BMW 118D M Sport - Single Day Enhancement Detail

[n_d_fox]

This car is well maintained / serviced as its a company car but the owner basically drives it and uses it as a tool (she isnt "into" cars)... so, on that basis this gets cleaned when it gets serviced or when its really bad and then it gets taken to the splash n dash for a £5 "clean"...

Surprisingly then the paint actually wasnt in too bad a condition. I guess due to the lack on human contact it has come into... besides the usual swirls and odd bit of marring it was actually in reasonable condition.

It has seen paint during its life though, an accident saw to the whole front end and front doors being replaced and painted (its not the greatest paint job in the world close up but its passable from 3 feet away)... orange peel in keeping with the rest of the BMW factory finish :thumb:

Order of the day then, deep clean and decontamination followed by enhancement polish protection.

Front end and lower half of the car was sprayed with Auto Finesse CitrusGrime remover while the rest got covered in Megs APC cut 4:1


DSCF1115 by n_d_fox, on Flickr

This was left to dwell while the wheels were cleaned using Megs Wheel Brightener and various brushes.

Before:

DSCF1117 by n_d_fox, on Flickr

After:

DSCF1125 by n_d_fox, on Flickr

Car was then rinsed (zero sheeting or beading during this stage) and foamed with a strong and thick Megs APC mix


DSCF1119 by n_d_fox, on Flickr


DSCF1121 by n_d_fox, on Flickr

This was left to dwell for a good 10 minutes then rinsed.

The whole car was then sprayed down with Wolf's Decon Gel including the wheels.


DSCF1127 by n_d_fox, on Flickr

This was left to do its thing for about 15 minutes... left for longer due to the brake dust still left on the wheels but also due to how little "cleaning" this car has seen.

Car was then rinsed thoroughly and foamed using AutoBrite Snow Foam (no pics of this)... then rinsed before being clayed.


DSCF1134 by n_d_fox, on Flickr

This was the clay after half of the bonnet. There wasnt a lot of tar on the car but a fair amount of dirt being pulled out of the paint.

Car was then rinsed once again... some sheeting being seen now from the Last Touch...


DSCF1135 by n_d_fox, on Flickr


DSCF1139 by n_d_fox, on Flickr

Car was then dried using DoDo Juice SN towels and chunky MF towels from Johnny at Zaino Europe (not sure of the make)...

 

[n_d_fox]

Machining time now... we decided as there were 2 of us working on the car that we could tag team it and have time for a 2 stage correction. Steve therefore went over the car with Megs 105 on a Lake Country cutting pad to cut out all the defects and I followed with DoDo Juice Lime Prime on a Megs polishing pad which refined the finish nicely and added some much needed gloss to the paint.


DSCF1141 by n_d_fox, on Flickr


DSCF1140 by n_d_fox, on Flickr

So with a wipe down and quick assessment everything was looking good. We decided to go with Collinite 476s (2 coats an hour apart) due to its durability and needing something to stand up to the use this car gets (up and down the motorway all week).

So, after to layers and a final wipe down here are the finished shots

Bonnet:

DSCF1142 by n_d_fox, on Flickr

Roof:

DSCF1145 by n_d_fox, on Flickr

Tyres trimmed with Megs Endurance and Wheels sealed with CG's Wheel Guard.


DSCF1146 by n_d_fox, on Flickr

 

[n_d_fox]

Various afters:


photo 1 (2) by n_d_fox, on Flickr


photo 3 by n_d_fox, on Flickr


photo 4 by n_d_fox, on Flickr


photo 6 by n_d_fox, on Flickr


photo 7 by n_d_fox, on Flickr


photo 8 by n_d_fox, on Flickr


photo 9 by n_d_fox, on Flickr


photo 10 by n_d_fox, on Flickr


photo 11 by n_d_fox, on Flickr

Plan is to now have the car maintained regularly so we should be able to prevent it getting into that sort of state again... also going to be adding an engine bay "restoration" into the mix at some point... you wouldnt believe it if i showed you !

Thanks for looking, Nige

 

[jonjay]

Superb writeup there nige and quality work.

Is that a new 3M rotary I spy?

 

[n_d_fox]

Cheers Maz... was a long day but we managed to fit in a wash on our own cars and some winter protection on my brothers Golf while we were at it.

3M rotary, yeah, something my bro picked up for a very good price recently. I'm still using the Silverline but will be looking out for a 3M as its a really nice machine to work with.

Hows things going at your end ? All good I hope...

Nige

 

[jonjay]

Another one for you Nige. How you get on with colli? coming near the end of my pot and thinking to possibly replace it with supernatural hybrid or bouncer22. All three are hybrid waxes but guessing they are similar? What would you do?

 

[n_d_fox]

I'll admit mate, in looks i dont rate Colli 476s at all... i just dont think it adds anything to the finish compared to other waxes in a similar price bracket. Durability is obviously its biggest pulling point and thats the reason we used it on this 1 series. I also probably buffed it off fractionally before it had fully cured as i hate the way it needs working to buff completely... its not imo the easiest of waxes to work with. Buffing after about 20 minutes seems to work well and the beading since has been pretty strong so we're happy it will protect the car as well as we needed it to.

From the ones you mentioned above and from what i have seen of them i would go with Bouncers22. I am yet to see a wax give the looks and sheeting / beading abilities of a wax in its price banding.

I asked a question on DW a little while back of which waxes people would go for with a £50 price limit. From the comments posted and the poll i used i'll be getting Bouncer 22 and Victoria's Concours shortly to add to the kit bag for general waxing duties and the wow factor

 

[Blanco92]

I don't think the Colli 476S adds much to the finish either. But... it is also my belief that the wax is just there to sit on top of the paint for protection. I've seen some very good results of cars that have been machine/rotary polished, had CG JetSeal 109 applied and then the Colli 476S on top. Best of both worlds, you get the wet look shine from the 109 and the durability from the 476S!