[lkraven]

Well, thanks to Picus and DavidN's excellent stickied posts, as well as some personal attention from Picus, I detailed my freshly delivered 335i.

Here is the indepth report.

Prior to this detail, and me being a non-professional, I had amassed an ungodly amount of detailing crap, much of which I didn't even get a chance to use.

Over the last month or so, I've detailed more than a dozen cars, and boy am I sick of it They all turned out great, but I experimented with all kinds of chemicals, methods, and polishes. I spent... let's just say that I spent an obscene amount of money on detailing gear, and if I wanted to, I could probably start up a detailing business and not need to refill anything for a couple of months (or more).

This report will detail the steps taken to detail my 335i from start to finish, all chemicals used, and lessons learned for those who intend to follow. The entire process took a painstaking 12 hours over 2 days. I won't be doing this again until I get another car, but I wanted to make sure the car got off on the right foot.

It was delivered undetailed, still wrapped in plastic, with foam on the doors, as I specified. It had sap on it, lots of dust, and a grease marker on the windshield that said, "NO DETAIL".

The before pictures don't really do any justice to what a lousy shape it was in, but it is attached.

First was a Z7 wash with Optimum No Rinse (ONR) wash added, using a two bucket system with Grit Guards and sheepskin mits.

The wash went without any drama.

Second, I clayed the car using Pinnacle Ultra-Clay. I had used Z18 clay before on other cars, and while it didn't kneed very well, it did a very good job of picking up contaminants.

The Pinnacle clay kneeded a lot better, it was more elastic-- but it was also much more unforgiving. I was using ONR as a clay-lube, and applying it pretty liberally, but the pinnacle clay would "catch" even under very light pressure and on plenty of lube and mar the paint. By the time I was done claying, there were a dozen or more easily visible marks left by the clay. I never had that problem with the Z18.

I was planning on polishing anyway, but if I hadn't been, or didn't have the equipment to do it, the marks would have been very difficult if not impossible to remove.

After the clay, I pulled the car into the garage and did an ONR rinseless wash using 2 buckets. My method is as follows:

I dip a sheepskin mit in and glide over an area about 2x2. I take a microfiber towel that has been soaked in the wash bucket and rung out, and follow over the area again. The damp microfiber picks up most of the remaining water and dirt. I dry the area with a waffle weave microfiber that remains dry throughout the process because the first MF towel picks up most of the moisture.

Mit and damp MF go into rinse bucket (with a little ONR mixed in) and are rinsed out before going back into the wash bucket.

I went through 2 mits and about 6 MF towels. The Waffle Weave towel was still mostly dry at the end, and the car was basically clean.

Next, I taped up the car using painters tape. I hate cleaning polish out of trim.

Next, to get the clay marks off, and because I wanted to prep the paint, I used Menzerna PO85RD on a Porter Cable (PC) at speed 5. It tooks the marks right off, worked in really easily (some dusting), and left the surface literally glass smooth.

The paint was about as virgin as it was going to get at this point.

Minor tirade, BMW's paint looks great, but it is not at ALL flat. The orange peel is a little ridiculous compared to other cars I have detailed. The polish helped a little bit, but I doubt it really flattened the paint-- it probably just polished out some surface micro-marring, making it look more reflective than it is. It's too bad-- if the paint was truly flat, the finish would have been a dozen times more stunning.

Anyway, after the PO85RD polish, I applied Z-AIO with the PC on large flat surfaces and using a hand applicator on the smaller areas (mirrors, handles, etc.)

Z6 sprayed over the car to remove everything and prep for Z5Pros with ZFX.

I put on 2 layers of Z5Pro w/ ZFX for coverage. After the second layer, I did not notice any more depth or reflection, and by this time, I was dog tired.

Finished off the final layer of Z5Pro with Z8-- and this stuff is absolutely amazing. It made the car "pop". The flake took on amazing life, and it made the car positively glow. I can't get over what a difference the Z8 over the Z5Pro did.

I was going to top with Chemical Brother's Pete's 53 Paste Wax, but decided against it. The Z8 finished car looked plenty good enough, and would be easier to maintain. I also felt that with the orange peel given to me by BMW, the car wouldn't be able to truly appreciate a layer of paste-wax-- the concours look that is so stunning on super-flat single-stage paint and wax was never ever going to happen on this paint. I did with what BMW gave me, and I am very happy with the results.

Thanks again for your guidance, Picus.

Finished Images Here:

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=59044

[Detailed Image]

Excellent work. Now your maintenance steps should go much smoother and you'll preserve your new car finish that much longer.

Congrats on the new car purchase!

George

[Brunotheboxer]

Congrats! Looks great.

[canucklion]

Hey, I've seen your posts on autopia, very informative

Originally Posted by Detailed Image

Excellent work. Now your maintenance steps should go much smoother and you'll preserve your new car finish that much longer.

Congrats on the new car purchase!

George

[picus]

Nice job; it looks fantastic. I agree about BMW paint, btw... hideous orange peel.