BMW 545i Silver Gray Finished

[Totoland Mach]

This car was already an 80% car and I finished bringing it to 100%. Low mileage 545i with Sport package that only had minimal stone chips on the front.

Wet sanded the headlight lenses to bring them back and just a few places on the hood. Otherwise, I used a 3M finish pad on the rotary with Optimum Hyper. That combo got rid of surface scratches and didn't require a ton of extra work. Following that, I used Pinnacle XMT Glaze with carnuba which worked fantastic until the final power wash. The LSP was our shop standard of Meguiar's #26.

Here's some in-process shots:

Headlights and front end after Optimum and the Festool on rotary. That machine is perfect for doing areas where the DeWalt is cumbersome.

I'll move to the outside shots because they really show the silver gray color the best. This is the 1st car I've worked with in that color and it's very nice.

I re-washed another silver 545i that's been sitting for a couple of months and we threw another coat of #26 on it to freshen it up.

The snow is finally melting and the temp was near 50 degrees...darn near t-shirt weather LOL.

See Ya Folks....

I'm starting on a monster tomorrow: Black Metallic 745 Li with horrible paint. Should be a time killer...that's for sure.

Toto

 

[Nica]

Toto

Man I love that lift you got there to use, I wish I had that in my garage would sure make detailing allot easier.

Toto

I like this picture Toto, looks wet :awesome: and the reflection is very nice:righton: .

 

[ScottB]

nice cars ... need to offer forum special pricing !! (ha,ha)

 

[Totoland Mach]

Thanks Nica: that Snap-On lift is one of the biggest assets to the shop (besides compressed air and lighting). I really can tackle the lower portions of the car, especially those plastic bumpers! I had to re-program my brain to learn to start from the bottom of the car and work up...but I've got it finally.

The weather seems to have improved remarkably today and for the rest of the week. Man, I am so glad to see above freezing temps cause I still power wash outside before the LSP.

Toto

 

[Nuke33]

I love that color looks awsome great job, Dont forget to post pick of the monster hehe!

 

[Juztang]

Great job as always Toto!

 

[ltoman]

can i ask - how did you do the headlights, toto?
bomb job, btw!!!:righton:

 

[Gary Sword]

Another bimmer bites the dust in Toto's never ending battle of the bimmers.

Great job as always Toto!

 

[P1et]

I like that color a lot. Great work!

After owning two black cars right now, I'm sick of it. I honestly saying drives me insane. When we get another one, I would love for it to be something around to what the BMW is. Not silver, but something darker than that. Classy looking, without the headaches of black.

 

[NEC]

Looks really good Mach!

 

[Sevenrd]

Beautiful work as always, Toto.

 

[Totoland Mach]

can i ask - how did you do the headlights, toto?
bomb job, btw!!!:righton:

I use the 3M Trizact 3000 grit velcro backed paper and velcro hand pad if the lenses are not too bad. If they are heavily pitted, I use the same 3000 grit on a Snap-On air orbital sander. It's a wet sand product and I also use it on the front bumper area if there are scratches, etc.

After dulling the lenses, I go to a polish pad and Optimum Hyper on the Festool in rotary mode. You could use a Porter-Cable for the same function but it will take longer.

I think the AG folks have a headlight restoration kit that has 2-3 different grades of sand paper and a drill attachment foam pad. Same theory: sand the surface of the plastic lenses and polish out.

Toto

 

[AL417]

I always enjoy reading your posts and seeing your results in the pics you take. Thanks for taking the time to do this for us. Your work environment is very impressive and your skill level just keeps increasing with every car you do. Keep up the great work!

 

[sparkie]

Toto as always absolutely beautiful work.

 

[Woob]

That Festool must be really fun to use. 3M has Velcro backing blocks for Wetsanding?

 

[Totoland Mach]

3M has a kit for the Trizact 3000 paper which includes a velcro hand pad plus the material pads. It's pretty expensive for the product (I think the dealer said around $30), but it will last quite a while for touch-up wet sanding. Most of the auto paint suppliers handle it.

Festool's biggest feature is the functionality of going from random-orbit to rotary where you need the extra power. It's become a real asset to the shop.

Toto

 

[kansasdn]

Toto-Another great job--after visiting your shop I came to realize that my knees wished I had one of those lifts---

 

[Totoland Mach]

Great to see you too!.....that lift is definitely a time saver for working on the bottom half of any car.

Toto