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Finished out a high mileage (102,000 miles) 740iL that needed a ton of work: wet sanding, compounding, polishing, Ultrafina SE...Da Works! But, the finish came out very nice for the car. I splurged on a new shop vac: a Ridgid Porta Pak that is super for the features: everything...

I did this car in lots of heat and humidity! Scottwax...I still don't know how you do it Sir... but, then again, I'm in my mid 60's and have to watch my blood sugar levels...so maybe that's a factor. Anyhow, this was a pretty dirty car and had plenty of light swirls and loads of brake dust...

Man, I've gotten spoiled working in a shop environment! Snap-On lift, compressed air, AIR CONDITIONING when it's too hot...heat in the winter....all the goodies. Today, I tackled a Porsche Turbo for an outside detail. Hot weather, no fan, worked on my butt in the customer's garage....you...

This car must have had a MoJo on it! I thought it was just another black late model 530i with a lot of swirls and could "whip" right through it quickly. So, I compound away with the trusty DeWalt and Metabo and, after power washing away the compound dust, the dealer finds some serious...

This Bimmer was typical of a high mileage road car: swirls, scratches, etc. I did a previous thread on restoring door handles that will give you an idea of the condition. Here's a couple of before shots: I spent a lot of time with 3M compound and a 3M cutting pad on the DeWalt to...

I'm reconditioning a Black 740i with 90,000 miles and would like to share how I recondition scratched door handles. The Bimmer handles are painted pot metal and have to be treated a little differently than the surrounding sheet metal. I start with taping the handles while I'm compounding the...

I found a great use for Optimum No Rinse (ONR). One of the problems in a shop environment is compound dust (even the "no dust" will have some powder residue) and getting it off the car before glazing or polishing. I've tried mf towels (caused scratches), compressed air (only works with loose...

I'm having an intermittent problem with a 3 month old Metabo 12-175. At first, I thought it was running it on the same extension cord as the halogens. In brief: The machine gets very hot, the thermal indicator light comes on the the rpm either decreases or stops completely. I run the...

The pre-owned BMW dealer I recondition cars for took this 745 on trade, after informing the owner that the car was repainted on both passenger doors. The owner, an elderly doctor was unaware and pretty mad that finding that out 3 years later. So, up on the lift and break out the 2000 grit...

I'm out of BMW's to do until the end of May, so I took on a driveway detail of a Black Toyota Land Cruiser. Lot's of swirls and the interior was a disaster (the owner has 3 small boys that use the Cruiser for formal dining). I used Meguiar's #83 and their 8006 pad for swirl removel with the...

I had these stacked up for this month! The rest of the auction bunch will be easy: Titanium Gray and 2 Silver Bimmers. Here's some quick before and afters. First the 530i: Swirled and some plastic bumper damage. All these are coming off BMW Lease (and I'm convinced that leasee's don't...

I recently purchased a new Metabo PE12-175 to try at the BMW shop. The shop has 2 DeWalt's which are a bit heavy for this 63 year old ...... it's a real upper body workout though! Actually, for smaller areas of the cars, they are more cumbersome for me. I also bought a small backing plate...

This 740iL not only had soft black paint, it has the worst scratches on plastic that I've every seen! Should qualify for the Swirl Hall O' Fame! Lower Rocker Panel. Because a rotary would probably burn this area with heat, I used my trusty Festool + cutting pad + Optimum compound and worked...

This 745 Li with Sports Package came in for reconditioning. Definitely had some bad scratches and one, in particular on the rear bumper. It was scraped and the gouges went to the base plastic! I worked that area for a loooooonnnng time with the Festool and numerous pads and products...

I finished up a very nice, low mileage 545i with sport package and came to the dealership in 80% condition. I ended up using a 3M finish pad with Optimum as the paint didn't need a ton of working. The only area I wet sanded was the headlight lenses and a few spots on the front bumper. I...

The good: I finished up a nice, low mileage Z4 that the dealer pre-sold before I got it. Low mileage (13/k) and no stone chips. Used Optimum compound with a gray 3M finish pad on the rotary and a #8006 on the Festool to polish some light scratches. Glazed with XMT, then a coat of #26 for the...

The BMW dealer I work for had his paint shop supply 2 of these sample touch up applicators. We tried them out on a BMW 745 Li that had some stone chips and scratches on the front bumper cover. His paint shop also provided some clear + hardener touch up to be used after the base coat...

After doing BMW detailing for the past several months, this one is the worst I've seen. The entire finish looks like it was washed with a Brillo pad. The bumper was peppered with stone chips. Some examples: Sanded the bumper with 3000 grit and a Snap-On air orbital...

This Silver 545i showed some serious mileage pitting on the front bumper and headlight covers. Process: 3000 grit with the air sander followed by compounding. I really like Optimum Compound's new formula for dust control. The shop where I detail is also a showroom and dust is a major...

I did my neighbor's black 04 Mustang Covertible a couple of months ago and a week later, a contractor that was spraying a cedar deck and fence got nasty sealant all over her car. Due to his unresponsive actions, she is now going to small claims court and wants me to remove the sealant and...