06 Black BMW- When rotaries meet dirty paint (swirl city)- Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT

[PinnacleAutoCT]

This 2006 BMW 328i in solid black was brought to me over the winter by a wholesale client looking to revive the paint while staying on budget. Just an initial glance at the car under overhead fluorescent lights showed heavy washed induced marring, rotary swirls, deep scratches, waterspot etching, etc. To say this car had received years of neglect and even abuse at the hands of inexperienced detailers was an understatement, and given that this particular year and color combo in BMW paint is finicky I expected a challenge.

Before:
159 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
216 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
161 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
164 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
168 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
355 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
169 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
228 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
Etching/staining on quarter panel:
008 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
005 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
004 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
After seeing how extensive the damage was to the car I decided to go with a two step correction to remove approximately 80+ percent of the damage, keeping things within budget and leaving enough clear on the car given that the new owner might not be willing to care for it properly. This rate of correction would vastly improve the finish, removing the heavy rotary-induced damage and wash damage, while leaving behind some of the very deep RIDS (random isolated deep scratches) which would have required a more aggressive approach that wasn't warranted given the circumstances.

A test spot was taped off after a thorough wash and decontamination:
231 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
235 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr

Test spot results, achieved via:
-Rupes 21
-Opt MF cutting pads
-Lake Country black foam finishing pads
-Meguiars M101 & D300 mixed
-HD polish
290 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
307 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
309 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
311 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
314 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
Notice the rotary swirls in the unpolished side? Those were DEEP, whoever polished this car had dirt between the pad and the paint when they ground those into the finish:
318 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
317 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
316 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
After photos:

Notice how the once very visible marring is almost completely absent:
095 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
102 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
Staining/etching removed from quarter:
107 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
120 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
130 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
132 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
061 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
Wheels cleaned up nicely:
064 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
097 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr

108 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
137 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr
157 by Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT, on Flickr

Thanks for looking! Like I said, this was a wholesale client so a full correction wasn't the goal, however, the final result was drastically different from the starting point. Any comments or questions are welcomed. I also have to say that HD Polish finished out amazingly well on this color with the Rupes 21, it really was a pleasure to use. Thanks again!


Mike Donoghue

Pinnacle Auto Detail- CT

[2012SilverSport]

Amazing work!!

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Incredible turnaround! Man that paint was trashed!

Thanks for sharing.

[parttimer]

As much as I would LOVE to work on a cool supercar or something, there is just something so satisfying about restoring a beaten daily driver. Nice job!

[Tato]

Very well done!, car definitively came back to life.

Thanks for sharing your approach, and how you've dealt with this huge (IMO, at least) challenge.

Kind Regards.

[Paul A.]

Beautiful correction work, Mike. Impressive results for what you describe as budget limited!

[jamesboyy]

Excellent work refining that black paintwork, before that BMW looked as if was screaming for all the contamination

[Don M]

Dang, there WAS actually a car under all that dirt & scratches.

[Sicoupe]

Fantastic work my friend

[AutowerxDetailing]

Nice work!