Have NO respect for their vehicles

This was by far the most neglected vehicle I have detailed. A silver 325xi landed in my driveway a few days ago looking like hell. The wheels were painted black with the thickest brake dust I have ever seen and the paint was not only totally flat but it had terrible scuff marks all over it on top of moderate swirling.

I knew this one was going to be a project, but I was up for a challage. I would have guessed this car hadnt been washed since the day it was bought judging by the state of the wheels alone.

On with the job...

The wheels were beyond your average BMW brake dust buildup, which to begin with is always pretty terrible. This was not a time for P21s gel, I could have let it sit there for 3days but I just didnt have the time or patience so out with the heavy stuff... Megs Wheel Brightener 4:1 and lots of it. I went through 3/4 of a bottle on these wheels.:doh: This is a product I keep around for extreme circumstances, cases like this one were deserving of an acid based wheel cleaner. Nothing else would have cut through the thick caked on brake dust. I hate using this product and when possible I always grab the pH neutral P21s wheel gel or the E-Shine biodegradable APC but neither of those products would have done the job.

There was a ton of baked on brake dust which did not come off even after using tar remover, clay and an agressive polish.

Here is was the damage...









What a mess, good thing I decided to clean the wheels on the street instead of my driveway...there could have been some serious staining issues there

 

A little 50/50



The door shuts were all cleaned with Megs APC+ at 10:1 dilution. The APC is a very versatile product. I can use it to clean wheel wells and tires (4:1), door shuts (10:1), carpets (8:1) and many other things. Some pople use it at a 20:1 dilution on leather but its a little to harsh for leather IMO. I stick with a dedicated product like leather masters.





After the paint totally trashed an entire bar of Agressive clay this BMW was ready for inspection and PTG readings. The car averaged 110-160 microns all around. About 10 readings were measured per panel to ensure I had enough clear coat to polish saftley. I take extreme caution when polishing paint 100microns or thinner, luckily this car had a nice healthy cc. Most cars average anywhere from 120-160microns.

These are the HEAVY scuff marks I was talking about, I couldnt imagine what caused them but it seems as if somebody had walked all over the paint.









After some experimenting I found that the best way to get these marks out was by hand polishing...yes "hand" polishing with an agressive compound.

The choice for the job was Gloss It extreme cut.



I like Extreme cut because its pretty thin compared to M105 and uses a variaty of different sized abrasives which cut very well.

Heres a close up after spreading Extreme cut a bit

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Only the scuff marks needed the use of an aggressive compound, and even still I refrained from using the Makita rotary and just found hand polishing to be most effective.

To remove the other defect (swirls and fine scratches) as well as to jewel the finish I used the Cyclo and Gloss It 1 step machine polish. The 1step machine polish is an awesome product and has quite a good amount of bite...just vary the pad choice to suit your polishing needs depending on how much cut you'll need.


Now onto removing the scuffs













After a very long time hand polishing out the scuffs it was time to bring back some shine and the finish and machine polish out the swirls.

Out with the cyclo using yellow pads and Gloss It One Step machine polish.

 

The pads got quite dirty during polishing so I used the new Grit Guard pad washer, yea it works with a cyclo! This is one thing I cannot polish without now. Its really a useful device, I dont have to keep changing pads. 1 set was used for the entire car actually.

Before



During



After



The exhaust were not chrome but needed a good once over. #0000 steel wool and noxon and then Megs all metal polished were used

Before



During



After



Now more polishing on the passenger side

 

DetailersDomain uber MF were the choice for hand polishing because they have just enough bite for the job



Then more finishing with the cyclo and the Gloss It one step



50/50



After an IPA wipedown, the depth and clarity is restored and the car is ready for LSP. The choice was Gloss it Gloss Finish then a gloss enhancer wipedown.


This is the car with no LSP, post polishing and IPA wipedown



One last thing before applying the gloss finish was to do some touch up work, the owner didnt ask for it but I happened to have found this little kit in the interior while I was cleaning it out so I figured I would put it to good use. A simple titanium silver basecoat and then a clear coat to top it...HOW CONVIENENT

 

While that was curing I moved onto to the interior which was umm...less than stellar:doh:

Products used...

1Z CP
1Z Plastik Reinger
Megs APC+
Folex spot remover
Leather masters rapid cleaner S
Optimum leather protectant
P21s 100% carnauba wax (for the wood)
Swissvax wheel brush (a fresh one designated for interiors now)
Swissvax leather brush

 

Cleaning the crevices full of gunk with a trustt toothpick



Before



After



A little topper for the wood to really make it glow





After

 

Carpets were equally bad, heavily soiled and hardened stains.

I pre treated them with APC+ then used the Bissell LGM with Folex solution to extract the stains and agitate.

Before



After




Interior all finished off



Then I applied Gloss Finish sealant followed by a gloss enhancer QD wipedown.

All rubber ext. trim was treated was with 1Z Gummi Pledge



The after shots, The main goal was to repair the exterior scuffs and swirls and recondition the interior to like new state. The owner wasnt interested in the Signature Gloss package but I thought the finish really had a deep glow afterwards, even for silver.


Total time: 17hours



No more scuffs:

 

The car had some heavy swirls before but they were not very deep which made them easier to polish out.









The wheels, far from their original state





The owner was more than thrilled with the outcome, she couldnt believe it was the same car with brake dust caked up and black scuffs all over.

 

I'm sure she will apriciate the fact your write up says she has no respect for her car. let alone

 

In all honesty can you blame me for saying so? A person owns a BMW of all cars and keeps it in this sort of condition. Some people work their whole life to one day be able to afford a BMW and this person keeps her car looking like that. I however do give her credit for finally taking initiative and getting it detailed.

 

That was just amazing. My gf and I are in awe.

 

okay thats just sad... i havent even seen a Rental that bad... that is just plain disgusting, for an Interior to get into that state...

 

Smoke, you did a great job on that car to say the least.

Excellent work.

On those scuffs however I have something that could save you a lot of polishing by hand as well as time and effort. Get some 3M Adhesive Remover, it's the best thing I've ever used to remove scuffs with, I even had someone rub up against there garage and it literally melted the garage paint off the side fender of the car. It's great, you should try some as well as clear coat friendly.

Josh

 

I had the same thoughts as Grouse however after seeing the condition of the interior...literally I said out loud "Oh my god..."

But Hyde & Jekyll transformation, great results!