BMW 123d - Alpine White - New Car Correction + Winter Protection Detail

jonjay · Oct 31, 2011

Alpine White BMW 123d - New Car Correction + Winter Protection Detail.

Winter is coming and it’s going to be bad I can feel it in my waters. My good Slick friend bought a BMW 123d in Alpine White and unfortunately BMWs preparation of the car leaves a lot to be desired. With winter coming and the recent bad winters we have been having it was imperative to protect the car ready for the winter months.

With my BMW I have chosen the wax route. Collinite 476s following by 3M quik wax every 2 weeks when she gets washed for the winter. With Slicks BMW we have gone for a more hardcore sealant route.

BEFORE DETAIL INSPECTION

Products
Wash n Drying

AutoFinesse Lather Shampoo [body and wheels]
AutoSmart G101 All Purpose Cleaner [Plastics and Rubbers]
AutoSmart Tardis [body and wheels]
Valet Pro Snowfoam [body]
Chemical Guys Strong Wash [bugs + Tar]
Chemical Guys Orange Degreaser [arch liners]
Valet Pro Bilberry Wheel Cleaner [wheels]
Autobrite Polar Express drying towel [body]
Various microfibers [body]

Body Work

Dodo Juice fine polyclay [body]
AutoSmart Reglaze [everything]
Menzerna Intensive Polish (P106FA) [correcting and refining]
Britemax Pure Cut [Compounding]
AutoFinesse Tripple [hard to reach areas]

Sealants and Waxes

Werkstat Prime Acrylic [LSP]
Werkstat Jett Acrylic [LSP]
Werkstat Acrylic Glos [LSP]
AutoFinesse Tripple [Door shuts and interior shiny plastics]

Plastics, Rubbers and Glass

Autosmart Finish [tyres]
Autoglym SRP [exhaust]
3M Glass Cleaner [glass inside and out]
AutoSmart Finish [Plastics and arch liners]
WD40 [Plastics and Rubbers]

Tools

Dodo Juice Spin Doctor Rotary
Megs G220 DA
Karcher Pressure washer + Snow foam Lance
Elite Car Care Heavy Polishing Pad
Chemical Guys Hex light polishing pad
Swissvax Detail Brushes
EZ Detail Wheel Brush
3M 3434 Masking Tape

jonjay · Oct 31, 2011

CLEAN STAGE

The car was well looked after by Slick since he bought it to it was a breeze to clean.

Degreaser rinsed from bodywork. Evidence of a good wax applied previously that hasn’t quite gone.

INSPECTION & DECONTAMINATION

Without Halogens on you couldn’t really see the swirls.

jonjay · Oct 31, 2011

With Halogens

Wolfs needed for iron deposits on the white paintwork.

CORRECTION

We started to correct the body work. This BMW was no exception in terms of paint hardness. Pretty aggressive combination used on the areas of concern. I really like Britemax Pure Cut!! A really underrated product in my view and one that should be considered in the toolbox. Only complaint I have is you need to spur the pad a lot to ensure you don’t inflict your own damage on the paint. I must say a majority of the correction was done by DA with 106FA and 2-3 passes. The more aggressive combination was used on the trouble areas.

jonjay · Oct 31, 2011

At this stage the car was looking great. Natural shine really came through and you could really see clear reflections that just were not there before.

jonjay · Oct 31, 2011

TIME TO SEAL THE DEAL

The Werkstat system was chosen as the weapon of choice for the oncoming winter. As we had 48 hours we could really go to town with the car and apply multiple layers.

All seals were wiped down with WD40.

ALL IN ALL we applied:
1x layer of Werkstat Prime Acrylic
4x layers of Acrylic Jett and
5x Layers of Glos Acrylic

….over a 24 hour period.

jonjay · Oct 31, 2011

GOING THE EXTRA MILE

Calipers and hubs were painted with Hammerite high temp black paint.

Arches and suspension were degreased, cleaned and treated.

Engine bay was given a wipe down with APC and dressed.

jonjay · Oct 31, 2011

RESULTS

After 2 days of solid work.

jonjay · Oct 31, 2011

Two epic days of cleaning my best mate’s car, both of us went all out making sure we covered both the outside, inside and underneath. It was an experiment really to see how far we could go in terms of correction and protection in 2 days to fit in what we want to achieve. Yes we could have spent more time on the paintwork but overall 99% of the defects were gone so to gain that tiny bit more gloss was pointless especially when we cleaned the arches, suspension, engine bay and treated all the interior parts.

Detailers Notes
- White cars are hard to detail because in light conditions you cant see the swirls!

D.K · Oct 31, 2011

Cant belive the amount of swirls for such a young car, good job Maz

lm_gauci · Oct 31, 2011

Building up quite a BMW portfolio now Maz, need to get another added to that

Looks quality.

alx_chung · Oct 31, 2011

Great work!
Alex

jonjay · Nov 1, 2011

Thanks Alex!

Liam, you and your weekend work lol delaying things!

n_d_fox · Nov 1, 2011

Stunning work Maz, looks very special in the afters... not surprised by the befores to be honest, how BMW have the nerve to send cars out like that is beyond me ! Looks like pretty low levels of orange peel for a change though

The Jeffs should work perfectly and protect the car well into spring next year. Clark at Polished Bliss is a big fan of their products and uses them to great effect :thumbup:

Also glad to see things are still going well for you on the detailing front, have been thinking more about doing something along the same lines myself recently but its difficult to make the change without the regular work being guaranteed. Think i'll have to look at weekend work first and see how that goes.

chris285 · Nov 1, 2011

Great work as usual

gezmeister · Nov 1, 2011

Amazing job you've done

bubbles1 · Nov 1, 2011

WOW ! That's just incredible! My only concern is that if my car was that clean i'd never want to take it out in the rain never mind the salty winter roads lol!
Must be very satisfying having done such a good job. :1st:

JordanMk3 · Nov 2, 2011

Looks great lads!! Great work!! BMW's really are things of beauty!! Especially when well looked after!!

jonjay · Nov 3, 2011

Thanks guys really appreciate it.

Husbandofstinky · Nov 3, 2011

How old/how many miles has the car covered?

Even in the pictures the paintwork looked pretty poor.

jonjay · Nov 3, 2011

Husbandofstinky said:
How old/how many miles has the car covered?

Even in the pictures the paintwork looked pretty poor.

The car was an ex demo car and driven for several months by a BMW employee before Slick purchased the car. When he first got it upon inspection it wasnt too bad but the thing with white is you never really know the condition until you get a really sunny day or under some decent spot lights. Car cleaned up well but we always knew that BMW probably done a rubbish job keeping the car clean and the way they prepare cars before sale is as you would expect, pretty poor.

Car was clean in general but needed some knowhow to get car back to like new condition and read for the winter.

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