Detailed: 2012 BMW F30 328i - Alpine White

Marc08EX

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Wheels/Tires:
CG Citrus Wash And Gloss on wheels
Meguiar's APC on tires and wheel wells
Surf City Garage Tire Pro on tires
Swissvax Wheel brush for wheels, calipers and small crevices
EZ Detail Brush for wheel barrels
Meguiar's Ultimate Quik Wax on wheels

Wash:
CG Citrus Wash and Gloss via Foam Gun and 2BM
Meguiar's Microfiber Wash Mitt
Meguiar's Water Magnet
Metro Master Blaster

Clay:
Nanoskin Autoscrub Towel
Meguiar's Last Touch

Paint Correction:
Rupes 21ES
Meguair's G110v2 / 3" LC Backing Plate
Menzerna PF2500 / Meguiar's 5" Microfiber Cutting Discs
Meguiar's D300 / Meguiar's 3" Microfiber Cutting Discs
Rupes Quarz Gloss Medium Gel / Rupes Green Medium Pad
Pad Conditioning Brush
Craftsman 500W Halogen Lights
Brinkmann Dual Xenon Lights

LSP:
Wolfgang Fuzion

Interior:
Meguiar's Quik Interior Detailer
Vacuum


This vehicle was recently purchased and the owner wanted it refreshed. It had a ton of swirl marks and the paint was looking dull for this standards. Coincidentally, the owner is a fellow Autogeek. He usually details his own vehicles but he has more important priorities to take care of. I was honored that he chose me to do the detail for him. Knowing that he's a fellow Autogeek, I knew I have high standards to achieve. The owner chose to have a 1 step polish detail done.

Here's a picture of the car when the owner dropped it off.

01%2520Before%2520%25281024x497%2529.jpg


I really wanted to start the wash but the car was still hot. While waiting for the car to cool off, I decided to start cleaning up the interior. Here are some pictures of it:

Interior Before:
02%2520Interior%2520Before%2520%25281024x685%2529.jpg


Seat Before:
03%2520Seat%2520Before%2520%25281024x685%2529.jpg


I vacuumed the whole interior. Here are some after pictures:

04%2520Interior%2520After%2520%25281024x685%2529.jpg


05%2520Seat%2520After%2520%25281024x685%2529.jpg


After vacuuming the cabin, I proceeded to wipe down the interior using Meguiar's Quik Interior Detailer and a clean microfiber towel. This stuff rocks!

06%2520Interior%2520Wipe%2520Down%2520%25281024x685%2529.jpg


The sun was setting really fast and it was getting dark outside. I really wanted to get the wash process started before it gets black out.

As usual, I always get started with the wheels. Here are the tools I used for this task:

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Spraying Sonax Wheel Cleaner:
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Letting Sonax dwell and do its thing:
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Brushing the wheel face:
10%2520Wheel%2520Cleaning%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


Cleaning the wheel barrel:
11%2520Barrel%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


Cleaning the tires:
12%2520Tires%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


Cleaning the gas tank area:
13%2520Gas%2520Tank%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


After all this was done. I foamed the car to loosen all the dirt and proceeded with a 2 bucket wash.

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After washing the car, I used my Metro Master Blaster to dry the car as much as I can. Then I used my waffle weave drying towel to dry the remaining water.

15%2520Master%2520Blaster%2520Dry%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


After drying the car, I inspected the paint for the presence of bonded contaminants. There wasn't much rough spots on the car but I decided to clay it anyways. For this task, I used the Nanoskin Autoscrub towen with Meguiar's Last Touch as my clay lube.

16%2520Nanoskin%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


Now on to the polishing phase. The owner only wanted a 1 step polish. Since this is a German car, I wanted to switch it up and use a German polish appropriate for the car. I've heard great things about PF2500 being great for 1 step jobs so I chose this for the task. Also, I wanted to use this before it goes bad so what better time to use it than now. I elected to use my 5" Meguiar's microfiber cutting pad with my Rupes 21ES with the 5" BP installed. All the elite detailers are raving about this combo so I decided to give it a shot. Of course, I have my traditional DA (G110v2) hooked up with a 3" backing plate for those hard to reach areas.

Equipment to be used:
17%2520Equipment%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


I was using PF2500 like how you would use D300 on the Meg's microfiber system. Prime the pad then just add 3 pea size drops per section. This in conjunction with the microfiber discs and of course the Rupes 21ES removes swirls like no other! I can literally see the swirls melt as the pad passes. It's AMAZING!!! I'll let the pictures do the talking...

Driver Side Rear Door Before:
18%2520Rear%2520Driver%2520Door%2520Before%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


Driver Side Rear Door 50/50:
19%2520Rear%2520Driver%2520Door%2520Half%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


Driver Side Rear Door After:
20%2520Rear%2520Driver%2520Door%2520After%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


Driver Side Front Door Before:
21%2520Front%2520Driver%2520Door%2520Before%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


Driver Side Front Door 50/50:
22%2520Front%2520Driver%2520Door%2520Half%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


Driver Side Front Door After:
23%2520Front%2520Driver%2520Door%2520After%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


Remember to always work clean! Brush your microfiber pads after every section pass!

24%2520Cleaning%2520Pad%2520On%2520The%2520Fly%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


Driver Side Front Fender Before:
25%2520Driver%2520Fender%2520Before%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


Driver Side Front Fender 50/50:
26%2520Driver%2520Fender%2520Half%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


Driver Side Front Fender After:
27%2520Driver%2520Fender%2520After%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


Driver Side Rear Quarter Before:
31%2520Driver%2520Rear%2520Quarter%2520Before%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


Driver Side Rear Quarter 50/50:
32%2520Driver%2520Rear%2520Quarter%2520Half%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


Driver Side Rear Quarter After:
33%2520Driver%2520Rear%2520Quarter%2520After%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg
 
Trunk Before:
34%2520Trunk%2520Before%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


Trunk 50/50:
35%2520Trunk%2520Half%2520%25281024x685%2529.jpg


Trunk After:
36%2520Trunk%2520After%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


Passenger Side Rear Quarter Before:
37%2520Pass%2520Rear%2520Quarter%2520Before%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


Passenger Side Rear Quarter 50/50:
38%2520Pass%2520Rear%2520Quarter%2520Half%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


Passenger Side Rear Quarter After:
39%2520Pass%2520Rear%2520Quarter%2520After%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


I saw some weird sanding marks by the gas cap area. I later found out that the dealer tried to repair a huge chip and they probably sanded it without even trying to polish it up. *sigh*

Sanded Area Before:
40%2520Sanding%2520Marks%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


Sanded Area After:
41%2520Gone%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


Passenger Side Rear Door Before:
42%2520Pass%2520Rear%2520Door%2520Before%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


Passenger Side Rear Door 50/50:
43%2520Pass%2520Rear%2520Door%2520Half%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


Passenger Side Rear Door After:
44%2520Pass%2520Rear%2520Door%2520After%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


Passenger Side Front Door Before:
45%2520Pass%2520Front%2520Door%2520Before%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


Passenger Side Front Door 50/50:
46%2520Pass%2520Front%2520Door%2520Half%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


Passenger Side Front Door After:
47%2520Pass%2520Front%2520Door%2520After%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


Passenger Side Front Fender Before:
48%2520Pass%2520Fender%2520Before%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


Passenger Side Front Fender 50/50:
49%2520Pass%2520Fender%2520Half%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


Passenger Side Front Fender After:
50%2520Pass%2520Fender%2520After%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


Of course you cannot forget the side skirts:
51%2520Side%2520Skirts%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


The window sills were painted black and it was looking very tired...

Before:
52%2520Window%2520Sills%2520Before%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


50/50:
53%2520Window%2520Sills%2520Half%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


After:
54%2520Window%2520Sills%2520After%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


Same situation with the side mirrors:

Before:
55%2520Side%2520Mirror%2520Before%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


56%2520Side%2520Mirror%2520After%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


For the large flat panels like the hood and the roof, I chose to use the 7" Rupes medium green pads and it's corresponding Quarz medium polish. Of course I hooked up the 6" 21ES backing plate for this. For hard to reach areas, I opted to choose my G110v2 with a 3" LC backing plate. I used D300 with a 3" microfiber cutting disc for this.

After all the polishing was done, it was time to seal and wax the paintwork. To continue with the German theme, I opted to use Wolfgang Fuzion. A nice car like this deserves a nice wax like Fuzion.

57%2520LSP%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg


Letting the LSP cure. This is what it means to have a thin coat!!!

58%2520LSP%2520Application%2520%25281024x768%2529.jpg
 
After about 15 minutes, I wiped off the Fuzion and I was left with an amazing, jaw-dropping and eye popping shine. Here are some after pictures:

59%2520After%2520%25281024x685%2529.jpg


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69%2520After%2520%25281024x685%2529.jpg


Sun Shots:

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Photoshoot:

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Approximate time: 15 Hours.
Location: Phoenix, AZ

What do you guys think? Opinions, comments and criticisms are welcome!
 
Last edited:
That gloss is amazing. Great work!

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2
 
Awesome job.

Quick question after you clean the microfiber pad do you need to re prime it?

Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk 2
 
That gloss is amazing. Great work!

Thanks a lot, David!

Another awesome job Marc!

That would make any autogeeker proud :)

Thank you so much, Roshan! The owner was indeed very happy!

Awesome job.

Quick question after you clean the microfiber pad do you need to re prime it?

Thank you, dsg03gt!

Like Roshan said, you don't need to reprime it. The pad will always stay primed. You're just removing dead paint and dried out polish.

Fantastic work!

Thanks, 90sedan!
 
Great job in there mate ! What are the brushes used buddy , I ll need some of these one day .
 
Thank you, sproketser!

I'm not sure which one you're talking about but I'll list both of them. They are the Swissvax wheel brush and the EZ detail mini brush.
 
Dude, you nailed it. I never understood why some don't like Fuzion, as its gloss is amazing and its super easy to use.

It those are the wheels I think they are on that car, they are like 4-5k extra. Super sweet.
 
Awesome job:)

Thanks a lot, Sicoupe!

Dude, you nailed it. I never understood why some don't like Fuzion, as its gloss is amazing and its super easy to use.

It those are the wheels I think they are on that car, they are like 4-5k extra. Super sweet.

Thank you so much for the compliments, swanicyouth!! Much appreciated.

Yeah the car is indeed super sweet. I wouldn't mind having this car.

You ARE the man, Marc!

Beautiful job!!!! :props:

Thank you so much buddy!!! I appreciate the compliments a lot coming from you. It means I'm doing something right. :D

Love your writeups Marc! Great job.

Thanks a lot, Jake!!!
 
Damn marc hella nice job.
What did you think about fuzion on white?
 
Fantastic job you did. it Looks gorgeous. I don't know about the owner but if that were me I would so pissed if I had to put 15hrs of work into my brand new car.
 
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