BMW M3 Detail

[Woodie]

This weekend I got to spend some quality time with a 4-door M3.

The car before being washed and clayed, showing signs of normal dirt and grime from daily driving.











Some evidence of previous detailing/waxing efforts





The now standard pre-foaming



What was quite amazing was how differently the foam reacted on the normal metal painted areas versus the non-metal (not sure of actual material) front fenders. More on the fenders later.



After washing and claying









Got an idea of paint thickness to see if there were any specific thin areas to watch out for. The paint was fairly standard, except for the right rear panel which had some repair work done to it and was therefore returning much higher readings. As mentioned earlier, the front fenders aren't metal, so my PTG which can only handle ferous and non-ferous metal surfaces did not play along. All readings are reflected in microns.

Front fender



Normal range





Slightly thinner, but still within spec



Repainted panel



Then came plenty hours of work. I was focussed on the task at hand, so didn't take any photos along the way.

Unfortunately, the car went into limp mode (not electronically - see photo below), and I couldn't move it out of the garage for proper full sun shots.



Some shots I managed to get of the finished product while still garaged and partially lit by natural light.



















And finally - my companion for the day. One of the most affectionate, friendly and chilled cats I have ever come across.



Thanks for looking.

[calypso]

Nice work Woodie. You test any of the new Megs products on this car?

[jagged]

Excellent work bud

[PrevanP]

Very nice Woodie

[Woodie]

(07-02-2011 07:26 AM)calypso Wrote:  You test any of the new Megs products on this car?

Unfortunately not, and the downside of doing a mobile detail is that if you've left something at home you have to make do without it. The wheel polishing kit would have been perfect for the M3 wheels.

[zckid]

Nice turnaround Woodie.

The car looks superb, esp. with this color.

Not seen many red M3 locally, most being grey, white and very few black here.

[Carn]

Nice work Sean

What did you end up using on the correction front, as well as LSP wise?

[Rayner]

Morning Sean.... very nice work. Which LSP did you use?

Looking forward to meeting some of the guys at the end of the month...

[Jughead]

Great work on a monster of a car ... Great work Woodie !!!

[springbok]

Nice work Woodie. Also look forward to hearing what products you used.

Are you happy with your PTG?

[Lambchop]

Very Nice Woodie

[Woodie]

(07-02-2011 06:32 PM)Carn Wrote:  What did you end up using on the correction front, as well as LSP wise?

(08-02-2011 07:24 AM)Rayner Wrote:  Morning Sean.... very nice work. Which LSP did you use?

(08-02-2011 09:57 AM)springbok Wrote:  Also look forward to hearing what products you used.

Thank you all.

The LSP is Blackfire Wet Diamond. The correction was done using , and I am under strict instructions not to provide any further information at this stage.

(08-02-2011 09:57 AM)springbok Wrote:  Are you happy with your PTG?

Very happy. Good quality, light and easy to use. Worth every cent I spent on it.

[Woodie]

Seeing that the product has now been officially launched, I have had the censorship muzzle removed and can now confirm that this detail was done with the Meguiars DA Microfiber Correction system.

More information is available here.

[Carn]

(17-02-2011 09:41 AM)Woodie Wrote:  Seeing that the product has now been officially launched, I have had the censorship muzzle removed and can now confirm that this detail was done with the Meguiars DA Microfiber Correction system.

More information is available here.

Ok so the burning question...What sort of correction levels did you achieve with the kit?

[Woodie]

(17-02-2011 12:30 PM)Carn Wrote:  Ok so the burning question...What sort of correction levels did you achieve with the kit?

The system really liked the non-metal front fenders on the M3 and I would rate it as close to 100% correction. In general, I would say that I saw 95% correction.

On the flip side, the system didn't play nicely with the aluminium bonnet where I reckon correction was closer to 90%.

[onyx]

Beautiful colour to work on!

Interesting piece if kit the Megs DA MF system - i could do all correction work via DA without the need to pick up my rotary. Is the system as quick at defect removal as with the rotary?