Wet Sanding BMW 745 Repaint

[Totoland Mach]

Quick story behind this car. An elderly doctor bought the car in that he purchased from a "reputable" dealer 3 years ago and wanted to trade it in on a newer pre-owned Bimmer. My dealer noticed the passenger side looked funny, so out came the paint guage and .... u-guessed-it: it had been repainted. Lots of orange peel and work ahead.

Up on the trusty lift and break out the 2000 grit wet paper and soapy water. Followed that with a wool pad and 3M Extra Cut, then a foam cutting pad and Optimum. Tomorrow, I'll polish, glaze and Ultrafina SE the car.

Thought you AutoGeeker's would like to see wet sanding results.

Before I started (used ONR to do a wipe down on the car)



Closeup of the orange peel and lack of gloss





Door shot of beginning. It was probably a "passable" paint for another car, but unacceptable for this shop.



Shot of one door Wet Sanded and the other was compounded with wool.



Better comparison shot of wet sanded and compounded



One door with wool pad traces and the other door compounded with the foam pad.



I'll post some after polishing/glazing shots tomorrow night.

Toto

[supercharged]

That's some awesome work you are doing out there, Toto! Somebody repainted a car and didn't even do a good job, huh?

[Jimmie]

Awesome again Toto. That wet sanded paint is scarey to look at for an inexperienced guy like me. Maybe someday.

[AUdakota]

I agree the thought of wet sanding scares me to death.

[Gary Sword]

I'm sure it will turn out great Toto. It looks like those wheel well also need a litte cleaning.

[Totoland Mach]

Thanks folks:

The paint job apparently was "passable" as the doctor didn't even realize that side had been repainted. In the first picture, you can see that it's ok from a distance.

Gary: the wheels come off today and go to a re-finisher (sanding and painting), so we didn't even bother to clean them.

I'll have some better shots tonight. Wet Sanding isn't too bad. I keep a spray bottle next to me and keep the area wet, plus I check my in-process work frequently. The goal was to remove the orange peel, then use wool and compound to bring the finish back.

Toto

[paivag]

Would be great to see a video of the wet sanding and steel wool process. Any specifics on the type of 2000 grit sandpaper and the steel wool that is used?

[Totoland Mach]

Originally Posted by paivag

Would be great to see a video of the wet sanding and steel wool process. Any specifics on the type of 2000 grit sandpaper and the steel wool that is used?

NO STEEL WOOL! I use a Meguiar's wool pad on the rotary!

The wet sanding paper is 3M, but Meguiar's makes a good product as well. The key is to keep the paper and the area you are working on wet and frequently clean the sand paper so it doesn't load up with clear coat paint.

Toto

[Nica]

Cool, very nice Toto...I like the pictures. Question for you though, if you wet sand with 2000 grit paper why would you use a wool pad? Why not just go over it with a foam pad and an agresive polish? Actually I understand the wool pad becuase it does level it all out but could you please explain on this. Looking forward to the rest Toto, you do great work and I've learned lots from you my friend. Wet sanding is wicked, you just have to be carefull.

Steel wool on paint? No way...never...maybe if your trying to remove the paint completely and bringing it down to the bare steel.

[Totoland Mach]

Nica: I use the wool + compound to remove the sanding marks and get a uniform appearance. The key to wool is keeping the pad clean with a spur and only using a small amount of compound.

The follow up with a foam pad and light compound is really to remove any light scratches the wool missed.

I watched a very experienced body shop person use wool so well that you could almost go to a last step product...he was that good! I learned a ton from him and it's paying off in the nice finish that I'm starting to get with wool.

Toto