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      08-19-2008, 05:57 AM   #1
Concours Finish
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Concours Finish Detailed: 2008 M3 Convertible Jerez Black Metallic

I had the great pleasure of detailing this beautiful car. It was bought in July so it was only around a month old and had some swirling from improper washing techniques and holograms courtesy of the dealership.

Wash
P21s Total Auto Wash
Foam Cannon Pre-Wash with Chemical Guys Citrus Wash & Gloss
2 Bucket wash with CG CWG
Genuine Lambswool Wash Mitt
Waffle Weave Drying Towels

Wheels/Wells/Tires

P21s Gel Wheel Cleaner
Meguiars APC+

Clay

CG Gray Clay

Paint Correction
Menzerna Super Intensive Polish P083rd on LC Orange @ 1200-1500 rpm
Menzerna Po106ff on LC White @ 900-1200 rpm


Interior

Prima Nero
Prima Nourish Leather Conditioner

Trim
Black Wow
303 Aerospace Protectant
Meguiars Hyperdressing Tire Dressing

LSP
Zaino Z5 Pro /w ZFX Accelerator x 2
Zaino Z8 Grand Finale - Final Wipedown

Equipment
Karcher 1850 psi Electric Pressure Washer
Makita 9227C
Cam Spray Foam Cannon
Rigid 5.5 hp Shop Vac
Grit Guards for Wash Buckets


Foam Cannon Pre-Wash



3 bucket wash - tires, soap, and rinse bucket with grit guards


Pressure Washing Wheels


P21s Gel Wheel Cleaner left to dwell


Paint Condition Before




Prepped for polishing


Trunk Lid 50/50. Notice the color difference


50/50 close up. Right side is polished side.


Before


After 1st polishing step. Unfortunately forgot to take photo after 2nd step.


Rear Quarter Panel 50/50. Left polished. Right not polished.


Another 50/50


Before


After


Another section of door to be polished


After polishing that section on right side


Another shot


And another shot. Notice how dull the color was before polishing on a 1 month old car.


Before


After


Hood 50/50s




My apologies for the quality of these photos. Worked late into the night and didn't have adequate lighting.




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      08-19-2008, 12:09 PM   #2
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Nice job, looks great!
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      08-19-2008, 01:26 PM   #3
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Now that's serious work!
3 questions: 1.) Is the 3M tape AT ALL damaging to the clear coat? 2.) Do you put the tape on after the clay bar step 3.) How many calories did you burn during that whole process
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      08-19-2008, 01:32 PM   #4
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well, your hard work certainly paid off...great job!
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      08-19-2008, 03:02 PM   #5
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Very nice work! Wow!

How long did that take you, start to finish?
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      08-19-2008, 06:32 PM   #6
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I am amazed at the results! I didn't know a one month old car would have that many swirls! Honestly I would have been hesitant to polish my fresh paint but the results look spectacular.
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      08-19-2008, 08:00 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M2381 View Post
Nice job, looks great!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr.AK View Post
Now that's serious work!
3 questions: 1.) Is the 3M tape AT ALL damaging to the clear coat? 2.) Do you put the tape on after the clay bar step 3.) How many calories did you burn during that whole process
1. 3m painters tape is perfectly safe on clear coat
2. yes, taping is done after wash & clay and before polishing.
3. It was definitely a workout. I've noticed my arms are alot more toned now from using my rotary buffer all the time.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Big Windy View Post
well, your hard work certainly paid off...great job!
Thanks!

Quote:
Originally Posted by GT3 Tim View Post
Very nice work! Wow!

How long did that take you, start to finish?
It took around 13 hrs over 2 days. BMW clear coat is pretty hard. I had hoped to 1-step the car with menz po106ff (fine polish) but it didn't remove all the defects so I had to step it up to menz sip p083rd (medium polish).
Quote:
Originally Posted by BCMPOWER View Post
I am amazed at the results! I didn't know a one month old car would have that many swirls! Honestly I would have been hesitant to polish my fresh paint but the results look spectacular.
Even new cars sitting in the lot are not in pristine condition because of bonded contaminants from transporting and swirls from improper washing techniques done by the dealerships.
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      08-19-2008, 09:04 PM   #8
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Concours Finish, now knowing that you have a direct drive polisher, how do you remove the polish and the wax? I am always been more old school in this and only remove it by hand with a microfiber cloth. However waxes with high concentrations of carnuba kill my arm and I am exhausted when I finish the car. Do you use a wax removing bonnet? I have never had good results with one and end up doing it by hand anyways? I use a porter cable direct drive just for polishing.
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      08-20-2008, 05:19 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BCMPOWER View Post
Concours Finish, now knowing that you have a direct drive polisher, how do you remove the polish and the wax? I am always been more old school in this and only remove it by hand with a microfiber cloth. However waxes with high concentrations of carnuba kill my arm and I am exhausted when I finish the car. Do you use a wax removing bonnet? I have never had good results with one and end up doing it by hand anyways? I use a porter cable direct drive just for polishing.
I personally like to wipe off carnauba with a mf towel. For some paint sealants I use a PC with a mf bonnet on a wool pad or yellow lc pad. Most of the time you still have to follow that up with a mf towel by hand to make sure you get all the nooks and crannies.

If you are finding wax harder to wipe off you might have applied it too thick. Most waxes and sealants work the best when applied thin. This makes wiping it off easier as well. Also, if you let the wax cure too long past the manufacturer recommendation you might have trouble wiping it off as well. A good tip is to spray QD to help remove the wax. Hope this helps
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      08-20-2008, 09:42 AM   #10
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Thanks for the tips Concours!
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      08-20-2008, 08:13 PM   #11
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What is the purpose of the Cannon high pressure pre-wash? What benefit does that have over just rinsing the car very well and going at it with p21s shampoo and a wool mitt? Also, do you have any experience with Zanio All in one product. I was gonna replace the polish step w/ Zaino AIO b/c my alpine white M3 has very minimal swirling and it is garaged kept and has OCD washed. I'm not even gonna clay bar it because i feel nothing with the plastic bag test. Just wash, dry, all in one, p21s wax. Tell me your thoughts. Thanks man!

Last edited by Mr.AK; 08-20-2008 at 08:32 PM..
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      08-20-2008, 08:24 PM   #12
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wow man
just wow
absolute props to you for doing that yourself and not professionally
it turned out absolutely magnificent. I wish I knew how to detail my M3
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      08-20-2008, 08:37 PM   #13
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Holy cow! Awesome job and great photos!
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      09-09-2008, 02:12 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr.AK View Post
What is the purpose of the Cannon high pressure pre-wash? What benefit does that have over just rinsing the car very well and going at it with p21s shampoo and a wool mitt? Also, do you have any experience with Zanio All in one product. I was gonna replace the polish step w/ Zaino AIO b/c my alpine white M3 has very minimal swirling and it is garaged kept and has OCD washed. I'm not even gonna clay bar it because i feel nothing with the plastic bag test. Just wash, dry, all in one, p21s wax. Tell me your thoughts. Thanks man!
I assume you are talking about the foam cannon. I like it for the fact that is loosens up the dirt and contaminants on the paint so they come off with less resistance when you go over the car with a wash mitt. This lessens the chance of scratching the car.

I don't have any experience with ZAIO but I have heard good things about it.
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      09-09-2008, 03:27 PM   #15
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foam canons and foam lances are only beneficial if your car has already been detailed (clayed, polished, waxed) and you wash your car often. If you wash your car every week or two and keep it in a garage, the next time you wash with foam canon you may not even have to use the old bucket and mitt. If you dont keep your car in tip top fashion foam lances are only going to remove so much of the dirt but you would have to go back to the bucket and glove to clean out areas with more dirt than other areas.
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      09-10-2008, 01:48 AM   #16
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great post. even though i have established my own routine, i am learning a lot from you guys and the techniques and products you use.

i love m3post.

btw, i haven't taken the step to get a halogen lamp to work under. can you tell me which one you got and where you got it?
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      09-10-2008, 05:21 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DC5ITR88 View Post
foam canons and foam lances are only beneficial if your car has already been detailed (clayed, polished, waxed) and you wash your car often. If you wash your car every week or two and keep it in a garage, the next time you wash with foam canon you may not even have to use the old bucket and mitt. If you dont keep your car in tip top fashion foam lances are only going to remove so much of the dirt but you would have to go back to the bucket and glove to clean out areas with more dirt than other areas.
I do agree with your statement that foam cannon/lance alone will not remove the dirt is the car is rather dirty. I like to use it everytime I wash and a pre-wash before I use the traditional 2-bucket method with mitts. In my experience, I feel it loosens up any stubborn contaminants such as pollen so it will come off easier when I go over with a mitt.

Quote:
Originally Posted by moog55 View Post
great post. even though i have established my own routine, i am learning a lot from you guys and the techniques and products you use.

i love m3post.

btw, i haven't taken the step to get a halogen lamp to work under. can you tell me which one you got and where you got it?
Halogens can be bought at any hardware store such as home depot, lowes. I got mine from sears.
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      08-31-2009, 11:57 PM   #18
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Quote:
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I am amazed at the results! I didn't know a one month old car would have that many swirls! Honestly I would have been hesitant to polish my fresh paint but the results look spectacular.
I know right. My 135 is only a day old and it has swirls and scratchs all over and I found a scratch by the door handle that is kinda bad that I didnt see at the dealer so it is too late to say they did it. My car is black so it really shows. I will be using ricky at some point in the near future since he is pretty close to me it looks like.

Also the reason why these cars look like this from the start is because the dealers allow the porters to wash them with old shitty towels and they do not pay attention to detail. The best thing would be if you ordered a car and instructed them not to wash it at all for delivery. Tell them you do not want anyone touching the car. My friend did that with his 997 turbo and took it straight to a pro detailer. I mean you spend 130k on a car and you want to make sure it comes perfect and unmolested by untrained car porters at a dealer.
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      09-01-2009, 01:59 AM   #19
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Looks like pretty decent work.
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      09-01-2009, 09:13 AM   #20
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Awesome work. I really can't stand the orange peel in the finish though.
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      09-01-2009, 12:27 PM   #21
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Nice job.
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      09-03-2009, 09:24 PM   #22
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great job! i have a jerez with paint in similar condition as your photos. how much do you guys charge for the job minus the interior detailing? please pm me.

thanks
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