BMW 535 Dark Gray Metallic coming up

I

inDetail

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I have a BMW coming up. Of course it's a scratch resistant clear coat. It has tons of spider webs and swirls from poor paint care. I went through all the options with him and he wants the least expensive exterior package. Of course that means no compounding or polish or glazes. So that leaves an AIO. I educated him on what an AIO actually does. It is actually a paint cleanser with mild polish and a sealant. With an AIO you will not get removal of defects it will only cleanse the paint maybe make the defects a little less noticeable.Making the paint and defects shiny. I explained that he will still see the defects. When the sun hits you are going to see them.
So here is the plan
I use compressed air to blow out all the loose dirt, leaves and the such out of tight places.
Take care of the rims and wheel wells.
Spray the car down with a pressure washer from a distance to loosen any stubborn surface dirt.
Spray the car down regular hose to rinse of any loose dirt that the pressure washer lifted up.
2 bucket wash with CG Citrus Wash and Gloss
Dry
Clay with medium duty clay and lube.
Wash again since I'm going straight to an AIO to remove any clay residue
Apply Menzerna Full acrylic jacket or Autoglym Super resin Polish. (I like the way they both handle metallics.) via PC with white pad or a microfiber pad to attempt to get a little extra bite out of the AIO. I don't want to go with an orange pad and induce more swirls or haze the paint. Buff out via PC (I will have to test pads to see which one gives the best results. Before the AIO actually flashes out turn the PC off and wipe the AIO in the direction of the panel ( ie fenders front to back, doors top to bottom. I'm considering letting the whole car dry before buffing off the AIO because you can only work the AIO for so long and it will allow time for it to fully cure. I'm not sure if I should prime the pad with distilled water or actual pad primer to help extend the AIO work time. I'm guessing the pad primer will interfere with the AIO sealant so distilled water might be best.
2 coats of Pete's 53 to make sure I did not miss a spot waxing
Final wipe down with QD.
I know the paint is gonna pick up some gloss and shine from the AIO. The wax is gonna add some depth and shine but I'm still gonna have all that work over defect filled paint that the client does not want fixed because it's not in his budget. He has seen my test spots on my car. I have one for each "package" I offer. Simple wash and clay, wash clay and AIO, and full paint correction. So he has seen the differences.
Any advice would help.
 
Sounds like he know that he gets what he pays for... don't worry about correcting defects if it does not bother him or he does not want to pay for it.

As far as short working time with AIO products, I have only used Black Fire TPnS and it seems to work forever until it essentially becomes opaque in which case the direction specifically say to wipe it from the surface. You can greatly improve moderate swirls with an AIO product though depending on your pad and technique. I would not shy away from using orange light cutting pads - they have proven to be excellent pads for 1 step corrections and I use them all the time! I have never done a grey BMW, however if it is anything like the Sapphire Metallic Black you will not mar the paint with an orange pad.

Good luck, take some before/during/after pics and post em up in the Show N Shine section!

-Zach
 
inDetail said:
He has seen my test spots on my car. I have one for each "package" I offer. Simple wash and clay, wash clay and AIO, and full paint correction. So he has seen the differences.
Any advice would help.
Click to expand...

Do you mind posting pictures of you packages? So I can get some ideas of what pictures I need to take.
Thank you
 
Sounds like you’re fulfilling your customers needs at the time. That’s the best you can do. You can't force everybody to do a paint correction even though most of the cars that come through need it. It’s just not for everyone. Many people are not as worried about it and most people are not use to paying that kind of money.

For instance, my neighbor has a black BMW that I spent a day on polishing it out right even though she just wanted a more basic service. I was told the car was in good shape but of course it was covered in overspray, fallout and lots of machine wash marks. So I decided to go to town on it for her and she was amazed of course. You can guarantee she would have never paid for a detail like this but at least she appreciated it and knows it exists. Now I’m not saying to go polish the client’s car for free, just showing an example of what the standard person wants is limited because of lack of knowing what they are really going to get.

Other reasons for not doing paint correction,

Some may doubt the process, some may not trust anyone to touch their car, some may just not have the funds.

Also the average person uses in-expensive car washes so they will just have those defects come back anyways. They may have this mind set.

They may have been duped in the past by a car wash or detailer who promised a lot and didn't deliver

and it goes on
 
Thanks For the advice.
Yes gauging and judging what customer needs and expectations is a task. I think it basically comes down to educating a client having them make the choice for themselves. Showing them this is what you are going to get for that $. He is not paying me for a full correction I'm aware of that. I'm just like the rest of you you want to give them the best bang for their buck but you don't want to get under paid either.

I do appreciate the pad advice. I'm gonna test with orange foam and a microfiber cutting pad. The nice thing about his BMW. Not much taping to do at all. The times when I have used the Menzerna was on a softer paints. A Honda and a Toyota and it cut a lot of swirls with a white pad. Then again that's a AIO on conventional clear coats.
 
Yea that task sucks some times. Relating it to the customer is half the battle. Most of my clients are car enthusiasts so they generally have a good understanding of detailing. Some of them have been detailers even. The average person however is used to seeing advertising for the happy super sudsy poly clay triple polish with double buff and wax for 69.95. So it’s hard to wow them when they think their car is going to get made love to for 69.95. Anyways, good luck with the detail
 
I understand all about that. I'm hooking my mother-in-law's Honda Oddessy. So for $100 my father-in-law is getting a deal because he rather have me do it then the chop shop he usually goes to. I have yet to see that van without swirls even after the $99 "detail" It will be good pics for a portfolio and a steady $100 twice a year.
 
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