Hello from Charlotte, NC

ac4000

ac4000

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Just started getting back into keeping my cars clean after many years and all roads seemed to lead here. I've already spent many hours reading this site and have been very impressed by the unusually high signal to noise ratio.

When I was a kid, I used to enjoy spending hours washing and waxing the (extended) family's cars with (probably way too much) old school wax and tons of elbow grease. I kept that up through college, but gradually started to do so less and less, eventually convincing myself that "zip waxes" were sufficient and then that just taking my car to the car wash was preferable (I blame L.A. for that last transition).

Recently, however, two projects (completing a rust repair/repaint on an LS400 and reconditioning the paint on my M5) lead me to start thinking about all this stuff again. My how things have changed in 15 years! The more I read, the more I feel that this is going to be a lot of fun. Since I like to spend a lot of time on mechanicals, I doubt I'll be near perfection on the detailing side of things, but damned if I won't try!

So I've purchased Mike Phillips's ebook and placed a big order with AG, which should arrive on Friday. Hopefully, in the very near future I'll start putting the research into practice. Thank you all for providing such a great resource!

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Welcome to Autogeek Online! :welcome:

ac4000 said:
Just started getting back into keeping my cars clean after many years and all roads seemed to lead here. I've already spent many hours reading this site and have been very impressed by the unusually high signal to noise ratio.
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We do our best to provide quality products, the industries best customer service with an online community of knowledgeable and friendly people always willing to lend a helping hand...


ac4000 said:
So I've purchased Mike Phillips's ebook and placed a big order with AG, which should arrive on Friday. Hopefully, in the very near future I'll start putting the research into practice. Thank you all for providing such a great resource!

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Thank you for your business!


:xyxthumbs:
 
Hello from Charlotte--Ballantyne area. Where in the Charlotte area are you?

So you just reconditioned an M5. I'm doing a full workover of my Jerez Black M3 right now. Trying to get rid of some water spots that go all the way back to purchase off the lot in early 2009.

EG
 
Thank you all for the welcome!

Elbow Grease said:
Hello from Charlotte--Ballantyne area. Where in the Charlotte area are you?

So you just reconditioned an M5. I'm doing a full workover of my Jerez Black M3 right now. Trying to get rid of some water spots that go all the way back to purchase off the lot in early 2009.
EG
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I'm in Davidson, and just about to start the M5 paint reconditioning, actually! Possibly this weekend, but I have a brake job and the LS to take care of first; either way, hopefully I'll at least have it somewhat clean before November's Cars & Coffee. It's black as well, but 086 Schwarz ... many generations earlier.

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ac4000 said:
Thank you all for the welcome!



I'm in Davidson, and just about to start the M5 paint reconditioning, actually! Possibly this weekend, but I have a brake job and the LS to take care of first; either way, hopefully I'll at least have it somewhat clean before November's Cars & Coffee. It's black as well, but 086 Schwarz ... many generations earlier.

M5.jpg
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Nice! Do I have my model numbers right thinking that's an E28?

My parents still have their early E39, which was the first BMW I ever drove. Decided then I was going to get one when/if I could someday. When the E9X M3 came out, I couldn't resist the "old-school" V8 (no direct injection, no forced induction) hitched to a 6MT. My car has no techno gizmos--no DCT, EDC, MDM, ZCP, or i-Drive. Just a drop top and leather.

I haven't done the Cars and Coffee thing. What kind of crowd is it? Are there many classic cars? My 2008 M3 is not modded and obviously not a classic or exotic. I'm not into showing it off. I'll probably take my first pictures of it after I've completed this recondition.

Actually, I should probably take a few "before" pics of the water spots. I'm currently waiting for some heavier-duty compounds and pads from AG. I also ordered some sandpaper, but I'm not sure if I'll use it.
 
Elbow Grease said:
Nice! Do I have my model numbers right thinking that's an E28?

My parents still have their early E39, which was the first BMW I ever drove. Decided then I was going to get one when/if I could someday. When the E9X M3 came out, I couldn't resist the "old-school" V8 (no direct injection, no forced induction) hitched to a 6MT. My car has no techno gizmos--no DCT, EDC, MDM, ZCP, or i-Drive. Just a drop top and leather.

I haven't done the Cars and Coffee thing. What kind of crowd is it? Are there many classic cars? My 2008 M3 is not modded and obviously not a classic or exotic. I'm not into showing it off. I'll probably take my first pictures of it after I've completed this recondition.

Actually, I should probably take a few "before" pics of the water spots. I'm currently waiting for some heavier-duty compounds and pads from AG. I also ordered some sandpaper, but I'm not sure if I'll use it.
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Yup, it's an E28, the one that started it all. Straight six and none of that driver assist junk, save for anti-lock brakes. Glad to hear yours doesn't have any of that--I didn't know you could even get new BMWs speced that way.

The Cars and Coffee crowd here is pretty relaxed, friendly, and definitely not pretentious. It's a far cry from L.A., where the cars were way more exotic on average (I often found Maseratis in the parking lot--not the display lot). I'm not really into the show car thing (though I take lots of pictures of my cars), and there's no way I would have parked in the display lot at the L.A. event. I figured it was the same here, at first, but soon came to realize this one's more about people sharing their love of their cars and cars in general. It's a lot more fun, actually, even if the chance of seeing a Rothmans 962 is pretty low. Heck, I took my M5 there a few months ago covered in dirt and people appreciated that I actually drive it!

Definitely take those before pictures; people will want to see the comparison. Hopefully, you won't need the sandpaper.
 
ac4000 said:
Yup, it's an E28, the one that started it all. Straight six and none of that driver assist junk, save for anti-lock brakes. Glad to hear yours doesn't have any of that--I didn't know you could even get new BMWs speced that way.

The Cars and Coffee crowd here is pretty relaxed, friendly, and definitely not pretentious. It's a far cry from L.A., where the cars were way more exotic on average (I often found Maseratis in the parking lot--not the display lot). I'm not really into the show car thing (though I take lots of pictures of my cars), and there's no way I would have parked in the display lot at the L.A. event. I figured it was the same here, at first, but soon came to realize this one's more about people sharing their love of their cars and cars in general. It's a lot more fun, actually, even if the chance of seeing a Rothmans 962 is pretty low. Heck, I took my M5 there a few months ago covered in dirt and people appreciated that I actually drive it!

Definitely take those before pictures; people will want to see the comparison. Hopefully, you won't need the sandpaper.
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You can get an E9X without all the techno gizmos I mentioned, but you can't get it, or any BMW as far as I know, without the Dynamic Stability Control (DSC). (I'm not sure if any cars are available without some version of it these days. I think the crash testers dock you some points if you don't have it.) The DSC can be turned off in my M3, but I haven't done it--haven't felt the need to go sideways.

The Cars and Coffee here sounds fun. I'll see if I can stop by in November. It would be a good way to start off a Saturday.

I can imagine L.A. is quite a different scene. My company is HQ'd there, and I make it out usually a couple of times a year. We spend most of our time in Pasadena, where nice cars seem very common. I found myself in Newport Beach for a few days last year, and I could almost smell the money. I had never seen a Ferrari dealership before. Never been to Malibu, or any of the festivities further up the coast.

I grew up in SC, but I lived in Northern VA after college until last year. I had a 75 mile loop out through horse country that went through Potomac, MD, and it was the norm to see at least one exotic and many other very nice cars on that loop.

I'll take some before pics and see what kind of improvement I can make.
 
Elbow Grease said:
I can imagine L.A. is quite a different scene. My company is HQ'd there, and I make it out usually a couple of times a year. We spend most of our time in Pasadena, where nice cars seem very common. I found myself in Newport Beach for a few days last year, and I could almost smell the money. I had never seen a Ferrari dealership before. Never been to Malibu, or any of the festivities further up the coast.
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I lived in West L.A. for nine and a half years. Ferraris, etc. are pretty much a dime a dozen in some parts. You get used to it and then it takes a place like Monaco to top it. That said, none of that is particularly impressive since the qualification is simply a large pocketbook. It did make for a heck of a Cars and Coffee, but on the balance, I think I prefer the relaxed attitude of the Charlotte event. Hope to see you there!

VASpartan said:
:welcome:from VA
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Thanks!
 
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