Titanium Silver BMW X3 - Detailed (3rd time) by Lawrence

[lawrenceSA]

I last detailed this car in Jan http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/show-n-shine/97891-titanium-silver-bmw-x3-detailed-again-lawrence.html and it had subsequently returned to the panel beaters after some drunk driver crashed into it


I needed to clean up the typical mess most body shops tend to leave behind (sanding marks, buffer trails, swirls, fillers, wax in cracks etc ) from the right hand side of the car, and then give the rest of it a really light polish to ensure everything looked the same.


I detailed the car shortly after the owner had taken a trip to the see the snow in KZN in the beginning of August, and so things were dirty :lol:


The first order of business was to get the engine bay looking a bit better. Here are some pictures of what it looked like before.

Equipment - Karcher K7, Mothers Fenderwell Brush, Daytona Large + Small, Autofinesse Hogs Hair Brushes, MF towels, Electric Blower
Clean - Carchem Citrus APC @ 1:5 though a foaming spray nozzle left to dwell, agitated, pressure rinsed, blown dry
Dress - Autofinesse Dressel applied and left to dwell overnight, final wipe down the following day


And after

Fender wells
Equipment - Karcher K7, Daytona Large + Small
Clean - Pressure rinsed, Carchem Citrus APC @ 1:5 though a foaming spray nozzle left to dwell, agitated, pressure rinsed
Dress - Autofinesse Dressel

Tyres
Equipment - Karcher K7, Mothers Tire Brush, Foam Tire Applicator, MF towel
Clean - Pressure rinsed, Carchem Citrus APC @ 1:5 though a foaming spray nozzle left to dwell, agitated, pressure rinsed
Dress - 2 Coats of Carchem Tyre and Trim Gel, 12 hours apart


After cleaning but before dressing

After dressing

Wheels
Equipment - Karcher K7, Wheel Woolies, Autofinesse Hogs Hair Brushes, Lambswool Wash mitt, MF towels, Q-tips, Electric Blower
Clean - Pressure rinsed, Valet Pro Billberry @ 1:6 though a foaming spray nozzle left to dwell, agitated, pressure rinsed
Tar Removal - Valet Pro Citrus Tar and Glue Remover
Iron Removal - Carchem Revolt applied liberally, allowed to dwell, agitated, pressure rinsed
Protection - Pressure rinse, spray Gyeon Wetcoat, pressure rinse, blow dry

Wash
Equipment - Lambswool Wash Mitts, Karcher K7, Foam cannon, 2 Buckets each with grit guards, WW Drying Towels, Electric Blower


Condition on arrival

Foam - pressure rinse, Valet Pro ANSF via foam cannon, left to dwell, pressure rinsed

TFR - Valet Pro Citrus Prewash @ 1:8 via a pump sprayer, left to dwell pressure rinsed
Wash - Carchem Luxury Shampoo, pressure rinse
Dry - Flood rinse, ONR


Decontamination
Equipment - MF towels, wash mitt, Karcher K7
Tar Removal - Valet Pro Citrus Tar and Glue Remover
Iron Removal - Carchem Revolt applied liberally, allowed to dwell, agitated, pressure rinsed
Remaining contaminants - Shield Heavy Duty Clay


Paint
Equipment - Flex 3401, LC BP system, 5" / 6.5" Orange/White/Black Hybrid Pads, CEM-DT156 PTG, Tape, MF towels
Correction - Menzerna SF4000, Menzerna PF2300, Menzerna FG400
Protection - Collinite 915


Exhaust Tips
Equipment - MF Towels, dedicated Daytona Jnr wheel brush, Mothers Powerball mini, Drill
Clean - Carchem Citrus APC @1:5, left to dwell, agitated, rinsed
Polish - Meguiars NXT All Metal Polish


Before

After (excuse the dust )

Exterior plastics
Equipment - Foam applicators, MF towels, Q-tips
Clean - Shield Heavy Duty Vinyl and Rubber Cleaner
Protect - Carchem Tire and Trim Dressing

Door and window rubbers
Equipment - Foam applicators, MF towels, Q-tips
Clean - Shield Heavy Duty Vinyl and rubber cleaner
Protect - Optimum Optiseal


Before

After

Glass
Clean - Autoglym Fast Glass, MF towels


Badges & Emblems
Equipment - Q-tips, MF towels
Clean/polish/protect - Autofinesse Tripple


Interior Plastics
Equipment- Foam applicators, MF towels, Q-tips, Various brushes
Clean - Carchem APC @ 1:20
Protect - Optimum Optiseal


Interior Carpets
Equipment- Brushes, Flex VL35C Vacuum, MF towels,
Clean - Mothers Carpet and Upholstery Cleaner,


Leather Surfaces
Equipment- Foam applicators, Flex VL35C Vacuum, MF towels, Brushes
Clean - Carchem APC @ 1:20, various brushes, MF towels
Protect - Collinite 855

 

[lawrenceSA]

And some pictures of the completed car.

And my first attempt at a 'zoom blur' shot

Total time spent = 30 Hours

As always thanks for looking, and any question or comments are welcome.

:hi:

 

[Aaryn NZ]

rops: Nice work Lawrence.

Man, this is how 70% of all my work arrives, not sure what the interior was like but if it was similar to the exterior, then thats my bread & butter right there.

Beautiful work under the bonnet mate, looks like new. :xyxthumbs: Its a shame how body shops do that & I can't get my head around how people get into the vehicle appearance/repair business when they just don't have an eye for detail at all. The last remaining "good" body shop in my town has recently shown some signs of laziness . . . I hope, really hope its just a "one off" run of missed quality control.

Superb write up Lawrence, awesome photos & as per normal with you - stella workmanship my friend!

Aqryn NZ. :dblthumb2:

 

[emmjay]

Top notch work as always Lawrence!!:dblthumb2::dblthumb2:

 

[Marc08EX]

Great job Lawrence!

That car was filthy but it's nice to see the X3 being used for what it's intended for.

 

[Sicoupe]

Another outstanding job Lawrence! Ive missed seeing your posts buddy

 

[Audios S6]

Beautiful work. You just keep out-doing yourself Lawrence!

 

[INPro]

I've enjoyed going through your past Show'n'Shines, always consistent and great results! To help me understand, are you prewashing, two bucket method washing, drying and then going about tar and iron decontamination steps?

 

[lawrenceSA]

rops: Nice work Lawrence.

Man, this is how 70% of all my work arrives, not sure what the interior was like but if it was similar to the exterior, then thats my bread & butter right there.

Beautiful work under the bonnet mate, looks like new. :xyxthumbs: Its a shame how body shops do that & I can't get my head around how people get into the vehicle appearance/repair business when they just don't have an eye for detail at all. The last remaining "good" body shop in my town has recently shown some signs of laziness . . . I hope, really hope its just a "one off" run of missed quality control.

Superb write up Lawrence, awesome photos & as per normal with you - stella workmanship my friend!

Aqryn NZ. :dblthumb2:

Thanks so much Aaryn - really appreciate it my friend. The interior wasn't actually that bad fortunately, and as for body shops and the general quality of their work, what can one say man - I absolutely dread the day I ever need to make use of one as I honestly haven't yet encountered one where I though the workmanship was acceptable.

Top notch work as always Lawrence!!:dblthumb2::dblthumb2:

Thanks very much

Great job Lawrence!

That car was filthy but it's nice to see the X3 being used for what it's intended for.

Thanks so much. And I agree 100% - its always good to see a car like this being used for its intended purpose.... not sure how it is over on your side of the world, but quite often over here you will see the more affluent guys purchasing SUV's and other vehicles with off-road capabilities, only for them to be used on the school run and for trips to shopping malls, and they never see a dirt road in their life.

Another outstanding job Lawrence! Ive missed seeing your posts buddy

Thanks Kyle - I missed posting - just been really busy with a few other priorities and so am a little bit behind on write ups etc... got another 2 still to put up (a white BMW 330d and a white VW Golf 6Gti, both of which I have detailed since this X3).

Beautiful work. You just keep out-doing yourself Lawrence!

WOW thanks very much for your kind words - I really appreciate the comment:xyxthumbs:

I've enjoyed going through your past Show'n'Shines, always consistent and great results! To help me understand, are you prewashing, two bucket method washing, drying and then going about tar and iron decontamination steps?

Thank you very much. Yes my typical approach for the wash/decon phase is:
Pressure rinse
Apply foam, let dwell, pressure rinse
Apply TFR, let dwell, pressure rinse
2BM wash, pressure rinse
Dry (just a quick dry to get any 'standing water' off the lower half of the car where most of the tar removal happens)
Tar removal - if you spray tar remover onto wet paint it doesn't work very well
Iron removal - I like to remove any tar spots prior to the iron removal
Re-foam and agitate
Pressure rinse
Clay off any remaining contamination.

Obviously on a car you are planning to correct anyway, one could argue the above is somewhat redundant and in many cases, using Mike Phillip's 'aggressive approach' to washing a car could easily be adopted, saving on all the 'pre-washing'..... and combining some of the decon with the wash....but.... I prefer to take the 'safer' route, albeit somewhat more expensive/time consuming.

 

[Joe@NextLevelDetail]

A1 work and A1 write up and pics as usual keep up the excellent work Lawrence.

 

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Incredible work as always Lawrence!

Thanks for taking the time to share.

 

[lawrenceSA]

Thanks so much Mike!