2017 BMW 330i - Mineral Gray

[gofast182]

Today I detailed the car of a friend from work. Every day when I would walk by it in the parking lot (before we were made to work from home) I would notice the buildup of swirls and micro scratches on the hood and dirty wheels. It couldn't be saved with anything but a deep clean and paint correction. With my arsenal of products full from doing my M340i and with a lot of time on my hands, I had him drop the car off today. I didn't go too crazy because I wanted to get done in one day but I was able to give it a good cleaning, decon, and do a one-step correction with CarPro Essence topped with Reload. Non-traditional LSP with Reload, I know, but it came in my CQ UK 3.0 kit, I used Gliss instead so it was kicking around, and I figured it would boost Essence which I wanted to get more experience with. My main goal was to eliminate most of the micro scratches and swirls and while it's far from perfect, I accomplished almost exactly what I set out to do.

MAIN STEPS AND PRODUCTS USED: (I won't list everything like the other thread, just the key items)
Clean engine bay
P21s Total Auto Wash
Adams In & Out Spray

Clean wheels
Sonax Full Effect Wheel Cleaner
Tuff Shine Tire Cleaner

Clean jambs
P21s Total Auto Wash

Foam bath
Meg's D111 mixed with CarPro Multi-X

Contact wash
Meg's D111

Iron decon.
CarPro Iron-X

Clay
Pinnacle Poly Clay

Correction/Polish (1 step)
CarPro Essence
UroFiber Pad (two thumbs up)

'LSP'
CarPro Reload


PHOTOS: (I'll sequence the before and afters where appropriate)

MICRO SCRATCHES. It was hard to get a shot that really showed the level of scratching with the angle of the sun but it was much worse than shown here. I confirmed the entire car, wheels included, was being washed with one mitt.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49763057492_4af311219b_h.jpg

ENGINE BAY BEFORE AND AFTER (glass not done in these pics)
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https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49762724881_0151c5fb78_h.jpg

TRUNK JAMB BEFORE AND AFTER (glass not done in these pics)
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49762726056_afede29643_h.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49762972762_c8a6a346a5_h.jpg

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https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49762642141_3ad069d28c_h.jpg

WHEELS BEFORE AND AFTER. I'd say this is my one disappointment. There was some staining I could not get off, at least not without wheel removal and that was not in the cards for today.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49762198448_19d4506627_h.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49762197548_a4efc79bc7_h.jpg

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FOAM BATH!
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49762196808_cd09a15b80_h.jpg

DETAILING IS IN THE DETAILS...
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IRON DECON.
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https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49763053467_e27d5da73c_h.jpg

CLAY. One of the telling things on how many bonded contaminants there were is normally I only expect to see dirt on the leading edge of the clay, here the trailing edge is also picking up dirt.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49762645071_c994462d72_h.jpg

SCRATCH ON FRONT BUMPER (again I didn't go crazy)
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49762114783_71494189f0_h.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49762614036_4aa92d77c3_h.jpg

B-PILLAR TRIM BEFORE AND AFTER
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https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49762641696_902fe27a07_h.jpg

OXIDATION ON METAL DOOR TRIM BEFORE AND AFTER
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https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49762642836_4b09ed6c69_h.jpg

FINAL SHOTS!
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49762971362_8c43728174_h.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49762113138_0784b27a59_h.jpg

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[ducksfan]

Nice job and quite appropriate use of effort for the way the car is used.

I really like seeing the P21s TAW. A great cleaner that you can trust on most exterior surfaces.

[SNP209]

Great work man, really brought out the clarity in that paint and the car is much more presentable overall.

How many Uro-Fiber pads did you end up using overall?

[spazzz]

Excellent work
You nailed it.
A little research and the proper products go a long way. No doubt you have the skill set to match.

Maybe you should score one of those big bottles of CQuartz Lite to keep on hand when everyone else starts asking.

[Sizzle Chest]

Well done! Good write up and pictures too! Your co-worker should be extremely happy with his BMW now!

[gofast182]

Nice job and quite appropriate use of effort for the way the car is used.

I really like seeing the P21s TAW. A great cleaner that you can trust on most exterior surfaces.

Thank you.

Yes TAW is great. I don't love the cost but if I have something really dirty I know TAW will get it clean and I can let it dwell without damaging the clear while I finish something else.

[gofast182]

Great work man, really brought out the clarity in that paint and the car is much more presentable overall.

How many Uro-Fiber pads did you end up using overall?

Thank you!

I just used one for this job, cleaning it after every panel. Cleaning is tricky, at least for me using a Chemical Guys pad brush. While it's brilliant on foam pads it can remove fibers from the Uro-Fiber pad if you're not gentle.

[gofast182]

Excellent work
You nailed it.
A little research and the proper products go a long way. No doubt you have the skill set to match.

Maybe you should score one of those big bottles of CQuartz Lite to keep on hand when everyone else starts asking.

Thanks!

I'm thinking of trying CQ Lite on the X5. I've been holding off on recoating it because we're having an issue with the PPF on the front end and going back and forth with the installer.

[gofast182]

Well done! Good write up and pictures too! Your co-worker should be extremely happy with his BMW now!

Thanks! Good feedback from you is highly valued.

[maximusppl]

Great work and looks awesome. How long did it take you to do from start to finish?

[gofast182]

Started at 10:30A finished at 4:00P including 15-20m for lunch. Figure 5h 15m give or take a few minutes?

[maximusppl]

Thanks. I am assuming about 45-60 mins for the wash and decontamination, and 4hrs for the 1step polish (including cleaning pads in between).

[gofast182]

Thanks. I am assuming about 45-60 mins for the wash and decontamination, and 4hrs for the 1step polish (including cleaning pads in between).

Maybe a little more for the wash/decon and a little less for the polish.

[maximusppl]

Looks great either way! Really brings out the sparkle. I do have a new uro-fiber 50/50 pad and haven't used it yet. Are you now hesitant to use it because of how hard it is to clean on the fly?

[gofast182]

Not really, I just know that it may have less life than a foam pad as fibers are removed. Replacement cost is higher but this pad alone has the ability to reduce the number of steps a car may need so it can save time.