The Official AutoLavish On-Going Detail Thread - LIVE THREAD!

[jlb85]

Ahh, the E46 M3. Smiles, this is one of my favorite cars, the design is so balanced yet aggressive, it has all the performance needed, a great interior, and there is even a convertible and a pretty slick no-shift option. They are great on the road, and great on the track. They take to changes in wheels very well. You can fit large wheels and almost any design looks good on the car. There is plenty of high quality aftermarket support for the car. And their resale value holds well.

This is one of the cleanest customer's car we have ever seen.

I met this vehicle last year when I was giving a client a ride home. He had dropped off another of his vehicle at our place for some services, and we were driving him home. We were in my E36 M3, and he mentioned he had an E46 M3 in the garage. As soon as I saw it I knew this client was hard core. Purchased since new, this car had never been polished. The owner, using grit guards and good detailing products, had maintained the finish in almost perfect condition. The interior is mint, and the engine and everything else on the vehicle looked like it had never been on the road. Under 12k miles on the clock, nice mods properly done (by the same shop that works on my M3!). He mentioned this one could be next for us to detail. I thought all it would need were a few hours.

After the seasons changed, the owner contacted us to do it.


Upon arrival, the vehicle was in its typical ultra clean condition.

It had been driven in light rain, only the second time it had ever seen rain in its life.

Exhaust tips wouldn't need much.

We pulled it outside to start working. The sky was cloudy, which was perfect for this as we could work in the open (the car we had been working on previously that week was in a very tight space for us to work at, so this felt particularly good).

Here, the owner is explaining how the Alcon calipers took the number of pistons from 1 to 6 on the front.

Fikse anodized wheels will be cleaned with P21S gel only.

While Marc works on the faces and holes of the wheels with the 1" brush, I work on the barrels with the wheel brush.

Then tires and a rinse...

The 2 piston rear calipers poke through the rear wheel:

Starting to work on the engine. Here I am aiming at the backside of the radiator/fan module which can only be seen from behind the hood. But I know the dirt likes to hide there!

The easiest way to polish the hood of the E46 M3 is to take the top vent grill off. Just place a towel underneath to keep polish dust from getting on the engine per se.

 

[jlb85]

(continued 02 BMW M3)



Foaming all:

And rinsed. That was fast

After a light clay, we pulled it back in the garage. This is the only picture we have with anything on the clay.

We taped it up for polishing:

We started on the glass. Makita over the hard 3M backing plate over a special glass polishing pad and glass polishing compound:

Polishing was rather straight forward.

After polishing, a final wash to clear out crevices and remove oils:

Sealing the paint was done with Menzerna Power Loc on a gold pad

Wheels got the OptiSeal treatment:

As did the surfaces under the hood:

Plastics and rubber under hood was treated with 303:

Afters:

 

[jlb85]

(continued 02 BMW M3)



Sorry for the dirty lens! They really messed up the photos

Thanks for looking!

 

[jlb85]

Hi guys! Here is a new addition to this thread. Hope you enjoy!



2003 Lexus LS 430

Simply one of the best factory paints we have worked on. The finish on this Lexus felt silky smooth, corrected well, and finished down like a dream. The process today was to perform a quick correction and lots of refining to really step up the gloss.

Wheels get some cleaner:

And brush:

And rinse:

The exterior gets rinsed some and foamed some during washing:

And clayed some:

Polishing was a ballsy M105 on orange PC followed by 3M Ultrafina by rotary on a black pad.

Test section:

The goal was not perfection, and chasing out the last of the RIDS would have taken much longer both the correct and to refine.

 

[jlb85]

Time to pull out into the sun and inspect, and wash. Marc would return the next morning to apply a coat of Dodo Juice Blue Velvet:

Thanks for reading!

 

[jlb85]

1998 Nissan R-34 Skyline GT-R

The real deal. The cleanest car we have ever worked on. The owner has poured in time, sweat, and money taking this R-34 from Great to Legendary. AutoLavish was called upon to prep the vehicle for a show. No paint correction needed or wanted, just a nice cleaning and wax.

Now imagine how you would be feeling if this were your car, which has never been touched by anyone other than yourself, is in pretty much perfect condition, and is this particular car. That exactly how the owner felt. He was much relieved we treated the vehicle with the same level of care and delicacy as he did, and then some.


We arrive at location and proceed to start cleaning the hard things…

The vehicle was very clean to begin with:

Interior:

Starting by vacuuming as much of the dust as possible:

Looking mighty nice!

 

[jlb85]

(R-34 continued)

The engine before:

All done with the engine:

Crevices:

Now it is ready for a wash:

Wheels cleaned with just wash shampoo from the foam gun, done one wheel at a time:

Foamed with a light shampoo with extra sudsing foam:

Rinsed:

Then foamed and washed once more:

Rinsed again:

And dried with the leaf blower:

We sealed with this:

 

[jlb85]

(R-34 continued)


Nice and matte as the sealant hazes:

While that sets, we dress the tires:

Front dressed, rear not yet:

So by now you can tell it was very dark, so no good after shots. But expect a full paint correction on this baby sometime next year.

Wheels were sealed as well.

Thanks for reading! We hope you enjoy ☺

 

[bmw5541]

Jacob,

The work that both you and Marc put out on a consistent basis is just remarkable. Your attention to detail, is second to none.

I always love reading your write-ups. There is always something to learn from them.

Thanks again for posting for all of us to see your work.:dblthumb2:

 

[TheGLL]

You guys are sooo good and your write-up are always fun to read! :xyxthumbs:

P.S : I would do nasty things to that R34! drool:

 

[Rhudeboye]

+1 on both comments above. I'll add that I admire your appreciation of the autos you detail as well. Reading your comments on the M3 was better then what the writers of Road and Track put out.

With so few Skylines of that era in the states. I can only imagine the trust the owner must of had in you.

Too bad you didnt get a chance to take it on the HWY.

 

[jlb85]

Jacob,

The work that both you and Marc put out on a consistent basis is just remarkable. Your attention to detail, is second to none.

I always love reading your write-ups. There is always something to learn from them.

Thanks again for posting for all of us to see your work.:dblthumb2:

Thanks for the kind words! We really love to do this and we try to make it show. We also try to always have something different, or strange to talk about so the write ups are not just the same stuff over and over again (although there will always be repeat info in any write up).

So thanks for actually reading them through!
rops:

You guys are sooo good and your write-up are always fun to read! :xyxthumbs:

P.S : I would do nasty things to that R34! drool:

Thank you too! The R-34 is definitely a dreamer. The car is so functional, everywhere. It's style transcends off the wings of its performance, making it a very notable machine.

+1 on both comments above. I'll add that I admire your appreciation of the autos you detail as well. Reading your comments on the M3 was better then what the writers of Road and Track put out.

With so few Skylines of that era in the states. I can only imagine the trust the owner must of had in you.

Too bad you didnt get a chance to take it on the HWY.

Thanks Rhudeboye!

The Skyline is one of about 14 "legally" in the states, and no one had ever touched the paint except the body shop who did the restoration. The owner since has had us back numerous times to do some quick prep work before shows and such. He still has our original bottle of 1Z CP, some Red Mist, and a few other things from our first visit! He also referred us to the owner of the Vector W8 we did (expect a full write-up soon)

Next time the R-34 is out I'll try to get him to do a little pull and get some video THis will be middle of next year, of course, as the winter is in full effect up here right now.



Thanks to all once again!

 

[slickooz]

Great work jlb85. Amazing detail to everything. I was wondering what kind of power wash you were using? I want to get one for spring, and what kind of foam gun that u connected to the power wash?

 

[jlb85]

Great work jlb85. Amazing detail to everything. I was wondering what kind of power wash you were using? I want to get one for spring, and what kind of foam gun that u connected to the power wash?

Thanks, Slick!

We have a few electrical power washers. Nothing special, just plain Karchers. Some day we might get a fancy washer, but for now the cost is inhibitive.

The foam gun is the one sold here on Autogeek. It is a very sturdy piece and should last many years. Pretty straightforward to use. Definitely worth the price if you wash often. Makes washing lots of fun (even after hundreds of washes I still get a kick out if it), makes for great pictures (everybody likes a foamy car pic!). The foam gun will work on any power washer as long as you get the right adapter when you order (just tell them what washer you have).

Do you have large dogs? Foam makes giving them a wash much easier, with less soap, and with a easier rinse. Since you don't have to pour soap straight onto the dog's back and the foam does a great job of wetting the fur just enough, rinsing is very quick and easy. As long as the dog can handle the noise it should be fine with the wash. The foam does not spray out with much pressure at all, and the nozzle has an adjustable spray pattern.

 

[slickooz]

Thanks a lot for the info. Been looking for a power wash and a foam gun just to loosen dirt and clean the car after compounding and polishing.

Amazing work been read and looked at all the post in this thread and all of the cars came out great! Keep up the nice work. :dblthumb2:


I do have dogs but they are small dogs only 20 lbs are fine one even seems to enjoy getting a bath. lol

 

[Rhudeboye]

He also referred us to the owner of the Vector W8 we did (expect a full write-up soon)

I use to have a poster of the Vector. I read in a magazine that they never determined the top speed as the car kept trying to fly. Twice on the top speed runs the car lifted off. I think it was clocked at 240 on the best run. This car was also in a movie called Black Moon Rising.

Looking fwd to the write up.