2004 BMW 325i - TLC Auto Detail

Flannigan

New member
Today we are working on a 2004 BMW 325i Sedan. The car was actually in failry good shape, and just needed some work to get it looking as good as possible. We opted for a one step correction, since this is a daily driver, and the color hides minor defects very well. So well that i actually wasn't able to catch any of them well enough on camera to post them here. They were there, just hard to catch on film. Here is the process and products that were used.

Engine Bay
Cleaned with Power Clean 3:1 and various brushes
Dried with Metro Vac
Dressed with Autoglym Vinyl and Rubber Dressing

Wheels, Tires, and Wheel Wells
Wheels removed from vehicle and cleaned with Sonax Full Effect Wheel Cleaner
Tires cleaned with Optimum Power Clean 3:1
Wheels wells cleaned with Optimum Power Clean 3:1
Wheels sealed with Duraglos Beta Nano Polish
Tires dressed with DP Tire Gel 1:1
Wheel wells dressed with Adams Undercarriage spray

Wash and Decon Stage
Car foamed with Duragloss 901 with OPC mixed in to strip LSP and loose debris
Car washed via 2BM with Ultima Shampoo
Iron X applied to entire vehicle, agitated, then rinsed clean
Vehicle clayed with Ricardo Yellow clay with Dodo Juice BTBS as lube

Correction
Menzerna Power Finish on Yellow Buff and Shine pad via PCXP

Protection
Duragloss Beta Nano Polish applied with black Buff and Shine pad via PCXP

Interior
Door cards, dash and other plastic trim cleaned with DP Interior Cleaner
Leather Cleaned with Optimum Power Clean 5:1
Carpet vacuumed and spot cleaned with Folex
Plastic and vinyl dressed with DP Interior Dressing
Leather dressed with Prima Nourish
Wood grain trim polished and protected with Swissvax Wood Wax
Vents and various buttons/trim dressed with Adams In and Out Spray

Odds and Ends
Exterior glass polished with DG Nu Glass on Orange Buff and Shine pad via PCXP
Glass cleaned with Meguiars Glass Cleaner
Exhaust tips polished and protected with Collinite Metal wax and 0000 steel wool

On to the pics!

Engine bay before
enginebefore.jpg


Engine bay after
engineafter.jpg


Wheels before. Nothing crazy, but there was some baked on stuff that was a bear to get off
wheelbefore.jpg


Wheels after
wheelafter.jpg


Exhaust after (sorry, forgot to get a before pic.)
exhaust.jpg


Like I said before, there was just no way that I could really capture the defects with my camera. So here are some random reflection shots.
reflection001.jpg


reflection003.jpg


reflection002.jpg


reflection004.jpg


reflection005.jpg


reflection006.jpg


reflection007.jpg


Here is a look at the grille. Each side was removed, and disassembled to facilitate a thorough polishing to remove most defects and all water spots.
grilleafter.jpg


Here is a picture of the interior completed. It wasn't in terrible shape to begin with so before pictures were really needed. Also please keep in mind that the rubber floor mats are clean, just severely faded from years of use.
interior001.jpg


And here are some shots of the car all finished.
after003.jpg


after002.jpg


after001.jpg


after005.jpg


after004.jpg


That about wraps it up. I really enjoyed working on this vehicle, and look forward to your comments. Thanks!

Disclaimer: A few pictures (engine bay after, wheel after, and one after) were edited due to being severely over exposed, due to me being a moron. Nothing was edited to make the car look better or hide anything.
 
That looks great Dave! I can't believe how wet it looks from every angle. I guess you're liking that beta polish?
 
That looks great Dave! I can't believe how wet it looks from every angle. I guess you're liking that beta polish?
Thanks Mike! I am enjoying the final look that the beta polish is giving. I'm working on a review, but I'm waiting to get another batch to compare it to. I was getting a little bit of streaking, which isn't normal from what I was hearing from others (except one person). You can expect a full review after I get my grubbing hands on another sample.
Looks great Dave. As always great work buddy!
Thanks Doc! Also thanks for all the helpful texts! :bigups
 
i had looked in to 3 series for a purchase but ended up gettin an Rx300..but nonetheless, i really like the way it turned out
 
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