Detailing Thread

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Gary ITR wrote: »

I'm not really one for waxing and polishing

Gary ITR wrote: »

The paintwork was spotless beforehand, completely de-tarred and smooth. I had been hand washing and sealing with chemical guys hybrid.

Sound like your being a bit modest there Gary.....get your +1 on the dedicated detailing forum

Northern Monkey

Nayeli Shaggy Summer wrote: »

Sound like your being a bit modest there Gary.....get your +1 on the dedicated detailing forum

Just out of curiosity Maurice, there are now more than 18 +1's on the forum request, does it go for consideration now or do we have to wait the 6 weeks?

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Don't know, we have only worn down one of the mods so far. I would guess it has to wait its time? All good thing to those who wait

Gary ITR

Nayeli Shaggy Summer wrote: »

Sound like your being a bit modest there Gary.....get your +1 on the dedicated detailing forum

Well I suppose I am. I'm just not as into it as others, I'm far more concerened about removing my coilovers tomorrow to clean them and adjust all of the settings than I am about paintwork. There are usually lots of photographers at trackdays so it'll be nice to have it shining too I suppose

E39MSport

Out I go for some detailing prep nirvava

Gary ITR

E39MSport wrote: »

Out I go for some detailing prep nirvava

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YklkclO83E

I was delighted with the results of the Blacklight. My car is going to get a good number of stickers on it for Tuesdays Trackday so should minimise the risk of damage to the paintwork too

Gary ITR

Finished off doing the panels with the blacklight. I'll need to do the bumpers tomorrow and then I'm done.

I've also gone hell for leather on the glass, using a 3m glass cleaner which I'm delighted with as dirty glass really bothers me.

My roof and bonnet do need to be sprayed though, my bonnet had something spilled on it by the previous owner and the roof has two nasty dents.

I'll get some pics of the car tomorrow in daylight

vectra

Gary ITR wrote: »

Finished off doing the panels with the blacklight. I'll need to do the bumpers tomorrow and then I'm done.

I've also gone hell for leather on the glass, using a 3m glass cleaner which I'm delighted with as dirty glass really bothers me.

My roof and bonnet do need to be sprayed though, my bonnet had something spilled on it by the previous owner and the roof has two nasty dents.

I'll get some pics of the car tomorrow in daylight

Hope you have some before pics as well as afters?

Gary ITR

vectra wrote: »

Hope you have some before pics as well as afters?

Eh..... That would have been an idea

The car is manky again now, the autocross guys must have been in Mondello at the weekend, it'll be intersting to see how it shines up tomorrow after a wash

E39MSport

Any preferred retailers for BMW touch up paint in the Leinster area?

Dealer said 1 week lead time and cheaper/quicker at an indy.

Otherwise I'll put in a buy in on paints4u. Need to alcohol stuff and proper applicator also.

Curran

Vinny Byrne's apparantly is very reputable - never used them myself though!

Curran

Just sourced.....
Vinny Byrne
Unit C7 Santry Business Park, Santry Dublin 9
01- 842 8501

E39MSport

Thanks !

Just had a go at the tailpipes.

- Megs APC to clean with a micro fibre
- AG metal polish
- Buff with clean mf
- AG SRP
- Buff again

Needs a brush or fine grit and machine polich on the underside. Bit of marking on them from a previous attempt I think.





Will attempt to get rid of those scratches also. Think they'll come up a treat with some more effort and the right tools.

listermint

E39MSport wrote: »

Thanks !

Just had a go at the tailpipes.

- Megs APC to clean with a micro fibre
- AG metal polish
- Buff with clean mf
- AG SRP
- Buff again

Needs a brush or fine grit and machine polich on the underside. Bit of marking on them from a previous attempt I think.





Will attempt to get rid of those scratches also. Think they'll come up a treat with some more effort and the right tools.

M3 ?

challengemaster

E39MSport wrote: »

Any preferred retailers for BMW touch up paint in the Leinster area?

Dealer said 1 week lead time and cheaper/quicker at an indy.

Otherwise I'll put in a buy in on paints4u. Need to alcohol stuff and proper applicator also.

Yours is hardly black sapphire?

I could use about 3 buckets of it to attempt to fill in all the stone chips on my yoke

E39MSport

**, carbonschwarz 416. The clearcoat delete gives it a dark blue look in certain light.

Mate says that autosol is a good solution to get rid of the scratch marks etc on the tailpipes.

E39MSport

Curran wrote: »

Just sourced.....
Vinny Byrne
Unit C7 Santry Business Park, Santry Dublin 9
01- 842 8501

They have a shop on the southside too, Kylemore
Call Ciaran on 626 1770.

They want to see the car so I'll try to get over soon.

Northern Monkey

challengemaster wrote: »

Yours is hardly black sapphire?

I could use about 3 buckets of it to attempt to fill in all the stone chips on my yoke

Have a look here http://www.chipex.co.uk/

Weather permitting, I'm going to be giving a couple of stone chips on my car a going over with this at the weekend. I will take a few pics and post them up (providing I don't make a balls of it!)

E39MSport

Interesting. We can compare results.

I couldn't be ar5ed going to the shop in the end so I've ordered paint, applicator swabs and panel wipe from paints4u.com

and I've also ordered 9 micron petals and applicator from 3Mselect

I already have the DA and polish that I'll need.

MarkR

I need to keep a newly refurbed clean. I have a big bottle of Autoglym Super Resin Polish. Ultra Deep Shine too actually. Various waxes. Can I use these, or should I get something else?

vectra

MarkR wrote: »

I need to keep a newly refurbed clean. I have a big bottle of Autoglym Super Resin Polish. Ultra Deep Shine too actually. Various waxes. Can I use these, or should I get something else?

What waxes?
what car/Color?

MarkR

vectra wrote: »

What waxes?
what car/Color?

The colour is gunmetal. Picture worth a thousand words.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/209/img20120302070036.jpg/

Neilw

MarkR wrote: »

The colour is gunmetal. Picture worth a thousand words.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/209/img20120302070036.jpg/

Out of the selection of products in your pic. I would use the meguiars cleaner wax first, this should remove any oxidation from the paint. I'd follow up with the meguiars nxt tech, it has fillers which will hide minor marring and swirls, should be durable enough too.

As with all detailing products, less is more. Don't lash on a huge thick coat of sealant or wax, 2 thin coats is better. If you don't already have some applicator pads I'd pick up a couple of them. Rinse them in water and wring out then apply the wax with that, helps get a nice thin coat on the paint.

vectra

^^ As Markw said.

Waxes will give a warmer/wetter looking finish whereas Sealents give a Colder metallic sort of finish,
Try what you have as said above, if you are not 100% happy with that you can always get a few new products and experiment.

username?!

Been watching alot of videos on DW TV and in some of them people seem to be just foaming the car with a foam lance and rinsing, no sponge or myth being used, leaving it sit and rinsing and going straight to detailing?

Surely the foam just sitting won't get all the dirt off, will it?

Neilw

username?! wrote: »

Been watching alot of videos on DW TV and in some of them people seem to be just foaming the car with a foam lance and rinsing, no sponge or myth being used, leaving it sit and rinsing and going straight to detailing?

Surely the foam just sitting won't get all the dirt off, will it?

It does take some dirt off alright but not everything. Our roads are filthy so cars get destroyed, foaming can only remove so much.
Foaming does soften up the remaining grime left on the car which makes it easier to clean off with a wash mitt.

vectra

Neilw wrote: »

It does take some dirt off alright but not everything. Our roads are filthy so cars get destroyed, foaming can only remove so much.
Foaming does soften up the remaining grime left on the car which makes it easier to clean off with a wash mitt.

It also helps reduce the swirls.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

vectra wrote: »

It also helps reduce the swirls.

I practice the controversial fitzgeme one bucket method.

1. Snow foam (with bulk cheap snow foam) and dwell for 10 mins.
2. Rinse off. This step loosens the dirt and gets 90% off the car.
3. Snowfoam again (with premium shampoo) and then use mitt to work to foam from roof down finish with the wheels.
4. Rinse mitt in fresh water and wring out every 30 seconds of touching the paint to get rid of grit on the mitt.

I never got why, when you have a snow foam lance, you would be bothered having a second bucket who's sole purpose was to get suds onto the car, you have to touch the car more, and it takes longer, its not as much fun

Neilw

Never tried foaming/washing as you described, I usually stick to the standard foam then wash with two buckets. Slower alright but I was happy with the results.

What snow foam are you using, this is super snow foam below.


And rinsed before washing.


Washed and dried using quik detailer as a drying aid.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

My cheap snow foam is cleancar.ie bulk snow foam. My expensive one is CG Maxi Sudz II. I bought a big bulk valet container and after about 40 washes I haven't even made a dent in it. I actually don't rinse my mitt in a bucket of clean water , I am a lazy git and bought 10 mitts in Aldi for 20 euro and use about 5 to do a full car and chuck them in the washing machine after. To my logic this method actually carries less risk than the 2BM however I am open to correction.

Saw your new pics, your snow foam looks nice an thick. However Neilw, quick detailer is really expensive drying aid. Get to halfords and get the big Carplan Demon Shine, cheap and chips, great drying aid and great to lubricate clay.

Heres one I did today, 5 hours of detailing.