2001 BMW 740iL Black - 6 years of neglect

[Totoland Mach]

Whew! This is a bad one...'nuff said

Outside Inspection Shot



These scratches belong in the Swirl Hall of Fame! Lower rocker panel abused from brush washes I guess...I've never seen them this bad!





Festool plus Optimum compound and cut pad to the rescue. These panels are plastic and won't take the heat of a rotary.





Rear bumper scratched and gouged...gee, I just did one of these in my last post LOL.



Festooled again..I use this tool to complete all the plastic on one side + bumpers before I move on to the rotary for the metal.



Hood Swirls



Hood Compounded



I'll turn the car around on the lift tonight to finish the other side + roof. The paint on this BMW is very soft and I have to use a gray 3M finish pad with compound. The cutting pad just produces more swirls.

Toto

[Craig]

Looks like they use 320 gritt as a wash mitt After seeing this, I feel bad that I complain at work. Lucky you, get all the nice ones don't ya. Just think of the work out your arms will get. I don't see how you can lift your arms after working a buffer all day. How long to bring this one back, 3-4 days?

[Nica]

Originally Posted by Totoland Mach

Toto

When I read the heading for this post I imagined terrible swirls and when I started looking at the pictures the heading is just right for the pictures Toto. Man you got your work cut out, hey that bumper looks good...how do you do that...the bumper was gauged and you turned it around quite nicely...did you use any tuch up paint?

Well, I got a little gouge of my own with the Volvo and so far I've been ignoring it but I think I'm going to have to just bite the bullet and do it

Looking forward to your magic tuch Toto...post lots of pictures please well you know...the usual...

[Totoland Mach]

Originally Posted by Craig

Looks like they use 320 gritt as a wash mitt After seeing this, I feel bad that I complain at work. Lucky you, get all the nice ones don't ya. Just think of the work out your arms will get. I don't see how you can lift your arms after working a buffer all day. How long to bring this one back, 3-4 days?

I get some not-so-bad ones, then I get this trade-in on a 745Li that I did. This one is definitely one of the "baddies".

Actually, with the lift, I can bring the car to a comfortable working height and that makes all the difference. If I didn't have that lift, I probably wouldn't even get close to finishing those rocker panels and lower doors.

Toto

[P1et]

That is one of the most awful things I've ever seen!!! Cannot wait to see the finished result...

Question: on the plastic painted bits, are you taking extra care of those? I always wondered if I could use my PC on that...

[Craig]

Wouldn't it be nice to spend that kind of money on a car and not give a damn about it. What the hell buy a new one.

[supercharged]

you are doing some nice work out there, Toto. Keep it up!

[Nuke33]

You wernt kidding that really is super bad!

[Totoland Mach]

Originally Posted by P1et

That is one of the most awful things I've ever seen!!! Cannot wait to see the finished result...

Question: on the plastic painted bits, are you taking extra care of those? I always wondered if I could use my PC on that...

P1et: the plastic pieces: bumpers, rocker panels, mirrors, etc. require a lot of careful work. Like I said, I tried the rotary on previous cars and ended up with some plastic "burns"...it doesn't take but a couple of seconds to generate heat with a rotary and cutting pad. Heck, even the Festool could do the same thing, but it would take a lot longer because it isn't a true rotary.

Typically, I use the Festool and light compound (Optimum) or Meg's #83 in both random orbit and rotary modes. By switching, the plastic doesn't get hot and create damage. Also, the pads and the unit itself is smaller allowing me to work in compound curve areas.

Toto

[Truls]

Man that is one swirly bimmer, and that bimmer is one lucky german that got to the place you work.

You should get your name in BMW hall of fame Toto, you are truly a great detailer.