Spring Detail: 2005 Carbon Black M3

GoCubsGo

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History:

This is my personal ride which I try to maintain pretty well since I am an Autopian, but Spring called for a full detail so here's the write-up.

There was some minor marring/RIDS on the mirrors, bumpers and a few panels. Overall it turned out great and I am now a big fan of Menzerna Power Lock, great sealant to work with (easy on and beyond easy off), it displays great depth and left the finish slippery as anything I have ever used. I had a sample tub of Dodo Super Natural I had not tried so I topped Power Lock with the DSN and it lived up to expectations.



NOTE 1: I conducted the detail in Michigan last week and the weather didn't cooperate for the after “sun” pictures. I drove back home to Chicago over the weekend, did a quick ONR wash then took the sun/reflection shots. BTW: After driving almost 300 miles through on and off rain barely anything clung to the finish, I am really happy with my LSPs.



NOTE 2: My $150 camera doesn't do justice to the wet look Power Lock gives off. This detail has justified the purchase of a DSLR camera (along with a photography class) from my end so I can illustrate better results going forward.



CORRECTION PROCESS:



Wash #1:

Gilmour Foamaster

DP Xtreme Foam Formula



Clay:

Sonus Green with ONR clay lube



Polishers:

PC7424 and PC7424XP (4" and 5.5" pads)



Polishes:

M105 or Menz PO83 as needed - LC Orange Pad

Menz P106FA on all panels (single pass) - LC White Pad

Menz PO87MC on all panels (single pass) - Uber Black Pad



Wash #2:

ONR (2 bucket method)



Final Surface Prep:

Menzerna Final Inspection (MFI) on all panels.



Sealant:

Menzerna Power Lock - Uber Black Pad (speed 2.5-3)

Applied back to back to ensure full coverage.

Additional layer added after 18 hour cure time.



Wax:

Dodo Super Natural x 2 - By hand





PROCESS WITH PIX:



The Lineup:

Lineup.jpg




Wash #1 (Foam Bath):

I added a little ZEP Citrus Degreaser to ensure the previous sealant/wax was removed.

Foam1.jpg




Foam2.jpg




Clay:

The majority of the panels had minimal levels of contamination, but the lower panels behind the wheels were as expected.

Clay.jpg




Engine Bay:

P21S TAW followed with CD2 Engine Detailer.

EngineBay.jpg




Interior:

Aerospace 303, leather treated with Zymol Leather Cleaner and Zymol Leather Conditioner.

(The lighting isn't ideal, but it turned out really nice)

Interior.jpg




Wheels/Tires:

The summer wheels are treated with 4-6 coats of FK1000P during the off-season.

The tires are dressed with Opti-Bond Tire Gel.



NOTE: I tried out Armor All Wheel Protectant a couple months ago (due to the hype) and initially it worked great, but was completely useless after 3 weeks. I had an extra can of the Armor All Wheel Protectant laying around so I used it up during this detail, but I won't be picking up any more.

Wheel.jpg




A Couple Pre/Post Correction Shots:



Bootlid (Before):

BL1-Before.jpg




Bootlid (After):

BL1-Post.jpg




Rear Bumper (Before):

RB-Before.jpg




Rear Bumper(After):

RB-Post.jpg




Left Front (Before):

LF-Before.jpg




Left Front (After):

LFPost2.jpg




Right Mirror (Before):

RMirror-Before.jpg




Right Mirror (After):

RMirror-Post.jpg




Left Mirror (Before):

LMirror-Before.jpg




Left Mirror (After):

LMirror-Post.jpg




Left Side (Before):

LS1-Before.jpg




Left Side (After):

LS1-Post.jpg




Left Rear (Before):

LR-Before.jpg




Left Rear (After):

LR-Post.jpg




Reflection/Sun shots:



Bootlid:

After-BL1.jpg




Roof 1:

After-Roof1.jpg




Roof 2:

(I don't wash my car here, just use the parking lot for my ONR washes...plus I love this shot).

After-Roof3.jpg




Hood 1:

Hood2-Post.jpg




Hood 2:

Hood1-Post.jpg




Right Front:

After-RF.jpg




Ride Side:

After-RS.jpg




Right Rear:

After-RR.jpg




Left Front:

After-LF.jpg




Left Side:

After-LS.jpg




Final Overalls (cloudy day):

After-Hood2.jpg




After-AFull.jpg




Thanks for looking.
 
artikxscout said:
car looks great. You have my dream car :)

Thanks, it was my 40th b-day present to myself last year and I could not be happier.



tdekany said:
Excellent work and a very nice car.

Thanks!



tlc0706 said:
Great work / Great car

Thank you much!



solekeeper said:
Nice addition with those ZCP wheels.



Very cool color, nice work.



I just got my e46M about 3 months ago :)



Thanks, OEM ZCP's are worth it (good eye btw). Congrats on your M3.



LS1-MEX said:
i love the m3......



Fun car to drive. Thanks!





My Canon EOS XSi will be here in 2 days so I hope to have some better shots posted soon.
 
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