Titanium Silver BMW X3 - Detailed (again) by Lawrence

**lawrenceSA** · 01-05-2016, 02:31 AM

I originally detailed this car toward the end of September. The full write up is here --> Titanium Silver BMW X3 - Detailed by Lawrence

Then near the beginning of November the car was involved in an accident (front and rear end) necessitating a trip to the body shop. Once they had finished I was then given the car to get it back into the shape it was in prior to the accident.

I started with the engine bay so that any dirt, water or cleaning products that might find their way onto the paint during the engine detailing process would be cleaned whilst washing the car - you don't want to work backwards by cleaning the same area twice, which is not only a waste of your time and product, but also increases the possibility of swirls. It was obviously a lot cleaner this time around than the first time I detailed it

But still needed a light cleaning and re-dressing.

The loose dust was blown off and then everything was wiped clean using Carchem APC and MF towels, followed by a wipe down with a damp MF towel to grab any remaining residue. The painted parts were cleaned/polished/protected by hand using Autofinesse Tripple on a MF Applicator which was left to cure before being buffed with a clean MF towel. I then dressed the plastics/rubbers with Autofinesse Dressel. Unfortunately I forgot to take after pics :fear:

I then turned my attention to the wheels. When I detailed the car the first time, they had just been repainted and so were only given a gentle shampoo cleaning and were not decontaminated or protected whilst the paint cured.

So this time around they received a more thorough detail.

Before

- HP rinse arches, tires and wheels to remove any loose dirt, debris, brake dust etc
-Spray arches with a Carchem APC at 1:5 through a foaming trigger head, allow to dwell, then scrub using a Mothers Fenderwell Brush and Speedmaster
- HP rinse
- Clean tires with Valet Pro Billbery Wheel Cleaner @ 1:6 and a Mothers Tire brush.
- HP rinse
- Repeat tire cleaning
- HP rinse
-Wash wheels and brake calipers with VP Bilberry Wheel Cleaner @ 1:6, Speedmaster and Speedmaster Jnr brushes and Valet Pro Boars Hair Brushes
- HP rinse
- Quick Dry with WW drying towel
-Remove tar using Valet Pro Citrus Tar Remover
-Spray with APC, let it dwell a bit, then HP Rinse to remove any remaining tar remover residue
-Quick Dry with WW drying towel
-Remove bonded and embedded ferrous contaminants on wheels and brake calipers with Carchem Revolt, Speedmaster (big and small) brushes and Valet Pro Boars Hair Brushes
- HP Rinse + flood rinse
-Spray Gyeon Wetcoat onto the wheel, let it sit for a few seconds, then blast with a HP washer

After

I then dressed the tires with 2 coats of Optimum Tire Shine.

I then turned my attention to getting the car itself cleaned.

First a thorough HP rinse to try remove as much dirt as you can before making contact with the paint, minimizing how much could potentially be dragged over the paint...and thereby reducing the potential for swirls.

I then then foamed it using Valet Pro Advanced Neutral Snow Foam which was left to dwell then HP rinsed off. While the foam was on the car, all the badges, honeycomb, door handles, window rubbers etc were all agitated with a Valet Pro Boars Hair Brush (the door and boot shuts were still relatively clean and so were simply wiped down with a wash mitt during the washing of the car).

Then Valet Pro Citrus Prewash was sprayed onto the lower half of the car (excluding the wheels), left to dwell and HP rinsed off. The car was then given a 2BM wash using lambswool wash mitts and Carchem Luxury Shampoo. Then HP rinsed, flood rinsed and dried using a couple of waffle weave drying towels and some ONR at QD strength.

Shield Heavy Duty Clay was then used to remove any contaminants from the paint (very minimal) in preparation for paint correction. I then took paint readings which were fortunately all ok and set about inspecting the paint, conducting test spots and dialling in a process.

In terms of the actual body shop work, on the very front tip of the driver's side front fender there was a blemish in the base coat which was not rectified before being clear coated, and I found some evidence of their sanding work (albeit confined to a relatively small area on the hood) which was not removed before the handed the car back to the owner.

These were hit with Menzerna FG400 / Lake Country Hybrid Wool / Flex 3401 and although still ever so slightly visible *when you really tried to look for them*, I decided not to chase perfection (paint readings were around 105µ and I know the owner is in no hurry to get rid of this car, so longevity is critical)

And then of course, evidence of their polishing work (buffer trails / holograms) which, despite instructions from the owner NOT to polish any of the panels they didn't touch (i.e. the ones that despite the accident were still in pristine condition post detail), were still present on EVERY panel

Not the best pic, but all I managed.

I then polished out the car using Menzerna PP Ultra on White Lake Country Hybrids and the Flex 3401

The exhaust tip was cleaned using Carchem APC @ 1:5 and then polished using Meguiars NXT All Metal Polish, MF towels and a Mothers Powerball Mini

Before

After

Interior

-Blow out loose dust
-Vacuum
-Autofinesse Spritz on plastics
-Collinite 855 to clean and protect leather
-Brush carpets
-Vacuum
-Clean glass use Autoglym Fast Glass
-Door rubbers cleaned with Shield Heavy Duty Vinyl and rubber cleaner
-Door rubbers dressed with Aerospace 303

Glass
- Clayed using Shield Heavy Duty clay with ONR as lube
- Cleaned using Autoglym Fast Glass

Door rubbers, window rubbers, exterior plastic trim
- Cleaned using Shield Heavy Duty Vinyl and Rubber Cleaner
- Protected using Aerospace 303

A few quick 'after' pics I managed to take...

Cell shots