AutoLavish featuring Steve Pham presents: "The Cleanest 135i You Will Ever See"

[maxshine]

I'm looking for a type of protection that I could install/remove for interstate trips, etc. (I got four paint chips all at once last week @&! Dump Trucks.



Does anyone have any experience with this product ?



Anyone heard of Langka.com paint chip repair products ?





Thanks for any input.

 

[muttgrunt]

This '08 135i had amazing appeal even before we were contacted to work on it. Having been to meets like Cars and Coffee, as well as some other local events, it attracted attention due to its pure black finish, blood red interior, and tasteful modification. The challenge the owner presented to us was to make it even more over the top. Little did he know that what most people would call ?clean? and ?amazing? is far from it to a detailer. The vehicle suffered severely from improper hand-washing techniques (although it was kept "clean"), some automatic ?swirl-o-matic? car washes through-out the winter months, and a failed expedition with a rotary buffer. Unlike most paint finishes, the "Jet Black" BMW has used since 2001 is very susceptible to any abrasion because of its softness. The swirl-o-matic and improper hand washing had taken its toll on the paint resulting in deep, severe, and abundant scratches that would be a challenge to remove even with this being one of the softer OEM paints. Someone, let's just say it was Rambo himself, had taken a rotary buffer to the paint at least once, and the evidence of trails was also abundant throughout the finish. To top off the horrible condition and past abuse this BMW has been though, the owner wanted as close to perfection as possible with the generous budget he had available. He was expecting a nice turn around, but little did he know his vehicle would look better than he has even seen it, including when he first picked it up from the dealer.

The vehicle was inspected prior and we determined we would need upwards of 10 hours to correct the finish. The owner dropped off the vehicle at our shop on Friday PM, and said to keep it as long as it we needed it. This ended up being very much needed.

Build-up in / around the key hole...

Early on Saturday, I arrived and Jacob and I commenced on the interior. The owner wears dress pants every day for work, and some of the black dye was being transferred to the red leather seats under the extreme G?s from on and off ramps of M-59, I-75, and the likes. Other than that, the interior was fairly clean and in great condition. We had provided the owner a sample of 1Z Cockpit Premium late last year at a local car event, and we found the same sample bottle almost empty, but the hard surfaces in pretty nice condition.

The interior started by vacuuming the loose dust and dirt from all surfaces first, including the carpet. The seats are deeply bolstered and required some force to spread apart the segments to be able to clean out the seams. It took both of us to do this. The vacuum wore a soft brush attachment. This got rid of 99% of all the loose stuff trapped in the seats. Next, Leather Master?s cleaners were applied. We always believe in using the softest chemicals to get the job done, and a double application of Leather Master Soft Cleaner was used on the passanger seat which cleaned up the finish very well. The driver?s side seat showed much more wear as well as build up (resulting in the shine given), and the bolster still had additional dye transfer to deal with. I stepped it up to the Strong Cleaner, and in spots used Super Remover / Cleaner with soft sponges and delicate agitation, wiping off all previous product before applying the next one. After the Super Remover / Cleaner, all dye was removed, and the finish looked simply perfect.

 

[muttgrunt]

Passenger Seat after being cleaned with two applications of Soft Cleaner, Driver's side yet to be worked on, it's clear which side looks fresh and new versus aged and dingy:

Again, driver's bolster with some dye transfer and dry-cracking before:

After Leather Master's Strong Cleaner:

Cleaning finished, we applied Leather Master Vital followed by Leather Protection Cr?me waiting an hour between coats. The seats now look even, matte, and felt brand new. The Protection Cr?me is similar to a sealant for the leather as it adds a breathable layer of protection to better guard against future wear. The result will help keep the owner?s black dye from staining the leather's coating so easily in the coming months.

The rest of the interior was wiped with 1Z Cockpit Premium, glass was cleaned with Meg?s Glass Cleaner, trim was polished with Klasse AIO.



While I worked on the seats, Jacob began to tackle the door jambs. Rather clean to start out with, he still gave them the FK1 #1119 treatment. Next, he polished all the flat areas with Klasse AIO, followed by Meg?s Ultimate Quick Spray Wax buffed clear to a slick and glossy finish.



Next was the engine bay. Also fairly clean to begin with, we applied FK1 #1119 to the backside of the hood and hood catch to loosen grime / grease. Jacob removed the windshield washer nozzles in anticipation of polishing, and the engine was doused in degreaser, agitated lightly, and then pressure washed off. This was repeated at least twice everywhere, with more attention to areas that needed it. Once clean, we blew the engine dry and applied water based dressing for a beautiful silky even finish that would quickly dry (and therefor not attract dust)

After

These are factory BMW wheels made by Breyton in a pressure cast process. The many spokes are light and thin, and give a unique design, but Oh what a challenge to clean! We went over each wheel at least 3 times. Then they were gone over again with tar remover, and washed once more. Go figure; when moving the car around for polishing, we spotted areas that still were not up to our standards, so during the final wash we hit them up once more. Diablo Wheel Gel was used with various brushes to clean as much as possible. But nothing would replace the need to go over each millimeter of the wheel with a microfiber towel by hand, using fingers to get behind and around each spoke and the lips. Once clean, Jacob applied wheel sealant liberally to help keep the notorious BMW brake dust from grabbing onto the wheels so easily. Future cleanups hopefully won't take nearly as long or as much work. The owner has also contracted us to give him dedicated one on one coaching on how to maintain this car, so we'll be able to see how much the wheel sealant helped very soon.

Enzo (on right) & Guadalupe (AKA The Queen) do not approve:

Reason for needing all the additional cleaning (look at the inside of the lip...)

 

[muttgrunt]

Coming along but still not there yet...

The exhaust tips are ceramic coated, and the owner warned us he didn?t expect them to clean up at all. Jacob took some APC at 10:1 and went over them very lightly with #0000 wool. Not prefect, but very clean. I later sealed the Tips with Optimum Opti-seal.

With flash:

The vehicle was washed with a strong concentration of shampoo via the foam cannon to strip off any protection present. Special care was taken as this is uber-soft paint. We clayed with the most mild clay we have and dedicated clay lube (no ONR mix or QD).

After dwell:

Special attention was given to both the area that houses the lisence plate lights as well as the unusually grimey key holes with P21S Total Auto Wash using a light brush (plate area) and a toothbrushe (keyholes):

In some of the coming 50/50 pictures, you can see a little of how the keyhole came out


Once dry, we proceeded to protect all trim and plastic exterior pieces from the splatter we expected during compounding. Especially using Meguiar's 105 with the Kevin Brown Method, the splatter seems to turn to cement if left on the paint too long. Bottles of Alcohol, #34, and plenty of plush microfibers were at hand to aid splatter removal.

Looking under the lights at the paint, its condition was severe. Soft paint as this should clear up with M205 easily, but the swirls were so severe that we were doing 3 to 4 passes with M105 on orange and still not putting a dent into correcting them. We ending up using our Surbuf pads and even some 3000-grit Abralon discs at times. The final polishing process was this:

3000 grit damp method on some areas with the Griots
The Bryan Burnworth variation of the Kevin Brown Method (BB-KBM): Surbuf with M105 speed 5 (6 was too fast and decreased the polish?s working time too much) x 3 to 4 applications via the Griots
orange with M105 x 2 on the Makita
black with M205 x 2 Makita
black with M205 x 1 Griots (some areas)
blue with Ultrafina x 2 Griots



Water etching from washer nozzles:

Right side with only M205 on white, left side M105 on orange. Tape stripe down the middle shows original condition. M105 still left some stratches

Right side M105 + orange. Left side M105 + Surbuf. Tape line = original condition.

Surbuf vs Original:

Pure Surbuf:

First (very hard) pass:

Second pass:

Third pass:

Fourth pass:

OK, screw this, break out the 3000 grit:

Very light, and the trunk has more curves than first apparent:

Tried to buff sanding marks out with orange on rotary, but had better results with the BB-KBM, then follow with the rotary to clear up the sanding marks completely:

More BB-KBM:

In process with the M205+black on Makita. Jacob is now a happy man.

Focused on the paint surface, not the reflection, looks good with the Dual Xenon Brinkman:

 

[muttgrunt]

But under a slanted higher powered light you see just what the M205 is leaving behind after the Griots M205+black step; a little marring which leads to lack of depth / clarity

This is after 3M Ultrafina on the Griots at speed 4:

Some places are harder to reach than others:

Headlights and taillights were polished with M105, M205, and Ultrafina on the Griots to restore perfect clarity.


Tail lights before:

After:

The result was deep, black perfection. Paint thickness was still a healthy 133-138 micrometers + after all this! (had started with an average of 147)

All exterior glass was polished with Diamondite Glass Polish on Diamondite Glass polishing pads, speed 6 on the Griots. This cleared up the typical wiper trails we see on most German windshields, and brought more clarity to the glass. This also helps prepare for the coming Aquapel application to the windshield and mirrors. All other glass was sealed with our LSP.

The vehicle was washed down after compounding, and again after jewelling. We then applied Menzerna Power Lock via gold pad on the PC at speed 2 (remember this paint is very soft, and even a blue pad can cause marring if too much work is put into the task).

Sealing:

The washer nozzles that were removed were cleaned and had a heavy dose of Fade To Black applied, letting it dwell for hours. After a quick wipe, they were ready to be installed again. We wiped off the sealant around the nozzle area as to not leave any sealant under the plastic. You can see the lack of residue where the sealant had been wiped off showing it had properly set for long enough.

Aquapel treatment to give a large boost to visibility in raining conditions, and to make grime / bugs easier to remove from the glass:

Wheel wells were dressed with All Season Dressing. Tires were dressed with Optimum water-based Tire Shine.

By this time, the owner had arrived to pick the vehicle up. At the same time, one of our photographers called asking if we had anything cool to shoot in the next few days. After a toss of a few ideas, AutoLavish, the owner with his 135i, and Steven Pham Photography were on our way to the Meadowbrook Hall to catch the last rays of daylight.

Meadowbrook hosts the Annual Concourse D'Elegance, and for good reason. Originally the estate of one of the Dodge Brothers and his wife, and later to the Dodge Widow and wife to Wilson, the complex hosts amazing d?cor and workmanship in a stunning natural setting. We took over the entrance and set up for pictures. The resulting pictures show that the additional 3 hours spent on location shooting were well worth it! The local police patrol and many tourists were intrigued by our shenanigans, but gave us the space needed to get the shots.

 

[muttgrunt]

My buddy Asam (AutoLavish worked on his CTS-V if you remember the thread) asked me when we were going to see Meadowbrook - a gorgeous mansion where they host the Concours d'Elegance in Michigan. The place is open to the public (they give tours inside the mansion as well) so we scheduled a day I was free and headed out. I called Marc and let him know where I was going and they had told me about a 135i that they were close to finishing. I figured while I'm at Meadowbrook; I might as well shoot a cool car

This is my fav and my new desktop background

It was an absolute clear day with perfect weather to shoot this amazing BMW. The car looked better than new.

Thanks again to Autolavish for providing another amazing car for me to shoot and to Jason for letting me stick a 10' pole to his car

In all, billable time for this vehicle was 15 hours + photographer?s fees (which is between the owner and the artist; but you tell me if it's worth it ). The result was perfection, and a stunning vehicle made even more outrageous by AutoLavish with the help of Steven Pham Photography. Thanks for reading!

 

[bmw5541]

Bravo, Bravo, Bravo:clap::clap::clap:

Absolutely spectacular job guys. That right there, is why they call it DETAILING. Your attention to detail is amazing.

Not only was the correction top notch, but the write-up was as well.

Thanks for posting this!!!!ancing Dot:

 

[imported_Emile]

Wow, absolutely incredible. I am surprised you guys didn't blow your heads off trying to get that Jet Black BMW perfect, but instead you pulled it off with flying colors. kudos to you. :biggrin:

 

[dfazekas]

fantastic work man
thats a killer transformation

 

[EclecTech]

Bravo, Bravo, Bravo:clap::clap::clap:

Absolutely spectacular job guys. That right there, is why they call it DETAILING. Your attention to detail is amazing.

Not only was the correction top notch, but the write-up was as well.

Thanks for posting this!!!!ancing Dot:

+10


Jack

 

[mtechnik]

Great job AutoLavish!!

Wow!! I am absolutely blown away by the attention to detail and results on this 135i!! I wish I had the time and resources to make my JB BMW E90 look like this.

Also very cool to see this car and pictures from Meadowbrook. I used to live up the street in Oakland Twp. I graduated from Rochester Adams, and Oakland University. Props to the owner for his nicely modded Bimmer, and also Stevan for taking great photos!!
Thanks for the awesome write-up Matt!! :rockon:

 

[muttgrunt]

Bravo, Bravo, Bravo:clap::clap::clap:
Absolutely spectacular job guys. That right there, is why they call it DETAILING. Your attention to detail is amazing.
Not only was the correction top notch, but the write-up was as well.
Thanks for posting this!!!!ancing Dot:

Much appreciated. Thanks for the kind words and for taking a look.

Wow, absolutely incredible. I am surprised you guys didn't blow your heads off trying to get that Jet Black BMW perfect, but instead you pulled it off with flying colors. kudos to you. :biggrin:

Thank you! JB is certainly not a fun color, but certainly is beautiful.

fantastic work man
thats a killer transformation

Thanks!

+10
Jack

Thank you Jack

Wow!! I am absolutely blown away by the attention to detail and results on this 135i!! I wish I had the time and resources to make my JB BMW E90 look like this.
Also very cool to see this car and pictures from Meadowbrook. I used to live up the street in Oakland Twp. I graduated from Rochester Adams, and Oakland University. Props to the owner for his nicely modded Bimmer, and also Stevan for taking great photos!!
Thanks for the awesome write-up Marc!! :rockon:

Thank you for the love and support. Good to have another local (or at least formerly local?) guy on the boards. Hope all has been going well since you've graduated

 

[imported_Kevin Brown]

I was Googling "Abralon" and my name to see if I had written anything that could be used on my site (to save time having to write from scratch). Came across this write-up...

:notworthy: Great DOCUMENTATION. :notworthy: The car turned out JET BLACK. :notworthy: The photos are STUNNING. :notworthy:

Geez- So many guys doing things right these days... putting in the effort... being their own worst critic. THAT'S HOW YOU GET GOOD!!!!! :Swordfight:

Rasky, Burnworth, Helme, Saunders, RaskyR1, Theal, Willis, Fermani, Strum, Murphy, (going through my phone list!), and on and on and on!!!

 

[muttgrunt]

I was Googling "Abralon" and my name to see if I had written anything that could be used on my site (to save time having to write from scratch). Came across this write-up...

:notworthy: Great DOCUMENTATION. :notworthy: The car turned out JET BLACK. :notworthy: The photos are STUNNING. :notworthy:

Geez- So many guys doing things right these days... putting in the effort... being their own worst critic. THAT'S HOW YOU GET GOOD!!!!! :Swordfight:

Rasky, Burnworth, Helme, Saunders, RaskyR1, Theal, Willis, Fermani, Strum, Murphy, (going through my phone list!), and on and on and on!!!

We're just small guys trying to get to the point of being worth mentioning, so for an exceptional artist like the great K.B. to have such nice things to say means a lot.
We always try to be our own worst critics; I think everyone should be that way. If you're not trying to improve your skills on each car, not only does it mean you've plateaued, but those nipping at your heels ready to take your work and clients are ready to pass you by.

 

[Tru_Shine]

Killer work! I love the pro pics too!

 

[Ron-M]

I could look at this all day. Just fantastic work. A really big WOW!!!

 

[imported_Stokdgs]

Absolutely beautiful, detailed, work and write up, you guys !!!!

I just finished one of those last week; everything the same except mine was a 6-Speed with the Sport Package, and only 5,086 on the clock.

Was lucky and got away with using Menzerna Power Finish PO 203S, PO85RD, C/G EZ-Creme Glaze/Acrylic Shine II, Menz Power Lock x 2; Cyan, Tangerine, and Crimson HydroTech Pads, and a Makita 9227C Rotary.

Was heavily swirled by Dealer, and washed improperly, but not to the extent of your Client's car.

Having had a new Jet Black BMW in the past, and corrected many, many, more, I could totally relate to every step you took, to make yours the most beautiful 135 around !!

Congratulations on the stunning result !! Your write up and pictures should go into the Detailer's Hall of Fame !!!
:notworthy:
Dan F

 

[muttgrunt]

Killer work! I love the pro pics too!

Much appreciated as always Eric. I look forward to talking with you soon!

I could look at this all day. Just fantastic work. A really big WOW!!!

Thank you Ron

Absolutely beautiful, detailed, work and write up, you guys !!!!
I just finished one of those last week; everything the same except mine was a 6-Speed with the Sport Package, and only 5,086 on the clock.
Was lucky and got away with using Menzerna Power Finish PO 203S, PO85RD, C/G EZ-Creme Glaze/Acrylic Shine II, Menz Power Lock x 2; Cyan, Tangerine, and Crimson HydroTech Pads, and a Makita 9227C Rotary.
Was heavily swirled by Dealer, and washed improperly, but not to the extent of your Client's car.
Having had a new Jet Black BMW in the past, and corrected many, many, more, I could totally relate to every step you took, to make yours the most beautiful 135 around !!

Congratulations on the stunning result !! Your write up and pictures should go into the Detailer's Hall of Fame !!!
:notworthy:
Dan F

Thanks for the kind words Dan. Sounds like you likely knocked the 1 series you worked out out the park!
These can be very nice rides, but a heavily swirled black car leaves a lot to be desired. Thanks again for the kind words