1995 BMW 540 and M5. Both 6 speeds and regularly tracked! The owner of the M5 called me out a while back to look over his M5 and his Dad's 540. The M5 wasn't too bad, but the 540 was frightening! It had been hit in the back and the paint on the trunk lid looks like the final coat of clear was misted on, there were defects under the paint (like sanding marks) and the body shop flat tore up the rear quarter panels when they buffed the car.The whole thing was covered in buffer trails but it looks like they use a steel wool pad to buff the rear quarters. Pig tails, deep sanding marks, etc.
The goal this time was to bring the finish back on both cars within reason. These are tracked cars, not show cars. Plus its possible they will have the back end of the 540 redone anyway. If not, wet sanding it might be in the future.
I didn't take a whole bunch of pictures during the compounding and polishing, had one day to get it done and I knew the 540 would take time. First time in a while I'm actually a bit sore from polishing. My traps are aching right now!
Before:
Compounded x 1
Half 'n half shots
Compounded and polished:
Sun popped out for about 60 seconds...
I started off with the new version of 3D HD Cut using a Meguiars 5" MF cutting pad, doesn't weld itself to the paint anymore! There was hazing on the doors though, so I switched to #105 to see if that helped. Same thing but a little faster cutting. I then switched to a 6" Optimum microfiber cutting pa pad and that really cut down on the hazing without affecting the cut. Just one of those days that I had to play around with combinations until one worked.
Full process:
ONR wash, Optimum Opti-Raser mild to clay
Meguiars #105 using an Optimum microfiber cutting pad and my PC 7424 XP
3D HD Polish and an Optimum microfiber polishing pad and PC
3D HD speed using an Optimum blue foam finishing pad and PC
Clearkote Carnauba Moose Wax
ONR wash and wax diluted 32:1 to clean glass
Armor All on tires/fenderwells
The M5 was in better shape, swirl-wise. It does have some bird etching across the top of the car, most of it was already there when he imported it, some was from living in the Cincinnati area and not having a garage to put it in for a few months. Plus its going in the shop to get the lower part of the doors (under the side molding) to take care of all the chips from autobahn use.
Before (hard to pick the swirls up)
Compounded:
Before (it had light swirls, I swear!)
Compound and Polish:
Full Process:
ONR wash, Optimum Opti-Raser mild to clay
Meguiars #105 using an Optimum microfiber cutting pad and my PC 7424 XP
Optimum Hyper Polish and an Optimum microfiber cutting pad and PC
Optimum Opti-Seal to protect
ONR wash and wax diluted 32:1 to clean glass
Armor All on tires/fenderwells
The goal this time was to bring the finish back on both cars within reason. These are tracked cars, not show cars. Plus its possible they will have the back end of the 540 redone anyway. If not, wet sanding it might be in the future.
I didn't take a whole bunch of pictures during the compounding and polishing, had one day to get it done and I knew the 540 would take time. First time in a while I'm actually a bit sore from polishing. My traps are aching right now!
Before:
Compounded x 1
Half 'n half shots
Compounded and polished:
Sun popped out for about 60 seconds...
I started off with the new version of 3D HD Cut using a Meguiars 5" MF cutting pad, doesn't weld itself to the paint anymore! There was hazing on the doors though, so I switched to #105 to see if that helped. Same thing but a little faster cutting. I then switched to a 6" Optimum microfiber cutting pa pad and that really cut down on the hazing without affecting the cut. Just one of those days that I had to play around with combinations until one worked.
Full process:
ONR wash, Optimum Opti-Raser mild to clay
Meguiars #105 using an Optimum microfiber cutting pad and my PC 7424 XP
3D HD Polish and an Optimum microfiber polishing pad and PC
3D HD speed using an Optimum blue foam finishing pad and PC
Clearkote Carnauba Moose Wax
ONR wash and wax diluted 32:1 to clean glass
Armor All on tires/fenderwells
The M5 was in better shape, swirl-wise. It does have some bird etching across the top of the car, most of it was already there when he imported it, some was from living in the Cincinnati area and not having a garage to put it in for a few months. Plus its going in the shop to get the lower part of the doors (under the side molding) to take care of all the chips from autobahn use.
Before (hard to pick the swirls up)
Compounded:
Before (it had light swirls, I swear!)
Compound and Polish:
Full Process:
ONR wash, Optimum Opti-Raser mild to clay
Meguiars #105 using an Optimum microfiber cutting pad and my PC 7424 XP
Optimum Hyper Polish and an Optimum microfiber cutting pad and PC
Optimum Opti-Seal to protect
ONR wash and wax diluted 32:1 to clean glass
Armor All on tires/fenderwells
