1980's BMW 325i 3 step correction

[wizardofahs]

I just put my first coat of BF polish on my black civic. Before that i did FI-II with the yellow pad, and 2x SMR with the white pad. I would think that would be fairly safe for my car... but i knoticed out of the bottle the bf polish is white... after i got a little bit around my car it started taking on a greyish color. Might I have gone through the clearcoat and my paint is comming off in some areas? (i also think a panel or two was repainted before i got it and might not have a clear coat). Or does bf polish do that after it's used. It wasn't to dark a grey, then after i did the roof it turned a little darker. on the brighter side of things. I LOVE BF. i had a huge number of small chips on my hood, one pass with BF polish.. and bam. I can still see them, but a lot of the smaller ones disappeard. Now you only see the mess of chips if you look.

 

[Bobby G]

I would try your BF polish on a piece of white tee shirt material to see if color coat paint is coming up.

 

[imported_BretFraz]

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote' >

<em class='bbc'>Originally posted by Dr. Jones [/i]
<strong class='bbc'> (i also think a panel or two was repainted before i got it and might not have a clear coat). . [/b]</blockquote>
I believe you've answered your own question. If you're not sure (don't worry, almost no one can easily tell if a car's been repainted) take the car to a reputable body shop and ask them to evaluate the paint to determine if its been repainted, where, and how. Even a good used car sales manager can tell.

 

[GoFast908Z]

A long time client of mine called me up about his friend's old (1985 i think) BMW 325i. Said it was badly faded but it was single stage. It was in very bad shape, but thankfully the paint was soft too and corrected nicely. There was heavy pitting as it was neglected in the elements for over a decade. The rubber bumpers and metal trim were toast and beyond repair, as was the lower valance on the front bumper. The car really needed a restoration but cost was a factor so i did what I could with it. Thankfully since the paint was soft the process was pretty simple...

M205 on LC orange
M205 on LC white
Menz 85RD on LC black

Finished with Blackfire Wet Diamond
Like I said, nice and simple

Total time 22 hours



I lost the SD card that had all the before pics on it, but I have most of the "in process" pics and all the afters. So here's what I got.




"Test Spot" as requested by owner, who chose its location as well

My long-time client's Vette in the background, parked at his neighbors house

After 2 steps of correction...

*Excuse the 3 different tapes. I had both the 3M Painters tape and the Meguiars tape and I wanted to directly compare the two. The long-time client (who's home we were using) is a painter and wanted me to try "Frog Tape" and see how I liked it. It worked ok, but not very durable protection from a foam pad.*

After 85RD and Blackfire Wet Diamond. It wasn't perfect, but this paint didn't have perfect left in it after so much neglect. But I couldn't convince the owner of that, he was literally shouting that it was perfect. Haha, as long as he's happy.

No micromarring here, thats the excessive pitting I mentioned earlier.

Lower rockers could not be saved, there was a lack of paint material....

Thanks for lookin!

 

[MrGolfRider]

Damn yo, that looks great! I'm sure the owner was beside himself about how it could look when someone with the right skills got a hold of it. The referrals from these two now will be plentiful.

 

[imported_kakeuter]

Tremendous turnaround Jeff, the car looks great.

-Kody-

 

[BIOLINK]

Director IT"S PERFECT!!!!!

Nice work. When a car is faded that badly how soon will the oxidation come back? I had a blue toyota that was faded almost white and the blue wouldn't stay. It seemed to fade again very quickly. I have a friend with a white Hyundai that is chalky and I am curious how long his car might stay shiny after I remove the oxidation. Any comments......

 

[Street Dreams]

Thats detailing!

 

[imported_glfahlc]

compared to what it was, thats perfect. nice turnaround and i like that year bimmer....

 

[bmw5541]

Great work once again Jeff.

I love looking at a correction of a neglected single stage paint (especially red). The 50/50 shots are so dramatic. I see why your client was so happy.:thumbup::hurray::thumbup:

 

[weekendwarrior]

Director IT"S PERFECT!!!!!

Nice work. When a car is faded that badly how soon will the oxidation come back? I had a blue toyota that was faded almost white and the blue wouldn't stay. It seemed to fade again very quickly. I have a friend with a white Hyundai that is chalky and I am curious how long his car might stay shiny after I remove the oxidation. Any comments......

Jeff - car looks GREAT!!!

Bio - In my experience with single stage (which is several), and oxidized gel coats on boats, the answer to your question is "it just depends".

What I mean by that is that I have corrected some cars like the one in this thread, and as long as protection is maintained on the paint, it never comes back. On the other hand, I corrected a family member's single stage car one time, and it looked perfect. We put it in the garage, and a month later, 1 of the panels started to haze (keep in mind that the car never left the garage).

I want to say that I read on the Meguiar's forum (but I am not sure), years ago that sometimes single stage paint can become unstable over time. I don't know what exactly changes in the paint over time...but it is almost impossible to make perfect, and then it stay that way.

 

[BIOLINK]

Bio - In my experience with single stage (which is several), and oxidized gel coats on boats, the answer to your question is "it just depends".

What I mean by that is that I have corrected some cars like the one in this thread, and as long as protection is maintained on the paint, it never comes back. On the other hand, I corrected a family member's single stage car one time, and it looked perfect. We put it in the garage, and a month later, 1 of the panels started to haze (keep in mind that the car never left the garage).

I want to say that I read on the Meguiar's forum (but I am not sure), years ago that sometimes single stage paint can become unstable over time. I don't know what exactly changes in the paint over time...but it is almost impossible to make perfect, and then it stay that way.

Thanks for the advice. I had similar findings. The experience I had was on an older Toyota from the 70's. The blue came through with polishing and waxing but the white chalk fought back and came through again. :StarWars:

However, the Beemer looks great and honestly I think in better shape than the Toyota I mentioned. Keep that bad boy waxed/sealed....

 

[panthercz]

Wow that thing was in some rough shape! Great job on it and I can understand why the owner said it was perfect!:smile:

 

[GoFast908Z]

Damn yo, that looks great! I'm sure the owner was beside himself about how it could look when someone with the right skills got a hold of it. The referrals from these two now will be plentiful.

Thanks! These guys constantly send me new clients.

Tremendous turnaround Jeff, the car looks great.

-Kody-

Thanks Kody

Director IT"S PERFECT!!!!!

Nice work. When a car is faded that badly how soon will the oxidation come back? I had a blue toyota that was faded almost white and the blue wouldn't stay. It seemed to fade again very quickly. I have a friend with a white Hyundai that is chalky and I am curious how long his car might stay shiny after I remove the oxidation. Any comments......

Thanks biolink! As long as its maintained properly the oxidation shouldn't come back. But it was a pretty extensive correction. If it was outside 24/7 it may need some finishing polishing in a year, but doubtful any more than that.

Thats detailing!

Thank you David!

compared to what it was, thats perfect. nice turnaround and i like that year bimmer....

Thanks!

Great work once again Jeff.

I love looking at a correction of a neglected single stage paint (especially red). The 50/50 shots are so dramatic. I see why your client was so happy.:thumbup::hurray::thumbup:

Thanks Barry! He nearly fainted after I gave him the estimate :money: (he's never had ANY car detailed before). But when he came back, he was beyond ecstatic.

Jeff - car looks GREAT!!!

Thanks!!

Thanks for the advice. I had similar findings. The experience I had was on an older Toyota from the 70's. The blue came through with polishing and waxing but the white chalk fought back and came through again. :StarWars:

However, the Beemer looks great and honestly I think in better shape than the Toyota I mentioned. Keep that bad boy waxed/sealed....

Thank you

Wow that thing was in some rough shape! Great job on it and I can understand why the owner said it was perfect!:smile:

Thanks!