"Before shots" of the patient...

[jeff warden]

Hi all,

My first post here. I`m looking for tips on how to improve the paint and plastic on my 13 year old car. I see others have asked the same questions that are on my mind so I`ll spend some time researching tonight and see what I learn.

The car looks pretty good in these shots but there are plenty of swirl marks that don`t show on film.

http://home.earthlink.net/~jawarden/media/BMW/m5c.jpg


Stupidly I purchased a random orbit polisher last year and totally screwed up my hood. Nothing like learning on a black car! :) I`m hoping to get that fixed soon.

http://home.earthlink.net/~jawarden/media/BMW/M5a.jpg

The interior is still in real nice shape, with no cracking on the vinyl and the leather bits are where they should be and not cracked. I`ll be needing to find top-of-the-line leather care goodies too, because BMW charges a king`s ransom for replacement leather covered parts.

http://home.earthlink.net/~jawarden/media/BMW/m5b.jpg

Anyway, I look forward to learning about the right products and techniques to use on old black paint, because I clearly don`t know what I`m doing yet. :)

Cheers everybody,

Jeff

[rmccall6]

Thoose seats are most likely clear coated so you dont want to clean them like you would traditional leather, treat them like vinyl, a good mild cleaner followed by a water based PMDS dressing (a water based rubber/vinyl protectant) such as 303. For the exterior, you probably didnt use an orbital because if used properly they are harmless, and they arnt hard to use properly, you probably mean an orbital polisher or direct drive, thoose take special skill and care. Many here like 3m polishes to get out the swirls and to folow up with a god polymer coateing such as Blackfire, klasse or zaino.

[rmccall6]

excuse the aweful spelling, im too tired right now to edit my post...

[Langley Interior Car Kare]

for some reason i love the older steering wheels...without all that grip stuff on there....it glides thru your hands better...especially the way you kept it up.any interior could use some 303...you cant go wrong with that product for its protection...its look...its got it all..



BTW....Brad....whats "edit"mean............you can do that;) :p

[imported_Dude]

Your car already looks awesome! I would love to see it when you are done.

[imported_doug]

Jeff - an E28 M5!!!!

Wow - that is a rare and very special car. Yours looks very, very clean. Have you had it for long? Is it stock? (Wanna sell it?) In case you aren`t aware there is an excellent forum on M5`s, including an E28-specific forum, at http://www.bmwm5.com (`http://www.bmwm5.com`)

If you don`t get any response to questions in the E28 forum, ask in the E39 forum, where the majority of the traffic is - lots of former E28 owners there too.

good luck with your polishing - you came to the right place!

[bmerjorge21]

Yeah, that car really looks like you screwed it up. I think you need to cut your losses right now and sell it to me at wholesale. It`s really the only way to fix the situation. ;)

[jeff warden]

<blockquote class=`ipsBlockquote` >

<em class=`bbc`>Originally posted by carguy [/i]
<strong class=`bbc`>Jeff - an E28 M5!!!!

Wow - that is a rare and very special car. Yours looks very, very clean. Have you had it for long? Is it stock? (Wanna sell it?) In case you aren`t aware there is an excellent forum on M5`s, including an E28-specific forum, at http://www.bmwm5.com (`http://www.bmwm5.com`)

If you don`t get any response to questions in the E28 forum, ask in the E39 forum, where the majority of the traffic is - lots of former E28 owners there too.

good luck with your polishing - you came to the right place! [/b]</blockquote>
Hi Greg,

Hey thanks, I love the car. Bought it a few years back when I needed a proper four door sedan for business (I was driving a Volvo P-1800 at the time). I am the second owner and the car has about 100,000 miles. It is totally stock, except for the radio.

One thing I forgot to mention about the leather - The seats have been re-dyed, but the dash, door panels and glove box have not been re-dyed. I assume that means I will need to care for the different parts differently, but I don`t know. Brad4rdHay`s comment about clear coating leather is a suprise to me. I just figured it was plain leather.

Anyway I`ll do some more snooping/lurking and figure this stuff out. Before I dive in with the elbow grease I`ll share some pics of the problem/swirl areas.

Cheers,

Jeff

[Langley Interior Car Kare]

clear on there....:up

[Lowejackson]

Great looking car, I used to have a E28 520 & 528. I bought the 520 at 50,000 miles and sold it at just over 250,000 miles - still going strong. The cylinder head gasket went at 210,000 and whilst replacing it you could still see the honing marks on the cylinder walls :)



I would have loved to have a M5 though.....



Steven

Alfa 164

[rmccall6]

i dont knwo about re-dyed but i know for most of the part leather in BMWs post 1987 has been clear coated. Check it out by using a cleaner on the leather and see if color comes off.

[janderson]

Hey, great looking M5. It is always nice to see some older Bimmr`s on the forum. I can relate to your black swirl woes. I have a jet black E30, and the swirl meister made a visit to my car (before I owned her), and did a number. Some 3M Swirl Mark Remover (SMR) should do the trick with the minor scratches.



I hope to see some more great pics!



Best regards.

[imported_doug]

Hey, Jeff -



I don`t know where you live but if you`re within driving distance of San Mateo, CA I`d be more than happy to help you poilsh out the swirls. I have the stuff.



Cheers -

[jeff warden]

<blockquote class=`ipsBlockquote` >

<em class=`bbc`>Originally posted by carguy [/i]
<strong class=`bbc`>Hey, Jeff -

I don`t know where you live but if you`re within driving distance of San Mateo, CA I`d be more than happy to help you poilsh out the swirls. I have the stuff.

Cheers - [/b]</blockquote>
Sadly, I`m in Chapel Hill, NC, which is a bit far. I saw the job you did on your pal`s Ferrari and it makes me want to bring the M5 over. You don`t suppose you could polish my M5 into a Ferrari, do you? :-)

Thanks for the generous offer.

Jeff

[Don2000g]

Great looking Bimmer buddy. I`m not sold on the notion that you don`t know what you`re doing. The results look fine to me. If anything, you only need some guidance as to how to remove swirls and perhaps some tips on other products that you could give a try. For medium to light swirls, try using 3M Finnesse It 2. You`ll get best results with a PC 7424 or similar product. You could also use the FI 2 by hand. Many of us do that. You can then use Pinnacle Paintwork Cleansing Lotion to help you rid of any microswirls or hazing that you may get with the Finnesse It 2. For the interior, try to use a water based protectant such as 303 or Vinylex. Laters