Thread: 330xi Interior and Exterior Detail

I lucked out with the weather here in Minneapolis, MN. This time last year I couldn't winter prep my own car as snow already started to fall.


However, with weather projected to be in the high-40s and low-50s so I jumped on the opportunity to complete a customer's car.


It's an Orient Blue Metallic 2002 330xi (with a manual transmission might I add - very hard to come by) with about 120,000 miles. However, after cleaning it up it was evident that it's been well maintained.


As the car arrived:








Some deep scratching from gravel along the bottom sides of the rear bumper and rocker panels



Diffusor




Door sill would be later cleaned with 1Z Cockpit Premium (an awesome AIO product).


Looks decent from about 15feet away



Starting with the wheels and tires.
Cleaned with Sonax Full-Effect and various brushes.



Dwelling and reacting



Griots Garage 4-Finger Mitt in action



Scrubbing out the fender liners with 1Z Blitz 1:4



Tires dwelling with Autoglym Custom Wheel Cleaner



Removed the license plates to clean behind them



Engine bay was pretty dirty

Cleaned with 1Z Blitz 1:4 and protected with 303 Aerospace Protectant


Exterior was begins using Gilmour Foamaster II and a concoction of 1Z Blitz and Chemical Guys Citrus Wash and Gloss



Greaching in the tight areas with a Swissvax Detail Brush



The car was then hand washed in 1Z Blitz and CG Citrus Wash and Gloss

Stripped and ready for claying


Grimey exhaust tips were initially cleaned with steel wool - would later be finished to a bright shine with P21S Polishing Soap (sorry, forgot to take a pic, but this was one of my favorite improvements)


It always amazes me what can be done with a thorough wash


Clay time with Uber clay, soap was used as lubricant.


Car was washed again to remove any soap residue.

Griots Garage Waffle Weave drying towel used to dry after the excess was removed with a small electric leaf blower


The paint being as hard as it was didn't recieve as much damage as I figured it would however, various swirl marks, scratches, random isolated deep scratches, rock chips, water marks, dents appeared, and an overall lack of gloss was apparent.

Front fender before

After


Before

After


Front door before

After


Took a break to work a bit on the interior as I was fatigued quickly by applying so much pressure.
The interior was one of the cleanest (besides my own car of course )






Marks underneath the floor mats



Various grease spots and staining were removed or reduced






Seals were cleaned up


Fraying threads clipped off from the mats

Qtips for the tight areas


RIDS remain

But the smaller stuff removed


Passenger side C-pillar before

After


Lower door panel before

After


Last step protection of choice was Aquarts Nano Coating.

Lots of other work that I didn't cover. But had to bust it out. You can figure out what I missed by reading the products list down below.

Total time was approximately 10 hours on Saturday and 5 hours on Sunday.

Finished shots:







Products used:

Cleaning:
1Z Blitz APC
Chemical Guys Grime Reaper APC
Lusso Glass Polish
OPT Metal Polish
P21S Polishing Soap
Uber Blue Clay Bar

Interior:
1Z Cockpit Premium
Chemical Guys Fabric Guard Protectant
Chemical Guys Liquid Leather
Chemical Guys Stain Extractor

Last Step Protection:
Aquartz Nano Coating
Prima Hydro Spray Wax

Pads:
Uber 5.5inch blue finishing pad
Meguiar's DA MF Cutting disc

Polishes:
Menzerna Power Gloss compound
Menzerna Final Polish (85RD)

Protectant:
303 Aerospace Protectant
Autoglym Vinyl & Rubber Care
Black Wow Pre Wow

Tools:
Gilmour Foamaster II
Griot's Garage 4-Finger Mitt
Grit Guard
Kwazar Mercury Pro .5L Trigger Spray Bottles
Rapid Reel Wheeled Cart Garden Hose Reel
Swissvax Wheel Brush
Swissvax Leather Brush
Swissvax Detail Brush
Uber Yellow Wash Sponge
Porter Cable 7424XP

Towels:
Chemical Guys Fluffer Miracle Supra MF Towel
Griot's Garage Waffle Weave Micro Fiber Drying Towel
Uber Hi Tech Glass MF Towel
Various workhorse towels

Wash:
Chemical Guys Citrus Wash and Gloss

Wheels and Tires:
Autoglym Custom Wheel Cleaner
Sonax FE Wheel Cleaner
Gloss It Signature Tire Gloss

Great work Chase! BMW metallic paint is a PITA to take pictures of defects isn't it?

It sure seems like the boys at BMW cannot lay down a flat coat of paint to save their lives
They seems to have TONS of orange peel

O ya and I have BMW with LOTS of orange peel

Originally Posted by TLcoats

Great work Chase! BMW metallic paint is a PITA to take pictures of defects isn't it?

Thanks Tim; haven't heard much from you - you must be staying busy. I agree, BMW metallic paint is a bother. I love what Aquarts nano does for metallic paints though; really makes it pop.

Originally Posted by Bjkearns

It sure seems like the boys at BMW cannot lay down a flat coat of paint to save their lives
They seems to have TONS of orange peel

O ya and I have BMW with LOTS of orange peel

Yeah, the E9x is way worse than the E46 from an orange peel standpoint. Kinda surprises me; the factory must rush the paint curing time or something.