detailing nightmare

I

imported_doug

New member
I just spent a few hours washing the M5, followed by meguiar's Swirl remover 2.0 via PC on the hood, trunk, fenders and doors above the belt line. Looked SWEET. (The car has been washed by others, and had more swirls than I could tolerate), even though it doesn't show them as badly as the black car.



Anyway - I am 3/4 of the way through applying Gold Class, out in my driveway. The gardner comes through and decides since both cars are out of the garage it would be a good time to blow it out. Before I even realized what was happening and could stop him - it was too late. LOADS of dust all over the waxed but unbuffed car. Now what do I do? I'm worried that buffing off the wax is gonna scratch the crap out of it.



I pulled it into the garage and blew it off with the leaf blower already - this seems to have helped - but if anyone read this in the next 30 minutes while I let the wax cure and has any great ideas - please let me know!



p.s. - to make matters worse, when my wife backed her car out of the garage earlier she managed to roll over my bottle of Gold Class. I don't have to tell you that "splurge" is a gross understatement......
 
It won't effect a thing. Get the hose out and loads of car wash and wash it with a plush wash mitt. This should also remove the wax haze, but if not, just dry it off, and buff with a QD'er. Apply Gold class again if needed and fire that gardener! hehe
 
My last post is timestamped 2:01. This is being typed at 2:21 - only 20 minutes later. In that time I washed the car (detailking was right - gets rid of most of the residue) - the wash goes real fast - because you don't have any road dirt, you can do multiple panels between rinses and not worry so much about the areas below the belt line.



After using my sheet/blot/MF-wipe drying technique, i could see a) where i hadn't actually touched the surface with the mit - there was a bit of cloudy gold class residue there that wiped right off) and b) that the result was a little streaky - like micro-fine swirls from the direction of my wiping. I knew this was residual wax, so I re-wiped with a clean MF and some FI. I was ALMOST happy - but I just couldn't resist. Out came my "secret weapon" for quick detailing when spray isn't enough - Souveran. Did the whole car above the belt line (the gC was on everything) and buffed it out - and here I am, after all that, only 20 minutes later! Yes, I'm sweating! But nothing goes on and comes off like that stuff if you're in a hurry.



It looks great - I'm going to go out now and take some pictures, but I wanted to "submit" this for the timestamp "proof". (Took me 5 minutes to type this.)
 
Glad to hear everything is ok. I read your post with horror, but was happy to see everyone else's suggestions matched my thoughts.
 
Greg,



I am glad everything worked out O.K. I love the M5, too bad I can't afford one.:) Did anyone ever tell you that you are a very lucky man? ;)
 
Thanks, everyone -

One of the reasons I love this board - someone to rescue me when I'm lost! It just didn't occur to me to wash the car with the residue still on there - but that was exactly the right thing to do. Anyway - I'm really psyched - because I ended up doing a lot more than I intended, and the car looks great. ( I WAS going to wash, swirl-remove the hood, wax the hood and be done. Oh well, my "help me, I can't stop waxing" comes true again!)

Showroom - the M5 is an absolutely amazing car, and yes, I KNOW I am lucky! I appreciate my cars every time I drive them. The M5 is coming up on two years old, and it still feels like a new car to me. If you're ever out this way, stop by - I'll take you for a spin!

Anyway - to commemorate - here are some pics:

from_above_640.jpg


reflection_640.jpg


m5_rear_close_640.jpg


flag_in_hood_640.jpg


I notice the second to last picture really shows the orange peel. It DOES have orange peel, but it ain't that bad! Honest!
 
I was going to say have a beer.



oh yeah, then wash your car :) 1 panel at a time, rinsing out your mitt as you do, using more soapy foam than usual. not overlapping your swiping.



course it's an M5, so driiiiive it clean :D
 
Greg,



Great pics of the M5. :up You would take me for a ride, yipeeeee. I would have been happy to just sit in your driveway and stare at it for awhile. :D
 
Glad everything worked out for you!!! I am also relived to find out I am not the only one out there with orange peel on a BMW. I have a 2002 325XI (I can only dream about an M5) The car is only 2 month's old and since delivery I was really upset about the orange peel. I expected a lot more from BMW. I know it's a minor thing and the rest of the car is incredible but it still upsets me... Anyway, I am happy it worked out for you...
 
Same here... I have orange peel on my quarter panels and trunks of the Bimmers. The hood and roof seem to be the best...



EDIT: Great pictures, btw! I really like the last one! I wish I had an M5, too. Looks great!
 
Greg,

I saw your post on the M5 board, you really need to have a heart to heart with your lawn care people!

Thought about putting some Klasse AIO and SG under that Souveran? I tired AIO, 3 coats of SG and Souveran the last time I detailed and the results were terrific.
 
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