Alpine White BMW M3 - Detailed by Lawrence

[lawrenceSA]

I just want to preface this write up by putting into context the way in which it is written. I just put it together for the the local VW club I belong to, where I post all my work and spend a fair amount of time trying to educate the members, a lot of whom are still where we were before we turned into what we are today, so it has a bit of an educational slant on it..... not that I profess to be a subject matter expert, but am only trying to put the 'each one teach one' philosophy...

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So first things first.... the car was dropped off on Friday night and locked in the garage. Saturday morning I went out and started the car....

:grin: :grin: :grin:

Cold start is too lovely :hurray:

Back to the detail.

So one of the first things I noticed was this on the bonnet



Further inspection revealed that it was from the improper removal of a bird dropping.

Obviously you want to get it off your paint as soon as possible - it is advisable to carry a 'kit' in the boot for such an 'emergency' - due to the acidic nature of the droppings (uric acid) it can very quickly etch into the paint, leaving behind a 'crater' in the paint, in the shape of the dropping, like it did here (this pic was taken after washing and decontaminating)



The rest of the scratches you see are from the manner in which this dropping was removed. It has been 'rubbed' off....grinding the bits of sand and stuff that gets into the bird's mouth, and therefore ultimately into the dropping after it has been swallowed, over and into the paint.

A much better solution is to place a dedicated MF Towel around the dropping to act as a 'bund'. Spray the bird dropping heavily with something like a quick detailer (maybe mixed with a bit of pre-wash?) and allow the dropping to soften. You may have to spray the area more than once. Then use the MF towel, moving from the outside in toward the dropping (thereby not spreading it out any further) and LIFT the dropping off the paint.

Reapply your LSP to the affected area. :thumbup:

There was another bird dropping etching on the passenger side front wheel arch.

Some really hectic scratches on the roof



Another view



Then there was evidence of some re-spray work. Sanding marks in the paint.



And some nasty buffer trails, and obviously swirls galore.





It had typical 'dirt' on the car - it is this dirt you want to remove from the paint before making contact, through initial rinsing and 'pre-wash' methods such as citrus pre-soaks, foam gun/cannon applications and HP rinsing.



Then there is the real 'baked in' dirt that has had months/years to to attach itself to the paint - typically in all the harder to reach places that are ignored during your Sunday wash.















These areas take a lot of effort and time to restore and it really is, in my opinion, what 'detailing' is all about. :grin:

The exhaust tips were calling out for some love



As was the engine bay





So as always the Arches, Tires and Wheels were tackled first.





Process and products:
-HP rinse arches, tires and wheels.
-Clean arches with a prototype APC, which even in its developmental stages, creates a long lasting better dwelling foam that rinses away easier, and cleans better, than my current go-to APC, using a Mothers Fenderwell Brush
-HP rinse
-Clean tires with Meguiars All Wheel and Tire Cleaner and a Mothers Tire brush. I again tested the prototype APC as a tire cleaner and although it didn't perform as well at 1:10, it lifted considerably more dirt and browning than the Cyclo APC, and I am sure at a more concentrated dilution it will be much closer to the Megs All Wheel and Tire Cleaner.
-HP rinse
-Repeat tire cleaning
-HP rinse
-Wash wheels and brake calipers with VP Bilberry Wheel Cleaner @ 1:6, Daytona and Daytona Jnr brushes and Valet Pro Boars Hair Brushes
-HP rinse
-Dry
-Remove tar using Autoglym Intensive Tar Remover
-Spray with APC and HP Rinse
-Dry
-Remove bonded and embedded ferrous contaminants on wheels and brake calipers with Valet Pro Dragon's Breath Daytona and Daytona Jnr brushes and Valet Pro Boars Hair Brushes
-HP Rinse + flood rinse
-The faces of the wheels were then polished using a MF Applicator pad and Mothers Power Metal
-Later the tires would be dressed with Optimum Optibond and the rest of the wheels sealed with Menzerna Powerlock and the arches dressed using Shield Sheen



Engine bay

Process and products:
-HP rinse loose dirt off
-Clean with APC and various brushes
-Clean/Polish/Protect (AIO) using AF Tripple by hand, and using the Shield DA with 4" LC White pads
-Plastics dressed with Shield Sheen

Before



After





Door shuts / Fuel Flap / Boot shut

Process and products:
-HP rinse
-Cleaned using APC and various brushes
-HP rinsed
-Clayed
-Clean/Polish/Protect (AIO) using AF Tripple



Then it was on to the Exhaust Tips

Process and products:
-Cleaned using APC and various brushes
-Polished and protected using Mothers Power Metal

Wash

Process and products:
-HP rinse
-Applied Valet Pro Citrus Pre-wash via a spray bottle, left to dwell
-HP rinse
-Applied Valet Pro ANSF via a MTM Hydro, left to dwell
-HP rinse
-2BM wash using lambswool wash mitts and prototype shampoo. It had decent lubricity and suds, which 'lasted' a fair while and rinsed off easily. Smell was not taken into account as the final product will be different. Dilution was 5ml to a 5l bucket filled 3/4 and cleaning was good.
-HP rinse
-Flood Rinse
-Dried using ONR and WW drying towels

Decontamination

Process and products:
-Tar removed using Autoglym Intensive Tar Remover
-Iron removed using Valet Pro Dragon's Breath
-Remaining contamination (and there was a lot of it as the car parks outside all the time) was clayed off using Shield Heavy Duty clay with ONR as lube.

Paint correction

After taking multiple paint thickness readings (avg 200µ on the repainted sections / avg 135µ on the OEM paint) it was time for a few test spots to dial in an appropriate level of correction and gloss enhancement. I settled on the Flex 3401, Menzerna PF2500 and 5.5" Tangerine Lake Country Hydrotech pads, for a 1-step polish. It was only the deeper RIDS that remained.





This process also completely took the etching on the passenger side front wheel arch, and cleaned up most of the damage in this section, leaving only the deep RIDS behind.

Before



After



However going back to the nasty scratches on the bonnet, a bit more paint removal was required. The bulk of the deeper scratches could be felt with my fingernail and so I was simply trying to make the area less visible, not make it perfect, as this was on the much thinner OEM paint.



Process and products:
-Wet-sanded using 3000 grit sandpaper
-Polished using Shield DA, Menzerna PF2500, 4" Orange Lake Country pad

This is what remained



The rest of the car was then polished and pulled out to check in the sun.





Protection

Process and products:
-Menzerna Powerlock applied with a Shield DA and 4" Grey Lake Country pads

Interior

Process and products:
-Vacuumed
-Seats cleaned with APC then protected with Collinte 855
-Plastics and dash cleaned with APC then dressed with Autofinesse Spritz













And after





Glass

Process and products:
-Glossworx Glass Cleaner

Door rubbers, window rubbers, exterior plastic trim

Process and products:
- Cleaned using Shield Heavy Duty Vinyl and Rubber Cleaner
- Protected using Aerospace 303.

[lawrenceSA]

And finally after 28 hours this was the end result.

























As always, thanks for looking, and any comments or questions are welcomed.

[Sicoupe]

Outstanding work Lawrence! Great write up as always my friend

[FrankS]

Very nice work and write-up!

[jamesboyy]

Superior work on that Alpine White beauty

[Tato]

Not only an Superb Work but a detailing lesson, for sure.

Thanks a lot for sharing.

Kind Regards.

[Moldavite]

Fantastic work Sir

[lawrenceSA]

Outstanding work Lawrence! Great write up as always my friend

Thanks Kyle

Very nice work and write-up!

Thank you Frank

Superior work on that Alpine White beauty

Thanks you

Not only an Superb Work but a detailing lesson, for sure.

Thanks a lot for sharing.

Kind Regards.

Thank you Rafael

Fantastic work Sir

Thank you

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Incredible work Lawrence! You really did a number on that paint bringing it back to glory. Beautiful job on the bird etching. Turned out really well within a safe manner.

Always enjoy reading over your work.

Thanks for sharing.

[lawrenceSA]

Incredible work Lawrence! You really did a number on that paint bringing it back to glory. Beautiful job on the bird etching. Turned out really well within a safe manner.

Always enjoy reading over your work.

Thanks for sharing.

Thank you so much Mike - means a lot coming from a well respected member of the detailing community like yourself