Today I got called up to work on this BMW E46 M3 at AEW.
The detail is still a "work In progress" with todays job being that of getting the paintwork up to scratch with the balance of cleaning and interior work booked for Monday.
I got started with quite an aggressive cut on the paintwork using a firm pad - This removed a significant amount of scratches and heavy swirling. I also took care of some bird poo etching on the bonnet using 2000 water paper.
I equally spent a fair amount of time taping up and protecting the aged rubbers, seals and trim which on these pre 2010 cars has started becoming very brittle and sticky and quite high risk in terms of exposure to products and polishing pads.
As you can see the paintwork was not in bad shape but had a fair amount of cosmetic work completed over the years that had faded out and needed revival - There were quite a few sanding marks too and the finish was not very consistent overall so my goal was to get it back to as close to perfect in a raw state as possible to ensure that the end finish A) lasted longer B) was as good as it would ever be.
This further spurred on the need to open quite aggressively to get the paint to a point where is presented with clarity and consitency. An unfortunate side effect of an excessively hectic cut is that it does ever so slightly dull the paint and cause micro-marring. And yet, it was looking mighty fine already - Again, working with the paint presented which did offer some limitations in terms of final finishing at a paint shop level and quite sensitive / soft clearcoat in some parts but the job is to make what you have look its absolute best, and it did reward very nicely.
With the cutting work done (and the car looking like it has a cocaine addiction with the amount of dust everywhere) I got cracking on a second pass on the bodywork using Menzerna Medium Cut on a Soft Pad - An excellent product I have found leaves a gorgeously silky finish on the paint when paired to a good sealer / wax.
Thereafter I went over the car again with a fresh soft pad and some Angelwax Redemption which is a super fine polish that I find really makes silver cars "pop". After this I did slightly cheat by running a hand pass of Autoglym Super Resin Polish which does have some fillers in it - The reason being that the other compounds / polishes are all raw products and I did not want to wash the BMW on Monday with raw paint - The SRP offers a bit of sealer in it and ensures no water marks etc stay behind after the wash process.
With the paintwork corrected and the finish looking superb - We wrapped the day up, how she currently stands:
With aggressive cut details like this its a bit pointless to waste time cleaning the rest of the car (in the traditional detailing way) because you tend to end up with polish dust in every crevice and space possible - So you may notice I started with just prepped and cleaned bodywork with the wheels etc not done - Before someone asks, this is simply being efficient, I would sooner spend more time on the paintwork than washing wheels etc twice in the same time allowance.
There will be a lot more intimate detailing once the vehicle is washed - Like around the badges, inside the sill liners etc.
On Monday I will start with a deep clean of the arches and engine bay and a wash of the paintwork - Then glaze and final product - Likely to be a mix of DNA Butter Wet Wax and Angelwax to create a wet glossy finish but equally something to bring out that shadowy chrome effect the paint has. The trim, engine bay and plastics will be dressed and the exhaust tips brought back to life. Then the work on the interior starts.
Mike
not aftermarket.
such "quality" workmanship on an M3!
