Alpine White BMW 540i - Detailed by Lawrence

[LawrenceSA]

One of my clients recently purchased this beautiful 540i and whilst it was in really good condition, 18 years of improper washing and drying showed and so over a weekend in April I set about getting the old girl back into decent shape...

Engine bay


First I used a blower to remove as much of the loose dust, leaves and other debris out of the engine. Carchem APC @1:5 was then used in combination with various boars hair brushes, microfibre towels, q-tips and the blower to clean - no water was used to spray or rinse anywhere. This obviously is more labor intensive and in my opinion, not quite as effective as using a pressure washer, but is obviously a much safer option.


Once everything was clean the plastics were dressed with Autofinesse Dressle and the painted areas hand polished/protected using Autofinesse Tripple.

Fender wells, tyres and wheels


Before

Fender wells pressure rinsed, sprayed with Carchem APC @ 1:5 via a foaming sprayer, left to dwell, agitated with various brushes, pressure rinsed, dressed with Autofinesse Dressel


Tyrespressure rinsed, sprayed with Carchem APC @ 1:5 via a foaming sprayer, left to dwell, agitated with Mothers tyre brush, pressure rinsed, dressed with 1 coat of Carpro Perl uncut


Wheels pressure rinsed, sprayed with Angelwax Billberry Wheel Cleaner via a foaming sprayer, left to dwell, agitated with Wheel Woolies, pressure rinsed, tar deposits removed with Carpro Tar-x, Iron deposits removed with Carpro Iron-x LS, lips polished with Menzerna Polishing Cream followed by Meguiars NXT All Metal Polish using a Mothers Polishing Cone, Wheels protected using Menzerna Powerlock


During iron removal

After washing and decon

During polishing

Wash and Decon


A pressure washer was used to remove as much of the loose dirt as possible before making contact. The entire vehicle was then foamed using Carchem Snowfoam which was left to dwell before being pressure rinsed off

This was followed with a 2 bucket wash using Carpro Reset and a few lambswool wash mitts. Any tar deposits were removed using Carpro Tar-x and the entire car then sprayed with Carpro Iron-x LS to remove any iron deposits.





This was followed with another foaming and pressure rinse to ensure no iron remover was left behind. Shield Heavy Duty clay was used with ONR as clay lube to remove the remaining contamination.


Paint correction


Paint readings
OEM paint: min 92, max 109
Repaint: min 160, max 223


Process
Paint : Flex 3401, Blue Hybrid Wool Lake Country Hybrid pads, Menzerna FG400, White Foam Lake Country Hybrid pads, Menzerna SF4000
Taillights: Flex 3401, Orange Foam Lake Country Hybrid pads, Menzerna FG400, Black Lake Country Hybrid pads, Menzerna SF4000
Headlights: Flex 3401, Menzerna SF4000


Before





After





Before





After





Before





After





Protection


Paint : Collinite 845
Wheels : Menzerna Powerlock
Leather : Collinite 855
Plastics + rubbers : Aerospace 303


Interior


Mats were removed, pressure rinsed, sprayed with Carchem APC @ 1:20, agitated with a brush, pressure rinsed again and hung out to dry, then vacuumed and returned to the interior once done.


The seats and carpets were vacuumed and the seats then cleaned with Carchem APC @ 1:20 and protected with Collinite #855.
The plastics were also cleaned using Carchem APC @ 1:20 and protected using Aerospace 303. The glass was cleaned using Autoglym Fast Glass.


Before





After





Other


The exterior plastics and rubbers were cleaned using Shield Heavy Duty Vinyl and Rubber Cleaner. The plastics were dressed using Carpro Perl and then Rubbers with Aerospace 303. Exterior glass was clayed during the initial decon, then cleaned using Gyeon Prep and Wynn`s C-Thru applied. The badges and emblems were cleaned using Autofinesse Tripple and Q-tips














Completed pictures
























































Total time spent = 34 hours


Thanks for looking, and as always any questions or comments and are welcome.


:hi:

 

[Pats300zx]

Very detailed writeup !!!! Fantastic work !!!

 

[Ronkh]

Nice stuff

Thanks for sharing

 

[tom p.]

Lawrence, it looks great! The owner must have been thrilled with it.

 

[ZeroDfx]

How did you polish the plastic bumpers? I managed to burn through the clear-coat on an E39 rear bumper surface below the trunk.
Thanks

 

[LawrenceSA]

How did you polish the plastic bumpers? I managed to burn through the clear-coat on an E39 rear bumper surface below the trunk.
Thanks

Carefully LOL

But in all seriousness, you are correct - they do require a bit more of a cautious approach, and without a PTG that can measure plastics, you have to be even more careful.

The edges are always going to be the most likely to be struck through, so taping off will always help, and I generally tape off a lot in a typical detail anyway - rather safe than sorry. That section in particular, on most of the cars I have worked on, is not actually a level surface, but has a few angle changes which result in a small ridge that usually gets nailed.

Given that the area in particular is usually a `high wear` area, it`s better to leave paint there than chase defects, IMO, and I also make sure my clients understand that on a `normal` (i.e. not a show) car, preservation of the clear is important, and so I try to set realistic expectations up front so allow for areas that aren`t going to be ` perfect`.

A smaller diameter pad obviously helps in avoiding having to run over edges in the first place. But until the detailing fairies drop an IBrid in my garage, I have to make do with either a DAS 6 + 3.5" BP + 4" pads, or (and this is actually what I tend to use more), the 5" hybrid pads on the Flex 3401.

Now I am not saying this is necessarily `the proper way`, but it works for me... if you prime the sides of the pad (as well as the working face obviously), then add your working product and pat it onto the area you are working on.

Then take the machine and have it spinning off the paint, and then use the edge to tilt into/onto the paint surface. By changing the angle of approach you can use a much smaller pad footprint to only make contact where you need to [I hope that makes sense - I can`t quite find the words to explain myself ].

Edit to add:

To answer your question, on this car specifically I used FG400 on a Orange Hybrid pad as a 1 step to get the bumpers as close to the look of the paint, without having to compound with wool and then remove some paint with the SF4000

 

[mjlinane]

Brilliant!!

 

[bigltc]

Very nice!

 

[LawrenceSA]

Thanks for all you kind responses.

 

[CARLIN]

Well done brother .

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