Exterior detail: 1987 BMW L6

RyanDe680

New member
This particular car is unique in that it is a L6, the luxury version that BMW made of the 6 series in 1987. This car had 125k miles on the odometer and was in great shape.



The owner wanted an exterior detail and engine cleaning. The car had tyical 20 year old, 125k mile wear and tear: paint blemishes, rock chips, few minor dings, etc.



The car had a nice shine when it arrived. Wash and a clay revealed what the wax was hiding though.



Here are some befores:



before1.jpg




before2.jpg




Looks like it is in great shape. The body was in great shape. It had a few good coats of wax on it still from what I could feel, but the surface did need a polish to have it shine even more. Once washed and clayed, here is what I found:



after_clay2.jpg




after_clay3.jpg




after_clay4.jpg




after_clay5.jpg




All of the car was in this shape, some areas worse than others, some areas not so bad. So I began to polish. I used Menzerna PO106ff with orange pad and of course, it came out great. In most areas, I went over the surface with the polish twice to ensure that I removed the swirls.



Here is left side untouched, right side polished:



polishing1.jpg




Here is the door completed after both sides are done:



polishing2.jpg




I therefore continued with the polishing. I cleaned up the engine a bit as well:



engine1.jpg




Here it is completed and ready for pick up after 2 coats of Pinnacle Souveran:



finished2.jpg




finished3.jpg




Hood reflection:



finished4.jpg




finished5.jpg




finished6.jpg




Overall, great car to work on.



It will be at the EuroTeknik.com Klassische Technik 2007 show on Saturday, May 26th. You won't see many L6's out there, so please do check this awesome coupe out!!!
 
It always annoys me how many of the older BMW's I see have offset/crooked exhausts. Even on new cars I see it sometimes. Just a pet peeve I guess, nice work though:xyxthumbs Love the before and afters.
 
Nice! I was looking at the befores and was wondering whether they were the afters :) But those closeup's really show what it really looks like close up :) Slick and deep black, good job!
 
I appreciate the compliments, thanks guys...



The paint correctly so easy because my pads were BLACK after half a panel. I washed so often.... The paint was light in some areas though and the owner knew. All along the side of the hood, barely visable though, the paint was just about gone. There was also a patch on the trunk...



Overall the car is a classic... I was amazed at the swirls that were hidden prior to wash/clay. It's amazing what some waxes will hide...
 
gmblack3a said:
Very nice work! I'll bet thats one fine machine out on the open road.



I've driven a 635csi recently, and yes, they do haul. 20 years ago, BMW made one awesome machine and to this day, they continue to do so....
 
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