2008 BMW E90 M3 - First Customer in New State

[PapaChop]

This was my first customer since moving locations from OK to GA. The owner had bought this beautiful `08 BMW E90 M3 in Silverstone II a few weeks ago, and is planning on taking it to Bimmerfest in Baltimore in August. He wanted a single stage polish and some pretty serious acid rain removal. He had already taken care of the interior and engine compartment, and did a pretty good job.

The paint overall was in pretty good condition - either the previous owner was careful, or the dealership he bought it from had a decent detailer. There were some RIDS, but no swirling or holograms. The trim and glass were a different story - the trim was HAMMERED, and the amount of acid rain was seriously impressive.

Excuse the photos - the wife has the good camera\tripod in MN with her.

When I have some serious glass work to do, I start with that so I know I get all the residue off the surrounding paint with the wash. I started with some Glass Science Glass Scrub and a Lake Country Yellow Cutting Pad.



I thought it was working pretty well. We`ll get back to that one later...

Next up, wheels. And tires. The barrels and lugs were pretty rough.

Products:
CarPro Iron-X
Meguiar’s D108 Super Degreaser
Stoner Tarminator
DI Brushes EZ Detail Brush
Tuf Shine Tire Brush
Q-Tips. Lots of Q-Tips.
Tire Treatment: Optimum Opti-Bond Tire Gel
Wheel Treatment: CarPro Reload



Iron-X doing its thing. Love the stuff - in spite of the godawful smell.




All done. Much better.


After the wheels and tires were done, it was time for a bath. A mixture of Chemical Guys HoneyDew Snow Foam and Dawn was in the Gilmour Foam Gun.



Two bucket method with Grid Guards, Chemical Guys Extreme Maxi Suds II, and the Lake Country Wash Wedge going to work.



There was a decent amount of rail dust, especially on the passenger side.


He told me not to bother with the exhaust tips since he was getting a new system put in, but I at least hit them with some Meguiar`s D108 Super Degreaser and the DI EZ Detail Brush.



Some beauty shots of the interior (he did a pretty decent job):









Like I said, the pillars were trashed.

Before.


50/50, left side has been hit with M105 on a Lake Country Orange Cutting Pad.


After, the M105 was followed with Menzerna SF4500 on a Lake Country Black Finishing Pad.


Taillights were in rough shape.


M105 on an Orange Pad again.


It might dust like a son of a gun, but man I love the M105.

Capturing the RIDS on this paint was difficult, but here are a few attempts. For polish I tried a few test spots:

Meguiar`s D300 on Meguiar`s Microfiber Cutting Disc
Meguiar`s D302 on Meguiar`s Microfiber Cutting Disc
Meguiar`s M205 on Lake Country Orange Cutting Disc

I ended up settling on the M205\LC Orange combo for most of it, with the D300\Cutting Disc for a few places that needed some more attention.

Before:


After:


Before:


After:


Hard work is hard work, hard work work...






I don`t have any photos, but I ended up fighting with the glass for another two hours. The Glass Science Glass Scrub didn`t do CRAP to the acid rain, and I ended up trying pretty much every compound\pad I had. Finally I ended up with an M105\D300 mix on the Lake Country Yellow Cutting Pad, and that took care of most of it. What was bizarre was that the driver`s side window was by FAR the worst. I was able to knock it off the other three windows, but that one was just stupidly wrecked. Definitely wish I had a rotary\Flex\Bigfoot at that point. Ug. My arms are nuked.

After about eight hours, the finished product. It was topped with Blackfire Wet Diamond Sealant, cured overnight, and then a layer of Menzerna Color Lock Carnauba on top of it (both applied with Lake Country Black Finishing Pads). I absolutely LOVE the blue fleck in the Silverstone II, it makes it almost a light glacier color:









Products used:

Wheels and Tires

• CarPro Iron-X (removes iron contaminants\brake dust)
• Meguiar’s D108 Super Degreaser
• Stoner Tarminator (removes tar deposits)
• DI Brushes EZ Detail Brush
• Tuf Shine Tire Brush
• Q-Tips. Lots of Q-Tips.
• Tire Treatment: Optimum Opti-Bond Tire Gel
• Wheel Treatment: CarPro Reload (spray silica sealant)

Wash

• Gilmour Foamaster II Foam Gun
• Chemical Guys HoneyDew Snow Foam\Dawn mix (strip previous wax\sealants)
• Chemical Guys Extreme Maxi Suds II
• Grid Guards (2)
• Lake Country Wash Wedge
• Tuf Shine Scrub-All No Scratch Sponge
• CarPro Iron-X
• Stoner Tarminator

Dry

• Forced air
• DI Microfiber Waffle Weave

Buffer: Porter Cable 7424XP

Glass\Pillars & Trim\Headlights & Taillights

• Glass Scrub
• Lake Country Orange Light Cutting Pad with Meguiar’s M105
• Lake Country Black Finishing Pad with Menzerna SF4500 (pillars)

Polish

• Meguiar’s Microfiber Xtra Cutting Disc with Meguiar’s D300
• Meguiar’s Microfiber Cutting Disc with Meguiar’s D300
• Lake Country Orange Light Cutting Pad with Meguiar`s M105
• Lake Country Orange Light Cutting Pad with Meguiar’s M205

Protectant

• Lake Country White Polishing Pad with Blackfire Wet Diamond Paint Sealant
• Lake Country White Polishing Pad with Menzerna Color Lock Carnauba Wax

[Ronkh]

Beautiful job.

[Klock]

Awesome work, and write up!

[WaxAddict]

Great work and write up, thanks for taking the time.

[Pats300zx]

Outstanding job

[Angus]

Very nice work! Can`t say I`m a fan of that reddish orange BMW interior.

[PapaChop]

Beautiful job.

Awesome work, and write up!

Great work and write up, thanks for taking the time.

Outstanding job

Thanks all!

Very nice work! Can`t say I`m a fan of that reddish orange BMW interior.

Agreed. I think I prefer either the straight red, or a more rusty, deep orange. This color seems like a compromise.