2004 Mini Cooper S

[Nica]

This vehicle belongs to the owner of the Porsche I detailed. Again he wanted top notch products to be used and I was more then happy to provide it for him.

2004 Mini Cooper S

Interior Process:

Vinyl and rubber:
I used Meguiars #40, but prior to it I gave the entire vehicle a nice wipe down with Meg’s APC mixed with water 10:1.

Carpet:
Meguiars APC used it on the carpet. I scrubbed with a brush then extracted it with my shop-vac.

Leather:
Wolfgang leather care cleaner and conditioner

Exterior Process

Engine bay:
Used P21S Total Auto Wash full strength and dressed with Stoners Trim Shine.

Wash:
I used Zymol Clear Auto Bathe with two bucket method and the white ShMITT.

Clay:
The vehicle was in rough shape, tar, sap and bunch of other stuff stuck on it so I used Red Clay Magic, the vehicle was in need of a clay.

Polish

Wet sand – 2000grit sand paper
Menzerna Power Gloss Compound – Metabo – Meguiars Cutting Wool pad – 1500rpm
Menzerna 106FF – Metabo – Menzerna Orange Pad – 1500rpm
Menzerna Final Polish II – Metabo – Lake Country White Pad – 1500rpm

Prepping for wax:

Zymol HD cleanse applied by hand and removed by hand


Wax:

1 – Coat of Zymol Concourse Wax applied by hand and removed by hand

Rims/wheel wells/Tires:

For the rims I used P21S gel formula agitated with my Swissol wheel brush. After rims where cleaned I finished them off first with Zymol HD cleanse and toped off with 1 – Coat of Zymol concourse Wax
For the wheel wells I used P21S Total Auto Wash full strength
Tires and wheel wells were finished off with Stoner Trim Shine

Exterior plastic peaces/trim:

I used Meguiar’s Trim Detailer

Glass:

Stoners with glass Cobra micro fiber then used Zymol HD cleanse and topped off with 1 – coat of Zymol Concourse Wax


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[Nica]

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Brinkman in action

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sorry about the dust

 

[Nica]

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[Nica]

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Inspection and what I was up against:

 

[Jimmie]

You made that Mini look great. It looks like it would be fun to do a Mini. Work but still fun.
Curiosity question: It seems like you're using a lot of Red Clay Magic (last couple of details) when you've got a lot of "Riccardo"????

 

[Nica]

Some wet sanding:

Now for some taping:

Random pictures inside my garage:

 

[Nica]

Random pictures outside:

 

[klumzypinoy]

You turned that Cooper around That engine bay was filthy, well everything was filthy, but the engine bay stood out as the filthiest.

 

[DanielSwe]

Photo feast, man. That turnaround....hmmmm.....should ask you to move over here to be a 3rd partner in the detailing business my friend wants me involved in.

 

[devst8]

it's funny because I will detail the EXACT same car soon. My gf's friend bought the exact same mini (same trim and color) and I offered her a wash & wax.

Does the grey have flakes?

nice job on it nontheless nica!

 

[Al-53]

Carlo's my Friend..your skill's are are awesome....the more I see your work the more they upgrade in craftsmanship..your tape job is the best ...so precise...your correction skills is tops...

you may be the next Paul Dalton..and I am not kidding...you take pure pride in your work...I see it in every post you make....you take it to heart to do your best..and you do...

The Cooper looks great...as all your work does...

Keep up the good work..I enjoy reading your posts

AL

 

[pirex]

Nice work right there The mini looks like new! I love the reflections on the gray, hard color to get reflectiv. It has a nice glow, hard to explain what I mean It came out great! The interior is sweet! Nice work again, Nica!!

 

[Nica]

Jimmie - Thank you for the compliment, the reason I went with the Clay Magic is becuase this vehicle required more bite to it to remove a bunch of contaminents that were stuck on it. The Ricardo clay bar has a nice bite but not as strong as Clay Magic. Actually it was the same pease of clay I used on my friends Porche, had it handy in the garage and I knew that these vehicle had never been detailed the way I detailed it so that's why I went with Clay Magic and not Ricardo. Oh and my Ricardo clay are almost gone, a few friends of mine came over and took a bunch of my stash...they paid of course but good thing I got a few goodies coming

klumzypinoy - Thank you, yes the I did a little extra on the engine. The vehicle is so much fun to drive and the sound of the engine is nice. This particular vehicle has the turbo and man can it go. Fun, fun vehicle to drive. My wife want's one of these and she told me that I had better due a good job on it Glad you like the results.

DanielSwe - hahaha yea I over do it with the pictures but I hope you guys don't mind. Actually I'm starting to get a little better at taking good pictures not shaky blurry pictures hahaha. Thank you for the compliment, I love business

devst8 - Thank you for the compliment, now does the grey have flakes? Oh yea tons of it, but let me tell you this vehicle is alot of work. The roof is a pain, not sure exactly what it's made of but I had didn't think I would have to go with a wool pad over it, it's tough clear coat oh but get this every time I wiped with my microfibers it would leave very minor micro marring. So for the roof I had to use one of those junior micro fiber towels and even then I still getting very fine micro marring. You can actually see it in some of the pictures of the roff. The rest of the body was the same, tough clear coat and that's why I had to go through the steps..well I'd be curious to see what you think of the Mini when you do it but I found the clea coat to be some what tough and yet so touchy.

Al-53 - My home boy Al, man thank you so much for the big compliments my friend really means alot to me. The Brinkman works like a charm, thank you once again bro.

pirex - Thank you for the compliment my friend, yea I know exactly what you mean about grey and the reflection . The interior turned out nice too, glad you liked it buddy.

 

[02CAMSS]

Great job!But I still do not see anything extra special about Zymol

 

[Nica]

02CAMSS - Thank you for the compliment, Zymol well it's all a personal preference. I personally don't mind Zymol but I'm looking forward to there higher end waxes to compare and see with my own eyes.

 

[joe.p]

Those little bimmers look like fun to detail..i like the darker gray paint it looks nice and wet with a warm glow..very nice reflection also

your prep work is top notch

 

[DanielSwe]

Man, you don't overdo the picture thing, I would love to provide more pictures too but it's hard during work hours. Many of those I have provided so far are taken by the youngest salesman at work for our internet site.

Love your work and your photos, keep 'em coming.

Daniel

 

[Nica]

joe.p - Thank you bro, but you know what they say about detailing it's only as good as the prep work. So I spend that extra time and effort on the preping getting it close to perfect as possible, besides I love being in the garage and polishing so I take my time and enjoy doing it. I've been pleased with the results I've been getting so far and as Al said the more I do the better I seem to get. Oh the clearcoat on this little vehicle was very interesting, tough on the body and soft on the roof? Maybe it was just me but that's what I noticed. I'd love to do another one to compare.

DanielSwe - Glad you like the pictures my friend, I just wished I could take really good pictures to do the vehicle some justice but oh well eventually I'll get a better camara but most importantly I need to learn how to take better quality pictures. Taking pictures takes time, but like I said I'm all about taking my time no rushing just enjoying every panel as I go. Thank you for the incuragement Daniel, really means a lot to me.

 

[klumzypinoy]

klumzypinoy - Thank you, yes the I did a little extra on the engine. The vehicle is so much fun to drive and the sound of the engine is nice. This particular vehicle has the turbo and man can it go. Fun, fun vehicle to drive. My wife want's one of these and she told me that I had better due a good job on it Glad you like the results.

I bet Mini Coopers are fun cars. I drove one when I used to be a valet. A lady drove it, and it was an S with the supercharger. I don't know if they have turbo ones here in California. It's a sweet car, but I was just parking it. I wish I could have taken it to a track or something . And, you're welcome!

 

[alban61]

Awesome detail, Carlos!! I agree, that car looks wet and glowing. Very nice interior job and that engine bay really grabbed my attention! Guess it was the contrast from filthy to stunning!
I agree with Al-53. Reading your write-up, the polish job from compounding to the jeweling stage (3 steps) and Zymol cleanse and wax by hand, looking at the end results.....it was Paul Dalton-esque. Great job, bud!