acuRAS82
New member
I was able to do a full detail of my new-to-me 2015 X5 M, starting on Friday 8/9 and finishing up on Thursday 8/15. The paint is black sapphire metallic. It’s a nice mix of black look from > 10 feet away and greyish metallic when seen close.
The below thread gives some discussion about my questions and trials with the chosen Angelwax LSPs:
https://www.autopia.org/forums/car-...-ti-22-enigma-combo-opinions-experiences.html
The interior was fully detailed in the first days I purchased the car and was discussed in this thread on the sister site (AG):
https://www.autogeekonline.net/foru...or-detail.html?highlight=x5+m+interior+detail
Background/Starting point:
This car is my new baby and I tried my best to make it look new, but knowing that I’m a father of a 3 year old with a full time job. A lot of this work was done at night with me trying to manipulate lighting the best I could in my one car garage. The car was in normal condition (IMO) for a vehicle owned by a normal Earthling for 4 years. I didn’t spend a lot of time trying to capture the condition, I do apologize. Do to lighting and lack of experience and time, I was not able to get good pictures of the moderate swirls over all panels, so just trust me. There’s also a couple very small chips and scratches. The hood has numerous chip corrections most likely performed by the dealer. Most are noticeable but I suppose better than seeing down to white basecoat. There’s also bird poo etchings, some very large, on the hood and roof. These did not come out and I will live with them for now. I also had put a large dent into the top of the back door/tailgate with my garage door. I since got that fixed but it is not part of the below detail (will top n a month or two).
The car had a coating on the paint, wheels and glass when I purchased it. Windows were already done in July with PBL Coating on windshield and moonroof; Pinnacle Glasscoat sealant on side/back windows. The windows were excluded from this correction.
On to the detail details...
Decon:
Polish (paint only, not wheels):
The paint looked smooth and glossy after Essence Extreme. There was probably no correction done with it. It was applied very softly, trying for a very glossy finish. I wanted to go it this route (having used a finishing polish prior) rather than use Essence Extreme as my finishing polish which I got mediocre results doing before (poor user abilities). I allowed Essence to cure for 24+ hours.
Protection:
Final Thoughts: The paint looks great, very few swirls remain (97% correction?), and those that made it through are probably a result of working in terrible lighting on lower panels. I’m happywith the correction. Pinnacle polishes always do very well for me, so no huge surprises here.
The Angelwax LSPs were pleasant to work with. This was my first time using the brand. TI-22 by itself wasnt a show stopper but that`s not what its meant for from my understanding. Not bad, but not exciting. I would describe the Enigma look as having a glassy look, but rather than sharp tones, there is a smoothness to the car`s lines. More flowing, wavy reflections than SiO2 sprays that I`ve been using recently. I would compare to PA Rapidwaxx versus something like PA High Gloss. Definitely a soft, liquid changeup from my TSX and Q5 which currently have SiO2 spray toppers since early summer. It mutes the flakes a bit, but I`m interested if the car looks better or worse after the first wash, given all the oils that are left behind by Enigma. Not sure if it will help or hurt the look. I’m not sure if Enigma has carnauba or just ceramic and non-carnauba waxes/oils. Enigma is advertised as lasting up to 12 months when used on top of TI-22, take that for what it’s worth. Realistically I expect this to get me into the winter but probably not out of it.
Below are some pics from today, its’ first time out of the garage in a week. I will add more to this thread under different lighting or environments, including beading shots. Thanks for reading!
The below thread gives some discussion about my questions and trials with the chosen Angelwax LSPs:
https://www.autopia.org/forums/car-...-ti-22-enigma-combo-opinions-experiences.html
The interior was fully detailed in the first days I purchased the car and was discussed in this thread on the sister site (AG):
https://www.autogeekonline.net/foru...or-detail.html?highlight=x5+m+interior+detail
Background/Starting point:
This car is my new baby and I tried my best to make it look new, but knowing that I’m a father of a 3 year old with a full time job. A lot of this work was done at night with me trying to manipulate lighting the best I could in my one car garage. The car was in normal condition (IMO) for a vehicle owned by a normal Earthling for 4 years. I didn’t spend a lot of time trying to capture the condition, I do apologize. Do to lighting and lack of experience and time, I was not able to get good pictures of the moderate swirls over all panels, so just trust me. There’s also a couple very small chips and scratches. The hood has numerous chip corrections most likely performed by the dealer. Most are noticeable but I suppose better than seeing down to white basecoat. There’s also bird poo etchings, some very large, on the hood and roof. These did not come out and I will live with them for now. I also had put a large dent into the top of the back door/tailgate with my garage door. I since got that fixed but it is not part of the below detail (will top n a month or two).
The car had a coating on the paint, wheels and glass when I purchased it. Windows were already done in July with PBL Coating on windshield and moonroof; Pinnacle Glasscoat sealant on side/back windows. The windows were excluded from this correction.
On to the detail details...
Decon:
- Paint and wheels: Blackfire Iron Remover on paint & wheels. Then rinse.
- Bottom side panels: Wolfgang Bug Remover and Mckees 37 Engine Degreaser (there was rough, tar and contamination behind wheel wells. I do not own a dedicated tar remover at this time).
- Paint and wheels Mckees Coating Prep Wash (2x).
- Paint only: Blackfire Clay Mitt on paint only.
- Pinnacle fine claybar on bottom side panels
Polish (paint only, not wheels):
- Pinnacle Advanced Compound w/ LC yellow heavy cutting pads. The paint was hard and I could have been less aggressive to remove the coating + swirls here (orange cutting pad for instance), but it would have added a lot of time to the job. I’m pretty sure I’m the first person to touch the cc and the paint should never get to this point again.
- Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish w/ LC white polishing pads. This made a very nice finish, obviously.
- CarPro Essence Extreme with CarPro Gloss pads.
The paint looked smooth and glossy after Essence Extreme. There was probably no correction done with it. It was applied very softly, trying for a very glossy finish. I wanted to go it this route (having used a finishing polish prior) rather than use Essence Extreme as my finishing polish which I got mediocre results doing before (poor user abilities). I allowed Essence to cure for 24+ hours.
Protection:
- Paint and Wheels: Two coats of Angelwax TI-22 (titanium spray sealant/primer), 30 hours apart.
- Thoughts: This supposedly has good protection, durability and longevity on it’s own, but is really meant as a primer for Angelwax waxes. I found the shine to be fairly glassy/glossy, but not amazing. A bit sterile perhaps. Application was a breeze as long as it’s applied in small sections (2-4 sections per door for instance) and wiped immediately. The smell is of solvents (I originally thought it smelled coating-ish but I’m terrible at naming smells). I used 1/6 the 250ml bottle for 2 coats, paint and wheels.
- Paint (excluding roof): Two coats of Angelwax Enigma 30 hours apart and 30 hours after 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] TI-22 coat.
- Thoughts: The wax smells good, but a bit of a chemical smell. Applies pretty easy. Applied 1-2 panels at a time and then wiped off. Harder to wipe off if left on longer. Easy to wipe off if just hazed. There was significant oils left behind which I didn’t wipe off until 30 hours after the last coat. I used about 1/3 the 1.1oz jar for 2 coats.
- Wheels: Polish Angel Supersport, 30 hours after 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] TI-22 coat.
- Roof (saved for testing):. I will do a follow up thread for those. Below is a terrible picture I drew to show what I applied on the roof after the two coats of TI-22.
Final Thoughts: The paint looks great, very few swirls remain (97% correction?), and those that made it through are probably a result of working in terrible lighting on lower panels. I’m happywith the correction. Pinnacle polishes always do very well for me, so no huge surprises here.
The Angelwax LSPs were pleasant to work with. This was my first time using the brand. TI-22 by itself wasnt a show stopper but that`s not what its meant for from my understanding. Not bad, but not exciting. I would describe the Enigma look as having a glassy look, but rather than sharp tones, there is a smoothness to the car`s lines. More flowing, wavy reflections than SiO2 sprays that I`ve been using recently. I would compare to PA Rapidwaxx versus something like PA High Gloss. Definitely a soft, liquid changeup from my TSX and Q5 which currently have SiO2 spray toppers since early summer. It mutes the flakes a bit, but I`m interested if the car looks better or worse after the first wash, given all the oils that are left behind by Enigma. Not sure if it will help or hurt the look. I’m not sure if Enigma has carnauba or just ceramic and non-carnauba waxes/oils. Enigma is advertised as lasting up to 12 months when used on top of TI-22, take that for what it’s worth. Realistically I expect this to get me into the winter but probably not out of it.
Below are some pics from today, its’ first time out of the garage in a week. I will add more to this thread under different lighting or environments, including beading shots. Thanks for reading!
