07 bmw x5 paint correction/winterizing

[sadler]

cant get my photos to upload to site.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/shanes_gli/sets/72157647578137107/


After 3 1/2 days working from 8am-1am , i am finally done
winterizing/ detailing/paint correction on the bmw. I removed
about 85-90% of scratches in the paint and the rest does not look
the way i want too since this car has been hit so many times and
had several body panels resprayed bad. Would have been done
sooner but my pads did not have enough cutting power due to the
hard clear coat. Paint does not pop like i want it too, but again its
silver.Pictures go from dirty, washed, corrected. The wheels still
have some baked on brake dust in the corners and lug nuts do to
neglect. I unleashed 2 bottles of sonax on them and took all
morning to get them this way.I spent about 5 hours on the wheels
themselves that the finish was starting to come off in the corners,
but its ok since this is a personal car. Also for anyone that is going
to detail a x5 or any bmw in the future, do not use painters tape
on the plastic trim. Yes its plastic, but bmw thought it would be a
great idea to paint the plastic black so when you go to pull the
tape off the paint comes with it. After this job we might go to
trade it in after i clean the interior to try and get top dollar. I know i don't have great photos and will try and get more, but was so tired after.

steps with flex high speed dual action polisher.
before hand/ headlight restoration.
1. wash wheels 5 hours/yup that bad
2.wash/strip paint with dawn dish soap
3. wolfgang uber compound/orange pad
4. wolfgang total swirl remover/ orange pad
5. wolfgang finishing glaze/ white pad
6. klasse paint sealant 12 hour cure time
7. wolfgang fuzion wax /2 coats

[jamesboyy]

Superior job well done on that BMW paintwork, some may say it's early though from how cold it's getting already you made a smart move..keep up the great work

[sadler]

yea its getting cold fast, also i had to park my mustang(my baby) for a few nights at a friends house so i can have space to detail the bmw. I refuse to park the stang on the street at my house due to idiots not knowing how to park and hit the bumpers. The c class is still in the shop being fixed since i was side swiped, so i made the bmw my practice run. I might take the stang on a road trip to northern michigan next month. With all the bugs on windshield and bumpers, it might give me a reason to detail the stang before its put away. Then i won't have to do in spring since it does not see snow.

[jamesboyy]

yea its getting cold fast, also i had to park my mustang(my baby) for a few nights at a friends house so i can have space to detail the bmw. I refuse to park the stang on the street at my house due to idiots not knowing how to park and hit the bumpers. The c class is still in the shop being fixed since i was side swiped, so i made the bmw my practice run. I might take the stang on a road trip to northern michigan next month. With all the bugs on windshield and bumpers, it might give me a reason to detail the stang before its put away. Then i won't have to do in spring since it does not see snow.


Sounds like some great news, thought it's really ashamed how people don't care for others property I hope the Benzs be fixed where it never looked as if it was harmed in anyway.

[TuxedoTaurus]

Chicago is by far the worst for parallel/street parking. The curbs and bumpers of other cars are "feelers" in parking. Almost every car has scraps and/or paint transfer on bumpers, and the tires on the passenger side look like white walls. I lived there for 7 years and replaced 5 driver mirrors, 1 front bumper, and 2 rear bumpers.

Nice work on the BMW!

[sadler]

yup, i bought the stang in may and has only 3000 on it and it already has some curb rash, due to tall curbs and me not knowing how to parallel park well lol(from michigan). I dont hit peoples bumpers since i can tell if i can fit in a spot or not.

[DazzleFX]

Great job on the E70! I just picked up one couple of weeks ago. It's swirled up so a full paint correction is in order. Good to know about the trim! It is currently in a body shop right now because of a drive-by front bumper swipe while I was parked this past Tuesday. http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/09/24/334f945d84ddde4cc26756557f3e5152.jpg

[sadler]

Nice looking x5. Hope its trouble free for you. Mine is always breaking every few months because of some poor design and cheap plastic.

[WRAPT C5Z06]

Looks good. However, I would never do 3 steps on silver. ;)

[sadler]

yea, i am not doing it anymore on this car since my significant other is going to run it through a 6 dollar special car wash and ruin it. This was my first time using a DA polisher, so i needed the practice before i touch the cars i care about lol. The bmw x5 is going to be gone next year if not this year. It has been nothing but unreliable and a money pit. German cars are not built like they were pre 1995.

[DazzleFX]

Nice looking x5. Hope its trouble free for you. Mine is always breaking every few months because of some poor design and cheap plastic.


Hope to be trouble free too. It's my third BMW and I DIY almost everything myself. Already ordered a bunch of parts for preventative maintenance. I know all about the cooling system and plastics in these vehicles and I will probably overhaul the cooling system sometime before 100k miles. I have to learn more though on the N52 engine in the 2007+ X5. My previous experience is with the very reliable predecessor M54 engine. My friend who is a BMW tech at a dealership says the 3.0si don't have a history of major issues but the 4.8is are in the shop more frequently.

Once I'm done with the mechanical maintenance stuff a full paint correction and possibly CQuartzUK coating is on order. Hope to have a flex hybrid combo system by then too to tackle the hard paint if I run into it.

[sadler]

yea, the paint was dull from swirls and the orange pad was not cutting it. Took me a whole day to compound using a lot of pressure and using super slow passes to the point my flex got hot and melted my 6.5 backing plate where it bolts and broke. The wolfgang swirl remover got rid of the scratches the uber compound did not, and the the finishing glaze gave the clear coat more richness in color and clarity. lol not that silver can be rich in color but you will see what i mean explicitly on your color x5, which is somewhat the same color as my c class and it made the test spot i did sparkle.

[99monguse]

I work at a Mercedes dealership and went to the launch training of the new C-Class and GLA in Columbus, Ohio. There were BMWs there at the event, BMW X1 and 328i...they couldn't handle a candle to our models, huge difference in fit, finish and materials!

[sadler]

oh i know. the new benz line makes bmw interior look like it from 2000. Bmw has stuck with the same design for way too long, but a new c class loaded is like 50k with a 4cyl turbo. Thats crazy many for a c class. I wish they would make the w124 again so i could buy new lol. I had a 1992 400e and was fantastic example of german engineering, now cars are stuff with unreliable technology. Makes me miss my 2004 wrangler, manual everything and never died with over 200k on the clock.

[sadler]

I wonder what one would charge someone for a detail job like this?