2001 LSB E46 M3 - Horizon Detailing

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Jul 6, 2011 | 12:42 PM
  #1  
Hey guys,

Been a while since I've done a G35 unfortunately, was doing them all the time last year. Figured I'd post up a write-up of something else in the mean-time till another comes thru Enjoy!


Got a chance to detail a rare Laguna Seca Blue M3 this weekend, amazing car and color to work on! The DSLR even had a hard time catching the true beauty of it, but the pics will have to do Let me know if you have any comments/questions/PM's

Car was had 80,000 miles and showed it, took ~17 hours


Upon arrival, this customer drove 1.5 hours to have me detail it so it was pretty dirty:






Started with the rims, just a quick clean as they were gonna be replaced in the next month:






Bugs got their pre-soak with APC:



Car was then foamed, twice:


Fresh bar of Riccardo was chosen:


Car was pretty contaminated, after 1 panel:



Washer jet cover removed to clean under it:


Clean:


Surgery Prep:



Let's see what the paint looks like, Swirl-maina/hologram combo package :facepalm:



Even the dim lightbulb on the side shows significant marring:



First paint reading. Avg was in the 90's/low 100's, range from 82-120.



Only 50/50's I took, was pressed for time. This was after the first hit of P203, followed up with 106FA but can only see that in the afters.



This panel had the deepest scratches/thin paint, got about 85% correction, other panels with more paint I was able to get to 98-100%




Some kind of etching:


Etching removed:


Black keyhole:


10 painstaking minutes and many Q-tips later...


Polished hard till bout midnight, snapped a pic and hit the hay to wake up early the next morning as I had another client coming mid-day:

Started the next morning with the mats, 50/50 of the front ones:



Driver's after extraction:


Steamed the entire interior, after pic of the M pedals:


Sills before/after:



Smoking vents


Interior after:



At this point the 2nd client, visible in the background, showed up so I shuffled the cars around a bit and did an IPA wipedown and pulled it out into the sun to inspect the polishing job up to this point, most of it was done, still a couple areas needed it(roof,bumpers). As you can see, quarterpanels came out close to 100, hood about 90some%. Paint is still naked. :






Finished it up, put 2 coats of Powerlock on, 24 hrs apart as I had the car for 3 days. Still needed undercarriage spray, applied later. Final sun pics:





Exhaust tips shining again, insides have some water condensation:









Thanks for viewing! Questions/Comments welcome
Reply 0
Jul 6, 2011 | 02:43 PM
  #2  
Very nice!
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Jul 7, 2011 | 02:04 PM
  #3  
thats a sick ride
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Jul 11, 2011 | 10:36 AM
  #4  
Quote: Very nice!
Thanks

Quote: thats a sick ride
One of my favorite cars without a doubt
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Jul 15, 2011 | 12:55 AM
  #5  
you literally brought that car back to life...amazing work man. wish you were in florida.
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Jul 15, 2011 | 01:18 AM
  #6  
looks good!
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Jul 15, 2011 | 06:24 AM
  #7  
Looks brand new! Great Job!
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Jul 15, 2011 | 12:26 PM
  #8  
Nice work! That paint was in rough shape when it arrived!
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Jul 15, 2011 | 01:06 PM
  #9  
That color is sick!
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Jul 15, 2011 | 07:08 PM
  #10  
Quote: you literally brought that car back to life...amazing work man. wish you were in florida.
Thanks man, PM me your city/area and I can find you a reputable detailer around there

Quote: looks good!
Quote: Looks brand new! Great Job!
Quote: That color is sick!
Thanks guys If I get a chance, I'm definitely going to purchase this car in this color. They're so rare though :/

Quote: Nice work! That paint was in rough shape when it arrived!
Yea man it definitely was, it always sucks washing the dirt off since all of the swirls/holograms pop out when it's clean. Inspecting it before washing is deceiving.

Thanks for all the compliments guys
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Jul 17, 2011 | 12:12 AM
  #11  
looks great! why were the vents smoking btw?
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Jul 17, 2011 | 10:03 PM
  #12  
Great job on the surgery, looks amazing!

Question: Yes, why were the vents smoking?

You stated you had the car for 3 days and the guy came 90 min, so he just had someone follow behind him and he rode back home and than had someone drive him back?

If you could also tell me what DA you used, I'm curious and how much did you charge for this detail?

As for detailers around in my city, I live in the middle of Daytona Beach and Orlando, and Blackg35coupe lives in JAX...? Thanks bro, again, NICE work!
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Jul 17, 2011 | 10:15 PM
  #13  
my gawd my bmw needs your detail loving.

where in PA are you located again?
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Jul 18, 2011 | 01:11 AM
  #14  
Quote: looks great! why were the vents smoking btw?
Thanks! I shoot the steamer into the vents to eradicate any light smells/bacteria.

Quote: Great job on the surgery, looks amazing!

Question: Yes, why were the vents smoking?

You stated you had the car for 3 days and the guy came 90 min, so he just had someone follow behind him and he rode back home and than had someone drive him back?

If you could also tell me what DA you used, I'm curious and how much did you charge for this detail?

As for detailers around in my city, I live in the middle of Daytona Beach and Orlando, and Blackg35coupe lives in JAX...? Thanks bro, again, NICE work!
Thanks! See above for the vent explanation. Yep, the guy had someone follow him both ways. I have another customer driving 70 miles to me next weekend and she's getting a rental car for a couple days.

I only used a Makita 9227 rotary for this detail, but I also have a Griot's Garage DA which I like a lot. I charged $400 for this detail, 340 for the major paint correction and 60 for the interior. Detailing prices vary a lot, I'm towards the mid-lower end. Just to give you an idea, one of my friends starts his Major paint correction at 1,000, minor at 600.

I'll get back to you in a couple days with some detailers for you guys

Quote: my gawd my bmw needs your detail loving.

where in PA are you located again?
Bethlehem, PA. Unfortunately pretty far from Monroeville but I would be happy to if you're ever on the east side(you used to be around KOP right?)! Had a new 2012 1M a couple days ago and I was drooling all over it , will have it back in a couple weeks for a full paint correction/opti-coat treatment.

If it's really not possible for me to do it, I'll see if I can find a guy in your area
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