Black BMW X5 Started 10' shot versus closeup

[Totoland Mach]

Finished the white 545i and couldn't be happier. The dealer put this on the rack for taping and wet sanding....

Looks pretty fair from 10 feet

Then...put some halogens on this fella...lo' and behold...Houston, we have a swirl problem!

More ugliness:

And some more work to do:

I'll start compounding tomorrow. Wet sanded a few spots this afternoon.

Stay Tuned .......

Toto

 

[Nuke33]

Looks like you have your work cut out for you hehe

 

[Gary Sword]

I'm sure it will look great when your done Toto.

 

[Jimmie]

I've seen a bunch on here, and don't think that there were any ones worse. It will be fun to hear what you do.

 

[R1DC2]

wow. cant wait to see the finishing results!

 

[supercharged]

Are those swirls so bad that car needs wetsanding?

 

[Totoland Mach]

Are those swirls so bad that car needs wetsanding?

Supercharged: Nope! Typically, I wet sand the front bumper and the front portion of the hood. It helps with the small sand/stone chips. Especially so since you can't use a lot of rotary on the plastic bumper. While doing the front bumper, I also sand the plastic headlight covers and compound them out with the Festool to make them look new.

Also, along the side there are some moderate scratches and the wet sanding will remove a bunch of that, leaving the rest for the rotary.

I probably spend 15-20 minutes with the wet sanding and on this X5, I'll do it by hand. I use the Snap-On air orbital sander for whole hoods, trunks, etc.

Toto

 

[supercharged]

Supercharged: Nope! Typically, I wet sand the front bumper and the front portion of the hood. It helps with the small sand/stone chips. Especially so since you can't use a lot of rotary on the plastic bumper. While doing the front bumper, I also sand the plastic headlight covers and compound them out with the Festool to make them look new.

Also, along the side there are some moderate scratches and the wet sanding will remove a bunch of that, leaving the rest for the rotary.

I probably spend 15-20 minutes with the wet sanding and on this X5, I'll do it by hand. I use the Snap-On air orbital sander for whole hoods, trunks, etc.

Toto

Thanks, Toto.

 

[P1et]

Toto, how much clear do you think you're taking off everytime you do a car that's in that bad of a shape?

 

[Nica]

Toto

That looks terrible wow, I don't think that a PC would do it here. I can see why a rotary is required, I'm sure this is a walk in the park for you Toto. I'm really looking forward to the process and write up, I enjoy seeing your results sir Toto.

 

[Bobjones]

What do you use to wet sand Toto????

 

[Totoland Mach]

Toto, how much clear do you think you're taking off everytime you do a car that's in that bad of a shape?

Not much! I just dull the surface which also removes light scratches. Here's a pic of the front fender of the X5

Partial compounding pic

All done with compounding and trying a new 3M swirl remover. Works great and is part of their Trizact System

Rear bumper compounded and used the Festool on rotary for safety. I also used the Festood for the concave portion of the rear hatch

Hood shot after compounding and the 3M Swirl Removal

The paint gave me fits for about 4 hours this morning. Everything I tried re-introduced swirls.... frustrating! The dealer said let's try this Swirl Removal kit from 3M: liquid + very soft pad. This seems to work and also eliminates a glazing step.

More pics as I take some after power washing outside.

Toto

 

[Totoland Mach]

Finally finished! The weather has been beyond awful....so cold that pressure washing the excess compound/glaze from body seams was impossible. So, I used a bucket of water and mf towel to remove by hand (slow, slow process).

Here's a few pics:

Interior shot:

2 more Bimmer's in the lineup to start this weekend.

Toto

 

[Gary Sword]

Very nice Toto! Do you dream about bimmers at night???

 

[abrcrombe]

Dang that is a nice x5. I love that color interior too!! But, I bet it is hard to keep clean.

 

[Totoland Mach]

Very nice Toto! Do you dream about bimmers at night???

Heck no Gary! That would be nitemare time after seeing them every weekend.

Well, maybe an M5 or 6 would be ok...as long as it isn't black LOL

Got another low mileage Bimmer to start tomorrow...dealer said it's gonna be an easy one with less than 20/k. He said he's saving the awful metallic black 740 for last.

Toto

 

[R1DC2]

Wow... Amazing results!

 

[Russecu]

Great results Toto!

 

[Gary Sword]

Heck no Gary! That would be nitemare time after seeing them every weekend.

Well, maybe an M5 or 6 would be ok...as long as it isn't black LOL

Got another low mileage Bimmer to start tomorrow...dealer said it's gonna be an easy one with less than 20/k. He said he's saving the awful metallic black 740 for last.

Toto

Yea Toto, In your nightmares those bimmers keep coming at you faster then you can get them out and they all need wet sanded.