I did these two cars just over three months ago. Both cars were in Glasgow – a long way to go, but work’s work.
1. BMW 3-Series – 330Ci
Less than a year old, suffering from a multitude of sins (heavy swirls, scratches), all brought about by the worst dealer preparation I have ever seen – someone had even run a rotary over the light clusters, swirling them heavily! The paint also felt very gritty, so I steeled myself for a long session. Here’s the process…
Wash (all done in heavy rain!)
Whole car rinsed at moderate pressure using the Karcher
Alloys treated with Meguiars Wheel Brightener cut 4:1, left 60 secs and rinsed with hose
Whole car foamed with Poorboy’s Slick n Suds (4:1 mix in foam gun) and left to dwell for 5 mins
Whole car rinsed at moderate pressure using the Karcher
All trims and inside the arches treated with Meguiars Safe Degreaser cut 10:1
Whole car washed with Poorboy’s Slick n Suds using lambswool (bodywork) and microfibre (wheels and inside arches) mitts, and the two bucket method
Whole car rinsed with an open-ended hose
Car then moved inside the garage and dried with waffle weave towels
Clay
Blackfire Clay (aggressive – no point wasting time)
Blackfire Clay Lubricant
Excess lubricant mopped up with waffle weave towels
Polish
Whole car taped with 3434, then machine polished with PC, using Menzerna IP and Lake Country orange light cut pads. The IP removed some minor cobwebbing and heavy marring from the claying step, but hardly touched the deeper swirls and didn’t do anything to the scratches. Switched to Menzerna Power Gloss and Lake Country orange light cut spot pads, and went at it hard, with maximum pressure and speed. Four goes later, I estimate that 75% of swirls and none of the scratches were removed, and that was it! Holy crap, BMW paint is hard! I showed the owner the results, talked through the options, and agreed to complete the rest of the car to the same standard. A lesson for others here – if you can’t complete a job to the standard you or the customer expects, say so as soon as you become aware of it – be honest and the customer will appreciate it. That said, I felt terrible, first car I’ve done that I was truly unhappy with at the end of the day. So, I knocked a few hours off the price, and I will be returning with a rotary once the art is mastered. To help mask the remaining defects, Menzerna Finishing Touch Glaze was applied by hand. All residues were buffed with Poorboy’s Super Thick n Plush towels.
Protect
All bodywork protected with Menzerna FMJ, buffed using Poorboy's’ Mega Plush towels
All exterior trims treated with 303 Aerospace Protectant, applied using a microfibre pad and buffed after 5 mins with waffle weave towels
Exhaust tips polished with Autosol and protected with Meguiars NXT All Metal Polysh, both applied using Poorboy’s Work Towels
Tyres dressed with Blackfire Long Lasting Tyre Gel
And here’s the pics…
Total work time was 10 hours, of which 7 hours were spent machine polishing in a cramped garage. As I said, I was unhappy with the final results, although the customer was pleased, and commented that the car looked vastly better, even though ~25 % of the original defects were still visible under 3W Luxeon lighting (looked great in daylight though!). Live and learn.
Polished Bliss vs BMW 330Ci + Leon Cupra R
Linear Mode
