BMW Detailing

N

Nick1214

New member
Hi autopia,



I am the proud new owner of a 2007 Alpine White BMW 335xi. This car is loaded minus the sport package and I love it.



So far I am keeping up with washing it so I don't need to battle with the BMW brake dust when it gets bad. I also intend to seal the wheels to make that job easier.



I am going to do a paint correction on it very very soon when I have time.



Does anyone detail an Alpine While 3 series that can provide some information about the paint? I have M105 and M205 with a PC.



I also noticed some swirling/light scratching on the interior wood trim. Is there a product that I can use to (correct?) cover up these imperfections and protect the wood?



short version



How to protect bmw 335xi wood?



How if 3 series alpine white paint?





Pics:



Finally...Welcome me to THE FESTTT!!!!!!!! - bimmerfest - BMW Forums



Thanks
 
Hi Nick1214,



I also have an Alpine White BMW.I recently had the paint corrected professionally to get rid of some cloudy spots, water spots and marring. I thought the paint was soft but the person that corrected the paint said Alpine White was pretty hard compared to the paint on an Infiniti G35 for example. I tried correcting the paint myself with a PC but it seemed to take forever. Send me an email and I will send you the details on how the paint was corrected. BTW, my car looks amazing now!



Bob
 
AW is moderately hard paint. Not nearly as soft as JB, for example, which can mar if you look at it the wrong way.



Make sure you have a good set of halogens, as it's tougher to see what you're doing on white/silver than other colors. General advice - start less aggressive, and work your way up. Especially if this is your first detail and you're unfamiliar with the products.



Regarding the wood trim, Swissvax makes a wood trim wax. Never tried it personally, but you could look into it.



And for the wheels, P21s and Poorboys Wheel Sealant are your new best friends. :)



Good luck, and let us know how it goes! :D
 
Thanks for the responses guys.....



I was thinking about just using zaino on the wheels to try to save some money. I just spent a nice chunk on the car and I have megs wb too. I used zaino on the wheels of my civic ~16 coats now~ and on the car too and I am still amazed. I originally wanted a really nice deep color that could really show off my detailing skills but this car came along at a great price and I am going to make it look like the best white car I have ever seen. My friends comment about how my silver civic has such a reflection and a pop to it that they have never seen on a silver car. This car is not a deep blue or red or black but it is going to look great anyway.



The wheels were really clean and so far it looks like I am going to need to wash this car every 2 days. I still need to get the inner part of the rims cleaned up really good.



Powerwasher=GODDDDD mine is only 1200 PSI which is more than sufficient. I prefer to have a weaker power washer than the 1850psi model that I saw on the internet. I like to be safe rather than sorry.



Anymore suggestions for the wood?



Thanks
 
The wood trim should be soft. I generally polish it by hand with a light polish, like Menz FPII. 205 should work unless the scratches are deep.



The paint itself will likely be on the average side of hard/soft. I used to think 2007+ AW was soft like JB, but I've worked on a couple dozen now and they seem more inline with the metallics, average. 105/205 should be more than enough for anything but serious RIDS.
 
Has anyone tried Menz PO106ff on Alpine White? I'm thinking about trying it on my '08 328 before winter. The paint is in good condition with only very minor swirling.



I plan on finishing with RMG and CMW.
 
it's acutally pretty hard paint, it's ceramic, they have tons of clear which is a plus but it's hard to mess up a white car, just polish up the paint with a light compound/foam pad
 
some use ceramic if the code begins with a C it's ceramic..



it's clear ceramic



All american made bmw's do not have ceramic, all german made cars do.
 
Are you sure you're not thinking of Mercedes? I haven't seen a BMW code with a C in it. Most are numbers, the rest start with A. Alpine White has been code "300" since 2002.
 
yeah, i know it's not in the actual color number 303 alpine white III, but I'm almost positive that it is, at least what i've been told when i worked at a dealership. they say any of the German made cars have it and American made ones are not (z4,x5) something to do with compliance.



all i know is they have some pretty hard/thick clear you can sand them and sit on them for quite some time without even burning through, and i know this from experience we did an experiment
 
OK, thanks for the info. Our experiences vary though, for what it's worth. On the e36/e39 etc there were some pretty hard clears. On e90/92/93 e60, etc I've run into at best average hardness, and at worst really, really soft clears. I've not done any modern BMW that was as hard as a ceramic Merc.



My e92 has "average-hard paint", about as hard as any BMW I've worked on 2007+, and it's still much softer than say, a ceramic C63. I was under the impression BMW Munich/SA used water based Glasurit.
 
who knows i could be half right, i've noticed that metallics have real hard clear, and i've also noticed that jet black is really really soft.



I worked on cars mostly from 2005-2010. the CPO's mostly
 
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