Detailed: 2011 BMW 135i - Alpine White

Marc08EX

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Wheels/Tires:
Meguiar's Deep Crystal Car Wash on wheels
Meguiar's APC on tires
Meguiar's Hyper Dressing on tires
Swissvax Wheel brush for wheels, calipers and small crevices
EZ Detail Brush for wheel barrels

Wash:
Meguiar's D115 Rinse-free Express Wash and Wax
Meguiar's Supreme Shine Microfiber Towels

Clay:
Nanoskin Autoscrub Towel
Meguiar's Last Touch as clay lube

Paint Correction:
Rupes 21ES with 5" BP
Meguair's G100 / 3" LC Backing Plate
Meguiar's M101 / Meguiar's 5" Microfiber Finishing Discs
Menzerna PF2500 / Meguiar's 5" Microfiber Finishing and 3" Microfiber Cutting Discs

LSP:
Optimum Opti-Coat 2.0
Carpro Eraser for surface Prep

Interior:
Meguiar's Quik Interior Detailer
Vacuum


Finally, I had the time to detail my own vehicle. The defects were bugging me but thankfully, the vehicle color is white so it never stuck out like a sore thumb. Swirls weren't bad either so I wasn't in a rush to perfect the paint. Living conditions (apartment) and life obligations got in the way since I got my car. Then the dreadful scorching summer heat came along so I wasn't in the mood to detail when ambient temperatures reach 110F or above... Finally, the fall weather has arrived and it was more bearable to detail the car. Enough talk - let's get this show on the road!

Normally, I show a few pictures of the car when it's dirty but I always keep my car clean (we are detailers after all right?). In fact, I just washed my car a week ago and I didn't drive the car up to the point when I decided to detail it. It probably had minor dust but I wanted to make sure it's clean so I waterless washed the vehicle with Meguiar's D115 prior to starting my process.

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After waterless washing the car, I inspected the paint for the presence of bonded contaminants. The paint didn't feel like it had a lot of contaminants but I decided to clay it anyways. For this task, I used the Nanoskin Autoscrub towel with Meguiar's Last Touch as my clay lube.

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Now on to the polishing phase. The car didn't have a lot of swirl marks so for that reason, I decided to do a 1-step polish. In addition, the car is white so it really won't look as glossy as the darker colored cars. Also, I detailed another BMW alpine white before (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/show-n-shine/64204-detailed-2012-bmw-f30-328i-alpine-white.html) and the 1 step polish proved to be a perfect approach. For this 1-step polish, I elected to use Menzerna PF2500 with the 5" Meguiar's microfiber finishing discs along my Rupes 21ES with the 5" BP installed. Of course, I have my traditional DA (G100) hooked up with a 3" backing plate for those hard to reach areas. The car didn't have a lot of swirls but it had A LOT of RIDS. Some were very deep. For these RIDS, I decided to bust out the Meguiar's M101 Foam Cut Compound and used it with the same 5" Meguiar's microfiber finishing discs. This worked out great because majority of the RIDS were obliterated. I say majority because some were really deep. Some needed 2 passes while some weren't completely removed.

Equipment to be used: (Meguiar's M101 and G100 not pictured)

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Here are some in-process shots:

Passenger Side Door Before:
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Passenger Side Door Before:
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Passenger Side Door After:
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Driver Side Fender Before:
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Driver Side Fender Before:
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Driver Side Fender After:
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Driver Side Door's RIDS Before:
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Driver Side Door's RIDS Before:
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Driver Side Door After:
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Nasty RIDs/scratches on the Driver Side Rear Quarter Panel:
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After polishing it out and after taking this picture, I noticed there was another RID near the door handle.
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All polished out:
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After polishing the entire car, I was left with a dusty mess. So I re-washed the car to remove as much polishing dust as possible.

The next day, I wiped down the car with Carpro Eraser in preparation for the OC2.0 application. Here's the LSP to be used:
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After OC2.0 flashed and the excess removed, I let it cure for a day. Then I was left with a beautiful gloss and shine. The camera doesn't capture the same gloss and depth of the paint as the eyes can see. But it's understandable since it's hard to see it in white.

Afters:
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Check out the reflection of my banner!!!
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Photoshoot and Sun Shots:

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Gotta represent!!!
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Approximate time: 15 Hours.
Location: Phoenix, AZ

What do you guys think? Opinions, comments and criticisms are welcome!
 
Unbelievable Marc! I can't believe the amount of gloss and depth that white paint now posses! I feel like I can jump right in and go for a swim!

You really outdid yourself on this job and it really shows! Nice work buddy.
 
Marvelous work on that BMW it has so much depth unlike other white cars
 
Outstanding job MARC! Beautiful ride my friend:)
 
Very nice work Marc, great write-up as well! The after pictures (actually results) are very impressive.

Thanks for sharing,

Kind Regards.
 
Top work! :dblthumb2:
You really made that look super slick. What a gorgeous looking BMW - colour, rims, stance & beautifully detailed - Yum!!!
Awesome work!
 
Great job, white is definitely a hard color to get it to pop.

How did you like the Rupes and microfiber pads? It seem it's often recommended to stick within the Rupes system.
 
Great job Marc! Now that it's in proper condition, you can enjoy the drive now. The OC on white makes for easy maintainence and while it is harder to make pop, it is really nice when done right as you have done. I know how much thought went into the decision to buy that car and I hope you enjoy every minute of it.

Moment of silence for Opti-Coat. I wonder if the new stuff is jumping off the shelf?
 
With after shots, you were just showing off your car. haha Mate, job well done. Since I'm a newbie...I have one tiny question, why did you wash you car after polishing? Isn't Eraser wipe off enough? From what I have read is, polishes are water (based or solvent :|), wont the washing the car wash away polish??
 
With after shots, you were just showing off your car. haha Mate, job well done. Since I'm a newbie...I have one tiny question, why did you wash you car after polishing? Isn't Eraser wipe off enough? From what I have read is, polishes are water (based or solvent :|), wont the washing the car wash away polish??

When applying a coating you need to ensure the surface is bare and all polishing oils and remnants removed. Varying technique to ensure this include washing the vehicle or doing wipe downs with IPA, CarPro Eraser, GTechniq Panel Wipe, etc...
 
Great work my friend and great turnaround time! Your document and process is bar none!

Thanks a lot, Caleb!

Car looks really good now - nicely done:xyxthumbs:

Thank you so much Lawrence!

Unbelievable Marc! I can't believe the amount of gloss and depth that white paint now posses! I feel like I can jump right in and go for a swim!

You really outdid yourself on this job and it really shows! Nice work buddy.

Thank you so much, Mike!!! I'm glad to hear that you think my white paint is glossy. I just couldn't capture the gloss as much as I wanted to. I appreciate the kind words. :)

Marvelous work on that BMW it has so much depth unlike other white cars

Thanks a lot, James!

Outstanding job MARC! Beautiful ride my friend:)

Thank you so much, Sicoupe! Appreciate the compliments. :props: When will we get to see your car? I have a soft spot for Honda's especially Si's. :)

Very nice work Marc, great write-up as well! The after pictures (actually results) are very impressive.

Thanks for sharing,

Kind Regards.

Thank you so much, Tato! I'm glad you enjoyed the write up and pictures.

Looks great my friend! Very clean and glossy.

Thanks a lot, Richard! How have you been? Hope you're doing well. Thanks for dropping by and checking my detail out.

Top work! :dblthumb2:
You really made that look super slick. What a gorgeous looking BMW - colour, rims, stance & beautifully detailed - Yum!!!
Awesome work!

Thank you so much for the compliments, Aaryn! You're too kind!

Geez you can't beat that. Nice job Mark.

Thanks a lot, Belair!

Great job, white is definitely a hard color to get it to pop.

How did you like the Rupes and microfiber pads? It seem it's often recommended to stick within the Rupes system.

Thank you so much, af90!

I love the Rupes with the microfiber pads! It just eats the swirls away (especially on the 328i I did in the link). I don't think I'd do it any other way. I tried using foam when I first started but it just wouldn't touch the RIDS. It is recommended but a lot of people are using other pads with the Rupes polishers and I don't think there's any adverse effects.

Great job Marc! Now that it's in proper condition, you can enjoy the drive now. The OC on white makes for easy maintainence and while it is harder to make pop, it is really nice when done right as you have done. I know how much thought went into the decision to buy that car and I hope you enjoy every minute of it.

Moment of silence for Opti-Coat. I wonder if the new stuff is jumping off the shelf?

Thank you so much, Ray! That's what I'm after - easier maintenance. I'm hoping that the dirt wouldn't stick as much like people say and it will make cleaning easier and safer.

With after shots, you were just showing off your car. haha Mate, job well done. Since I'm a newbie...I have one tiny question, why did you wash you car after polishing? Isn't Eraser wipe off enough? From what I have read is, polishes are water (based or solvent :|), wont the washing the car wash away polish??

Guilty as charged!!! :D

Thanks so much Swift!

I washed my car mainly because the dust from my polishing step was just crazy!!! I didn't feel like wiping the dust off. The wash wasn't for decontamination purposes because that's what I used Eraser for. But it sure would help make the paint squeaky clean!!! So long as you use stripping wash with no wax additives like the CG Citrus Wash and Gloss/Clear.
 
White is such hard color to work with, especially when it comes to seeing the defects! Another awesome job Marc!
 
mark, that's one heck of a ride there and looks even better now that you thoroughly cleaned her up :xyxthumbs: . in regards to your last step of polishing before applying opti-coat 2.0.. how do you adjust your technique with the microfiber finishing discs without any slight marring left behind and what do you use to clean the microfiber discs as well?

p.s. did you get rid of the honda?
 
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