2003 BMW 525i Sport Paint Correction

[bmwohio]

So I 'popped my cherry' back in the middle of December doing my first 'correction' on my wife's 2009 MDX (thread --> http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...al-2-weeks-ago-here-s-my-first-go-around.html ) and I was a little excited/nervous to do my daily driver.

Hearing from my fellow BMW enthusiasts and from this forum, I came to find out that BMW clear coats are considerably hard to correct. My one friend recommend I try a 'fine polish' for the last step on my BMW because I had gotten spoiled with the soft clear coat on the MDX....he could not have been more right.

This entire job took me about 12 hours over 2 days when we were spoiled with some 60 degree weather here in Columbus, OH. Along with the Menzerna 4500 (PO85rd) I also got the book 'combo' or Mike and Renny's books. I also had used the LC Hydros on the MDX and ordered a few of the LC CCS pads.....was not really a fan of those, and I think I'll stick to the Hydro's.

Wash (Ice wash)
Mother's Wheel and Tire Cleaner
Megs Endurance Tire Gel
Dry (leaf blower and Griot's pocket waffle weave)
Clay (Griot's garage)
PC 7424XP with LC Hydro's and CCS Pads
Megs 105
Megs 205
Menz 4500
Klasse HGSG

Wax topper: Natty's Red Paste Wax and Pinnacle Liquid Sovergn (with a fun experiment, if you want to try and test your wax 'eye')

Onto the detail!

Here is the culprit......2003 BMW 525i Sport with 107k miles on the clock!

Dirty and ready for a wash

Wash

Dry

The pre-inspection...prepare to close your eyes....oh the horror!

It's aweful! Make it stop!!

The workspace

 

[bmwohio]

Onto the 'AFTER' pictures!!! .....finally! It was just sprinkling a little when I pulled it out of the garage, so you can see a few drops on the paint.

This is just with Klasse, no wax until the next day........

Finally got a wax topper on it!!!

Here is a fun experiment I did.....I did half with Natty's Red Paste Wax and the other half of the car (right down the middle) with Pinnacle Liquid Sovergn.....can you tell the differnce??? Wax pictures are all the ones below here.........

The final before and after money shot: :buffing: :buffing: :buffing:

 

[Wors]

Wow, the paint was in pretty bad shape. Great work on capturing the paint condition.

The results are amazing. Very good work.

 

[Pinpoint_Precision]

Great turn around. Good job. Job well done a nice pictures. Before/after pictures is a must and you did that. Did you do your engine as well?

 

[Corey@OptimalDetailing]

Being that I'm very new to this, I've never been able to notice a difference in those that put on a sealant only, versus sealant+wax until this post. That black is deep after your coat of Natty. Beforehand, it still looked good, but what a difference!

 

[zmcgovern45]

Nice job!

 

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Amazing work. I love what you did to bring it back to a proper black BMW.

 

[Fishincricket]

Being that I'm very new to this, I've never been able to notice a difference in those that put on a sealant only, versus sealant+wax until this post. That black is deep after your coat of Natty. Beforehand, it still looked good, but what a difference!

Totally agree!!

 

[Pureshine]

Great job car looks great!

 

[JSou]

I love these well documented threads. Great job.

 

[cartman57]

Amazing difference, nice work!

 

[bmwohio]

Great turn around. Good job. Job well done a nice pictures. Before/after pictures is a must and you did that. Did you do your engine as well?

No, I did not knock out the engine yet.....My wife was with our 20 month old son all weekend, and she was ready for me to come back in the house :buffing:

Being that I'm very new to this, I've never been able to notice a difference in those that put on a sealant only, versus sealant+wax until this post. That black is deep after your coat of Natty. Beforehand, it still looked good, but what a difference!

Yea, it's quite a difference, thanks!

Wow, the paint was in pretty bad shape. Great work on capturing the paint condition.

The results are amazing. Very good work.

Nice job!

Amazing work. I love what you did to bring it back to a proper black BMW.

Totally agree!!

Great job car looks great!

I love these well documented threads. Great job.

Amazing difference, nice work!

Thanks all.....I felt a lot more comfortable this time around with the orbital and the products.

 

[thebamboo23]

awesome job!

 

[M0nk3y]

Well done Kale, you're just a like a sponge and soak everything up!

 

[bmwohio]

awesome job!

Thanks :dblthumb2:

Well done Kale, you're just a like a sponge and soak everything up!

Kyle, thanks for all the help along the way, and being my 'phone-a-friend' when I needed it :buffing:

 

[TheCougarGuy]

Great work:xyxthumbs:

 

[bobble]

JB is actually easier to correct than some BMW colors, I've owned 2 JB cars. If you'd like to try a simpler regime next time pick up some Menz 106 aka SF4000 for a quick one step works really well on darker BMW colors.
As far as the wax test prety hard to tell which is which. If you'd like to try another PB product try the natty blue(get a sample size liquid) it's stupid easy to use, can do a whole car via machine in 30 minutes. I use the paste version a lot. I do like liquid Souveran's appearance but honestly it does not last very long and I only use it on the wifes white MBZ C350 now beacause of it and it sits garaged all week.

 

[mhphoto]

Great turnaround on one of my favorite Bimmers!

 

[MattyL]

That looks phenomenal man.

I picked up a 540i a couple months ago but the weather lately hasn't cooperated enough for my first correction, so I was curious:

(i.) How many passes were you making with the 105 & 205, respectively?
(ii.) What hydrotech pads did you use & how many did you go through during the correction?
(iii.) Did you install the rear lip or is that from the factory? I ask bc i'm thinking of pulling the trigger on one of the $50 pre-painted lips from Taiwan they have on Ebay. There is one seller who is supposed to be on point w/the paint match from what i'm reading on some of the forums, but still very skeptical.


Thanks

 

[smooth]

Nice work !