Alwaysbored786 Detailed 2003.5 Carbon Black M3

[alwaysbored786]

I recently detailed a friends 2003.5 Carbon Black (it's a really dark blue) M3. It was an interesting color to work with as it showed many defects, but cleaned up very well as well. Now this was my first time actually attempting to detail the exterior of a car using my PC 7424XP and Menzerna polishes, so the results may not be as good as some of the professional detailers out there, but I think they aren't that bad either, you can judge that yourself. Also, my pictures may not be the best because i was getting tired and just wanted to get the car done. I should be getting better finished pictures soon, most of my pics may not be that great as I took them in a hurry. I don't have pictures of all the panels as well, but they were all equally swirled.

The owner of the car had the car washed before I came over to start the detailing process.



Heres what steps I did:



Mothers clay bar using diluted ONR as lube

Dry off the car using Waffle Weave Microfibers

Menzerna IP using Lake Country Yellow pad on a 6" backing plate (I tried a less aggressive approach but it just wasn't getting the defects out)

Nattys blue paste wax (applied by hand)

Now most of you may wonder if the IP with yellow pad left buffer trails, marks, etc. From what I noticed, it finished down extremely well, and the pictures show that.



Here are the before pictures:



Passenger side of rear bumper

Driver side rear bumper

Passenger Fender (driver fender was nearly identical with swirl amounts)

Same fender, but I polished the top part, this pic shows the swirled bottom

Passenger door

Hood (Plenty of rock chips)

Roof (sorry for the bad pictures)

[IMG http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2700/4431125538_37f31d0d0f_b.jpg[/IMG]



Side skirt

Trunk

50/50 shots

Finished shots (ill have better ones soon, the ones below have no wax applied to the panels yet)

Top part is finished, Bumper is not:

Top part is quarter panel which is finished, bumper is not

I will be getting actual final shots soon, stay tuned!

 

[nushine31223]

great job. thats basically a professional detail paint correction service

 

[Nikku]

Good work. The swirls cleaned up nicely. I love how you took parts off to make sure you got all the little areas.



However just something I noticed from the pic and please don't take this the wrong way. Just trying to help.



http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4027/4430367223_03d0b0c4ff_b.jpg



Looks like there are holograms just where the flash occurred on the hood. You may want to follow up with a finishing polish with a white or blue pad. You are right it appears to finish up quite well but you may just want to follow up with something finer just my two cents.





Cheers,

Nick

 

[alwaysbored786]

^Thanks for the input! I do see what your talking about, Ill let my friend know about it. If it was on a customers car then I would definitely finish up the detail by following the IP with super finish on a white pad, but im sure my friend was still happy haha. You've got a good eye hehe , i love constructive criticism, it makes me a better detailer .

 

[Nikku]

^Thanks for the input! I do see what your talking about, Ill let my friend know about it. If it was on a customers car then I would definitely finish up the detail by following the IP with super finish on a white pad, but im sure my friend was still happy haha. You've got a good eye hehe , i love constructive criticism, it makes me a better detailer .

Phew... thanks. I didn't want to step on any toes. If I was in your situation i would like for someone to watch out for me and let me know.



But you did a fantastic job removing all the parts. I love that passion. I may give you a pm when I get a trashed e46 m3. Something about getting everything to the bare bones paint that makes the detail that much more fulfilling



I'm sure you're friend was very happy. Are those all bimmers in and around the garage? looks like a very nice setup

 

[alwaysbored786]

haha yea this community has taught me a lot, and i really appreciate it! And yup, this garage is pretty much all bimmers, the m3 to right of it is his friends...its supercharged, hes getting it all fixed up (engine/tranny is out of the car, whole front end is gone, etc.)



If you look at the picture you were talking about, all the way in the back is a blue bimmer with the door open, that ones mine .

 

[a_guerrajr]

i think a finish polish would make that job pop much better.



let's see some with wax!



pretty good

 

[a_guerrajr]

forgot



were your pads 6.5 or 7 " ???

 

[alwaysbored786]

i think a finish polish would make that job pop much better.



let's see some with wax!



pretty good

yea I would have done a final polish, but I was doing this for a friend for free, plus i was getting realllly tired hehe. I was using 6.5" pads all around, i wish i had a 4" backing plates with 4" pads, it would have really helped, but im tight on cash right now so the 6.5" are gonna have to make due. I may be doing a silver 2004 mercedes soon, any tips for me?