Hideous BMW 528, immaculate M3, '04 Titan

S

Scottwax

New member
2004 Nissan Titan. I've been taking care of this customer's vehicles since 1995 and this Titan since he bought it new in December of '04, usually about twice a month. I still have not yet needed to polish this truck due to spider/halo swirls, proper washing goes a long way to keeping a daily driver in excellent shape. It does have a couple very light scratches on the passenger side but since he is already scouting prime deer hunting locations, he and I both agree it'll be best to wait until January when hunting season is over to do any polishing.



Just did an Optimum No Rinse Wash and topped with Poorboy's Natty's Blue.



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I tried to get the sunspot to show the paint is swirl free, due to the incredible metallic in the paint, it still kind of flared the sun point...but as you can see, still no swirls!



2004_Nissan_Titan_metallic.jpg




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1997 BMW 528. Last one at the law firm for a while, I guess. They did pay for a total of 20 details the past 6 weeks, turned out to be a pretty sweet deal! Anyway, this one was pretty rough. Obviously not washed in a long time and my son beat the driver's side mat against the wall for several minutes trying to get all the sand out of it. Yuck.



Before shots:



I'd already cleaned the wheels on this side when I realized this one would make for some great before and afters, so that is why the wheels look halfway decent compared to the other side.



1997_BMW_528_before1.jpg




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Horrible halo swirls (worse than this pics shows) and rotary tracers all over the front end. Going to be a real challenge when the price point I gave them for the details included only a two step on the exterior!



1997_BMW_528_before3.jpg
 
This is after washing and some light claying (suprised it didn't need more than it did):



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I used Optimum Compound mixed 70/30 with Clearkote's RMG using green lite cut Propel Cyclo pads, going over the hood twice.



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Full disclosure-just so no one thinks they can get a car in this shape back to 100% swirl free with a single polishing step, here you can see some swirls remain-but overall, they were greatly reduced and the rotary tracers were completely gone. The paint is also noticably richer and darker. Perfect? No, of course not but I was still quite pleased what I accomplished with a single polishing step on something this bad.



1997_BMW_528_polished2.jpg




I finished off the car with Poorboy's EX w/carnauba just in time for the clouds to roll in:



1997_BMW_528_front1.jpg




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I pulled it around front and just before I was leaving, the sun came back out and I got this shot:



1997_BMW_528_front2.jpg
 
2003 BMW M3. I am the only one who has polished and waxed this car in the 2 1/2 years the owner has had it. He even refused dealer prep so I was the first person to touch the car! I love when that happens! He is trading it in, thinking about the new Audi RS4 or a Carrera to replace it in a few months. Since this would be the last time I'd get to see it, he asked if I wanted to drive it. :eek: Uh....yeah! :D It has the SMG tranny, so he took my son and I out to show me how to work it properly, sucker hits 100 like right now! Really fast and firm shifts too, catches rubber on the 1-2 and 2-3. He then pulled over and let me drive. Really tight steering with quick response, amazing brakes and a seemingly endless supply of acceleration. He turned off the traction control so the transmission would shift at its fastest and firmest and it felt just like my old Chevelle with a street/strip shift kit did. Bang! Bang! Oops, I'm going 110 in a 35! Yeah buddy!



The car was already in excellent shape, I'd hit it with Prime and Acrylic Jett in early June. He just wanted it cleaned up and a light wax. I decided to use a 50/50 mix of Optimum Car Wax and Werkstatt's Carnauba Jett. Turned out really nice and wet!



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I'll miss taking care of this car, but probably not the wheels!



2003_BMW_M3_CJOCW_wheel.jpg
 
As usual, fantastic work! Huge improvement for a one step polish on that 528 and while I am not one for BMW's, that M3 is really sexy. Great job.
 
What did you use on the 528's wheels...Last time I did one it took me atleast an hour just on the wheels (It hadn't been washed in a year and a half though). BTW Nice details
 
M3's are a blast to drive. It came out awesome. Id suggest the RS4 because its not something you see every day and if he refuses dealer prep you shouldnt have to worry about the hard audi clear. I could use your input Here.
 
awahl63 said:
What did you use on the 528's wheels...Last time I did one it took me atleast an hour just on the wheels (It hadn't been washed in a year and a half though). BTW Nice details
Click to expand...



Just cleaned with Optimum No Rinse and an assortment of brushes. They probably could have used a little wheel polish but the company wasn't paying for stuff like that. The owner of the car said the wheels hadn't been that clean in years. I guess he was just rinsing them.
 
All are just incredible! I love that M3.

It strikes me that you always get such incredible results, usually using products that are more gentle than what most people (myself certainly included) use for similar details. I guess it just comes down to great technique and lots of experience. I remember when you did everything by hand and those results were just as impressive as what I am seeing today!
 
Scottwax said:
Just cleaned with Optimum No Rinse and an assortment of brushes. They probably could have used a little wheel polish but the company wasn't paying for stuff like that. The owner of the car said the wheels hadn't been that clean in years. I guess he was just rinsing them.
Click to expand...

Thanks Scott, the one I did I used a lot of purple power
 
Looks great man! I raced one of those before in my uncle's camaro and that was funny. Dude that was driving the M3 was euro trash and thought he could beat us. lol We pulled a couple cars from 30-120mph. Good times.
 
Scottwax said:
2003 BMW M3. I am the only one who has polished and waxed this car in the 2 1/2 years the owner has had it. He even refused dealer prep so I was the first person to touch the car! I love when that happens! He is trading it in, thinking about the new Audi RS4 or a Carrera to replace it in a few months. Since this would be the last time I'd get to see it, he asked if I wanted to drive it. :eek: Uh....yeah! :D It has the SMG tranny, so he took my son and I out to show me how to work it properly, sucker hits 100 like right now! Really fast and firm shifts too, catches rubber on the 1-2 and 2-3. He then pulled over and let me drive. Really tight steering with quick response, amazing brakes and a seemingly endless supply of acceleration. He turned off the traction control so the transmission would shift at its fastest and firmest and it felt just like my old Chevelle with a street/strip shift kit did. Bang! Bang! Oops, I'm going 110 in a 35! Yeah buddy!



The car was already in excellent shape, I'd hit it with Prime and Acrylic Jett in early June. He just wanted it cleaned up and a light wax. I decided to use a 50/50 mix of Optimum Car Wax and Werkstatt's Carnauba Jett. Turned out really nice and wet!



2003_BMW_M3_CJOCW_front1.jpg




2003_BMW_M3_CJOCW_frontend1.jpg




2003_BMW_M3_CJOCW_frontend2.jpg




2003_BMW_M3_CJOCW_rear1.jpg




2003_BMW_M3_CJOCW_backend1.jpg




I'll miss taking care of this car, but probably not the wheels!



2003_BMW_M3_CJOCW_wheel.jpg
Click to expand...





Very nice! What did you use for tire dressing?
 
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