'05 BMW 545i Zaino detail

1 Clean WS6

1 Clean WS6

Detailing Rottweiler
Hey all!!

This beautiful Bimmer belongs to fellow DC-er cattman. John and his wife Lisa are two of the nicest folks you'd ever want to meet. All day long (and this was a looooong detail) they gave me coffee and soda...fed me lunch...and kept me company. If I had more clients like this I think I'd work for free!!!

John recently brought his 5 to a local "high end" body shop here in Marietta to have an "M" body kit installed (front and rear clips, side skirts and decklid spoiler). The shop receives 100% of the business from a local (and huge) BMW dealership...so one would think they have Bimmer work down pat?? As I and John found out that just wasn't the case. The shop successfully burned, marred and otherwise trashed the paint each time he brought the car back. I'm not going to say anymore about their work and just let the before pictures do the talking. Since I did not finish the detail until the sun was long gone I did not get to take any "after" pictures, however, John snapped a few this morning and emailed them to me. Below is a description of the products and process used.

Enjoy,
Mike :cool:

The detail....

Wash with Z-7.

Admire quality rotary work. :eek:

Polish with Menzerna IP using a LC orange pad and my PC set at 5-6. Several areas of the car needed x2 with this step.

Polish with Menzerna FPII using a LC white pad and my PC set at 5-6. This is bar none my favorite finishing polish. It stays wet for days allowing extra long work time, barely dusts and finishes down to an awesome gloss.

Wipe down with Meg's #34.

Seal by hand with ZFX'd Z-5 x3 with a Z-8 wipedown between each layer. A final wipedown with Z-8 was also applied.

Before me after the body shop....

Holograming covered the car from stem to stern...

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One of the many spots of unbuffed wetsanding marks...

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Buffer burn and more unbuffed sanding marks...

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I don't even know what the hell was going on here... :surrender

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how do people with nice cars let Dumb pseudo detailers touch their rides?. You get what you pay for. Im sure he learned that.
 
that zaino shine is indentical to what i have on my black bimmer as well...

atleast people here can now know that the shien they see in the screen is the shine that is actually there (sometimes photos online make cars look BETTER).

zaino z-5 is awesome on black.

i havent tried it on any other color tho.
 
I hate it when they let some trainee go hog wild with the rotary. Thats just plain laziness throughout. Excellent work, very deep wet looking black.
 
the thing ive noticed with my own rotory work is that when polishing indoors, u cannot see u're own holograms. im assuming the majority of detailwork done by bodushops is indoors. so to them, they think it looks awesome.
 
joyriide1113 said:
the thing ive noticed with my own rotory work is that when polishing indoors, u cannot see u're own holograms. im assuming the majority of detailwork done by bodushops is indoors. so to them, they think it looks awesome.
Click to expand...
I buff indoors, on mostly black cars, and with Menzerna FPII and a rotary I get 0 halograms. It's just a matter of technique, indoors should make a difference, I take a flash light to the paint if there is marrying you got halograms, if not your good to good.
 
WS6- how long did you work in the IP via PC? As well as the FPII? I am going to be attemping a black BMW too and I want mine to turn out like that!! Also how much product did you use per section, any dusting with the IP? Thanks for the help!

P.S. what did you use in the tires?

Andrew
 
Thanks for the kind words all!!

Andrew I work both the IP and FPII until it turns almost clear...not sure of the exact time but the change in the product is very apparent once it breaks down. I first kick out the pad with a nylon brush then place a thick bead around the perimeter of the pad per panel. TONS of dusting with IP...that's just what it does but damn if it doesn't polish like a son of a gun with the LC light cut pad. The tires are dressed with Z-16.
 
Awesome work on the BMW. Do you have any more after pictures? The before picutres make me sick and wonder how many other people are driving around with this type of damage.

Eric
 
SilverLexus said:
Trainee? Might have been a trainOR given the low standards of dealers.
Click to expand...

The same shop does my Diablo and a few other toys of mine and I have never had an issue like this with them. I can't fathom what happened. However, I won't venture further into that...

As for Mike's work - WOW! I am beyond impressed. Even when using sub-par products such as Zaino (you know I am kidding!) you got incredible results. I look forward to taking a look at John's car in person and admiring your work further. You must know of a GREAT touchless car wash (not just that one at Chevron) to get results like that.

-GT
 
I find BMW paint challenging, and you did a VERY fine job on that car! That's some of the best looking black paint that I've seen around here in a while.
 
:bow :bow :bow


Wow!!!


-First off, talk about a hack job with the rotary!
-Second off, I love working for Autopians/DC'ers. They know what kind of work needs to be done to make the car where "we" want it to be.
-Third, what a turnout!!! That is definately some of the deepest black I've seen in a while.


Did you choose Z or was it requested?
 
AZ Ferrari Man said:
WS6- how long did you work in the IP via PC? As well as the FPII? I am going to be attemping a black BMW too and I want mine to turn out like that!! Also how much product did you use per section, any dusting with the IP? Thanks for the help!

Andrew
Click to expand...

WS6 gave a very good answer to your question. Here is a link that will aid in your attempt to use the Menzerna products and the PC. I review often to help keep my black paint near mar free.
http://users.ca.astound.net/blkyukon/cars/#exterior


Great work WS6. Have worked on only one BMW. It came out nice. Yet I have to bow to you for getting very good results. Especially with what you had to work with starting out. :hail
 
Thanks again all! :beer_smil

Eric I actually don't have any after pictures as I did not finish until it was dark out. John took those pics the next morning and emailed them to me...perhaps if he has time he can snap a few more. I hope not many more people are driving around with that level of damage.

Thanks Scott...this car fought me but I am proud of how it turned out even using those dime store products. I'd like to think that the shop just had a string of "bad days" and this was the result...a once in a while abnormality. To their credit though it sounds like they did square things away with John on a business/money level so that is good to hear. By the way no touchless wash involved...I just drive it through one of those $10 hand wash places...slap a coat of NuFinish on with a ScotchBrite pad then call it a day. :nutkick

Sean the Z was owner requested. What killed me was not so much the horrid rotary work but rather the unbuffed wet sanding marks. The car was obviously buffed...some areas were then spot sanded...then the car was not buffed again!! As an aside...I leave for CT in about 4 hours. :santa

cwcad I've seen that write-up by BlkYukon on the other board...a superb pictorial!!
 
Hey guys,
I am the owner of this 545i, and I want to thank Mike for his awesome work. The pictures do not do justice to the oil slick look of the paint- and it feels as smooth as greased glass.

Mike had a rough situation to deal with after the local body shop hacked it up. And while the pics look great, they don't compare to what it looks like in person- I truly could NEVER be happier about how it all came out. I cannot think of one way in which Mike could have done a better job- he's a perfectionist with skills, and it shows.

What you don't see here is the interior, which started out pretty clean, I thought. But now, holy cow- it's an entirely different car! The entire interior looks brand new (car is 1 year old, a 2005), and smells like a leather tannery! Every surface is spotless and new looking.

On top of the excellent work, Mike is a gentleman, a true professional, and feels like an old friend. I've already recommended him to all of my colleagues, one of whom is already on Mike's schedule.

I will try to snap some more pics today and either email them to Mike to post or try uploading them myself. I want y'all to see more of the paint, and the interior.

John
 
Excellent job on the bimmer 1 Clean WS6.

And kudos for the owner for saying such kind words about 1 Clean WS6 work. Guess I know who you are going to turn to for detail work! :D :bigups
 
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