail/images/after_2.jpg

after

http://www.zakko.org/wp-content/galleries/may2006detail/images/after_3.jpg

after

http://www.zakko.org/wp-content/galleries/may2006detail/images/after_4.jpg

after

http://www.zakko.org/wp-content/galleries/may2006detail/images/after_5.jpg

(more below)

[Zakko]

more pics

http://www.zakko.org/wp-content/galleries/may2006detail/images/after_6.jpg

http://www.zakko.org/wp-content/galleries/may2006detail/images/after_7.jpg

This is the roof which was so badly scratched/swirled in the before pics:

http://www.zakko.org/wp-content/galleries/may2006detail/images/after_8.jpg

http://www.zakko.org/wp-content/galleries/may2006detail/images/after_9.jpg

The stitching was so dark that I didn`t even know that the M3 colors existed on the steering wheel until about four months after I bought the car. If I had to pick one favorite result of the weekend it would be a tight choice between the scratch/swirl removal and this.

http://www.zakko.org/wp-content/galleries/may2006detail/images/after_10.jpg

http://www.zakko.org/wp-content/galleries/may2006detail/images/after_11.jpg

The absolute worst part of my weekend, a present someone left for me on my door....:banghead: I`m hoping to have this worked on here in about four weeks, will return with before and after shots if it comes out good. The guy who I want to fix it was recommended highly enough that I`m willing to wait until he can fit me in.

http://www.zakko.org/wp-content/galleries/may2006detail/images/after_12.jpg

And finally, one at the show. It was fun to get compliments and gawkers :dance:

http://www.zakko.org/wp-content/galleries/may2006detail/images/show.jpg



Many sources of info, including Autopia`s guides and forum helped me to get this car looking like it does today. Thanks all!

[Diesel1]

Looking good! Looks like that dent on the door can be fixed by a PDR guy! Would def give it a try since it will be much cheaper and won`t require paintwork!