Black Sapphire - 2008 335i vert detail - pics

**BlkSapphire** · 11-09-2008, 08:24 PM

Posted this over on bimmerforums.com, but I figured all you detail freaks over here might get a kick out of it too.

After my last detail attempt on my 95 M3, I took on the new ride, my 2008 Black Sapphire 335i convertible (Saddle Brown interior) to try to deal with some light dealer-installed swirls. Even though I told them not to when I bought the car, they used cleaner wax on the car before I took delivery and then proudly presented the swirled car to me as though it were something I should be pleased about.

Products used:

Wash: Meguiar`s Gold wash, microfiber mitt, gritguard rinse bucket, Gilmour foamgun. Several washes were used.

Clay: Meguiar`s white clay kit with QD. I really like this clay, could take or leave the rest of the kit but you can`t get the clay without it apparently.

Paint correction: I tried the PC 7424 with both Menzerna Nano/grey pad and 3M Ultrafina / blue pad, on an area of the left rear decklid. Neither touched the swirls, so I didn`t mask, nor did I use them on the whole car. I ended up doing no paint correction.

Wheel wax: Wheel Wax brand wheelwax. This stuff smells and feels like coconut pudding.

Zaino Z5pro/ZFX accelerator, and Z6 spray-gloss on the finish

Z-9 and Z-10 on the interior.

Zaino tire shine, don`t recall the number off hand

The take home from this post is that Z5 totally filled and cancelled some swirl marks that the PC/Nano couldn`t touch. That`s awesome. I had used Z2pro on the prior car and loved the way it went on and off as well as the gloss, but it has no swirl filling capability.

Z5 is harder to put on and off than Z2 - a little sticky, even - but just makes a magnificent, mile-deep gloss while totally hiding swirls even on this black paint. I would not have believed that any product could do this and would recommend Zaino Z5 for any car. Also, it`s purple and smells like grape bubble gum. I also used Z5 on the wood interior trim with awesome results. The swirl marks left by the dealer on the wood finish vanished.

I don`t get paid for this but Zaino products are awesome. The leather cleaner is gentle and lifts grime effectively; the Z10 leather in a bottle is great for darkening black vinyl too; and the tire shine cleans and glosses the tires without eating away the sidewall, without slinging, and without adding silicones. (Silicones are terrible things. Keep them away from your finish if you care whether your LSP bonds - silicones interfere with bonding for years after they touch the surface of your paint.) Again, no affiliation here - just a happy customer who wouldn`t have believed in these products if someone had told me about them - but if you`re interested, head over to zainostore.com and check `em out.

OK, on to the pics. I processed the before pics to show swirl marks, in full sun - and I tried to process the after pics the same way, with full sun and similar angles. The Z5 essentially eliminated the swirl marks; it`s not Photoshop trickery. Car actually looks better in person.

BEFORE pics:

Front bumper, with dead bugs. I drive through an agricultural zone to get to work:

Here`s one still wet from the first wash, just sort of a dull black car:

And here`s one all foamed up:

Dirty wheel:

Rear bumper, with swirls visible:

And now, a compare and contrast, before and after on a swirled area:

Before:

After wash, clay, and 1 coat of Z5:

Not bad, eh?

Here`s some wheel photos. The first one shows a clean wheel with no wax on it. The second shows the process of applying Wheel Wax. The third is a waxed wheel with Zaino tireshine. I think the wheel wax slightly dulls the metalflake but if it makes it easier to get brakedust off it will be worth it.

No wax:

Wax on:

After waxing:

And now some pretty AFTER shots:

And to wrap up: no, this isn`t a mirror. It`s my hood. The white specks are dead pixels in the camera:

In conclusion, go Zaino! I bought the t-shirt! I have heard of people getting 6 months out of Z5, and my car is garaged almost 100% of the time, so we will see how we do. If it lasts that long I will be a lifetime customer.