BMW 328i - Corrected and Opti Coated.

Today, I bring you a car that has its acronym associated with so many names that it is impossible to list out all of it so I will list out what I have in my memory now:

- Brings Me Women
- Banish My Workers
- Bullied My Way
- Bought Me Wishes

The car was acquired by the owner roughly 1 and half week back. Has not been sent for detailing nor a polish job before (as far as owner knows). Being a proud owner of this mean machine, he wants only the best protection for his lovely ride. Owner is a family man whom spends time with his family over the weekend and like me, washing the car is a passion. He washes all 3 of his car himself. Not allowing the maid to do it.

I can ramble on and on about this as I had the opportunity to chat with the owner over nasi lemak and a home made awesome sandwich. Good host indeed. He made sure my stomach was filled and my thirst is quench above all else.

So on with the car. Upon arrival, I instantly jump at giving the car a wash with Osren Bubble & Wax.


From a slightly different view so you can see the nice 328i badge.


Side view shows that it is nice and glossy enough already......


The front bonnet seems OK and no problems.......


The passenger side also looks OK and no problems......


Or IS IT!!!!!!


Glue marks all over the place.


On the door handles, on the door panels, on the rear bumper..... its everywhere.... surprises me is that they shouldn't even blame the tinting people as the tinting is done by themselves. If I was the sales person, it would not clear my conscience to deliver a car to my customer in that state.


A nice long scratch along the bodywork which will be corrected.


Then my biggest nightmare came true..........


Polish/Wax residue on part of the bonnet..... a very obvious part of the bonnet smack rite in the middle.


And I quickly took my halogen lamp out.......to reveal


HOLOGRAM HEAVEN........


Forget the hologram for now...... i continue with my cleaning expedition.


Rims were cleaned with OPC 1:3 and then with IronX. You can see plenty of reaction to IronX by focusing on the purple flowing liquid.


Clean rims..... but how clean?


Clean till the inside is awesomely pawsomely cleaned!!!!


Clean rims.... but at what cost? Owner's wife was actually very surprised that a clean rim could shine like this that she thought I have already coated the rims when I had yet to do so.


Cost.... me some blood. My finger got cut by the metal shield behind the disc. It was as sharp as a knife.


Engine bay was given a quick wipe down with one of my old micro fibers. Just an ultra quick one that lasted only 5 minutes or so. Was admiring at the heart of this beast.


Now we come back to the hologram heaven.... truly like a single color aurora in the north pole.... only thing is that this is annoying.



Half corrected. Can still see the hologram on the top part of the bonnet whereas the bottom part has been corrected.


Fully corrected hood. Luckily the hologram is only present at the middle portion of the hood and not the entire car.


It is a bit hard to see so I circled it RED. Even the owner did not realize it until I let him know. Hard to notice and even harder to capture on camera as it is only visible at certain angle. This is what severe hologram can do to your paint clarity.


After correction. Car was moved as it drizzled earlier before this shot was taken. But you can clearly see that there is no longer a difference in color and reflection after the correction.


This is the weather for that day.... ultra cloudy but nice day to be out in the open. I was actually having a flu but being outside and doing the things I love, I did not even once felt sick..... until I got home.


Oh yeah, the shot up there is actually cropped from this photo.... try to see if you can find which part of the photo it was cropped from. This is after the car was already done coated.


Coated sides....


Coated rims....


Coated passenger side and skirts


Final shot of the BMW before I had to go.


Time Spend: 7am - 2+pm = 7 hours plus?
Product used: Osren Bubble&Wax, Optimum Power Clean 1:5 and 1:3, Osren Perfect Cut + LC Black Pad + Ultramate DA combo. Optimum Coating 2.0, Optimum Opti Seal, IronX and etc that I could not remember at the moment.
Satisfaction Level: Owner was impressed

Note:
- IronX manufacturer seriously need to do something bout their so called "Cherry Scented" product. The smell is so strong that it even entered the kitchen..... RIGHT AT THE BACK OF THE HOUSE.
- If car sales person wants to make the car shine shine for the owner, please at least have the decency to engage a proper detailer instead of those whacko polish dude and wax boys operating at the road side. It is an embarrassment to the branding and to your own image to deliver such quality to a paying customer.
- I am currently throwing out my tantrum like a small kid.
- Back to proper noting on this detailing journey, Osren does sell pretty good spray bottles. I am loving it.
- BMW should look into their metal shield at the back of the disc brakes. It is too sharp. I have cleaned plenty of wheels and touched plenty of metal shield but by far, BMW is the only one that drew blood.
- Car manufacturers should look into using different glue for their "QC PASSED" stickers. Its a real pain to remove them without marring the paint.

Please do leave your comments (good, bad, gibberish, rambling or etc) as it is much appreciated.


Edited*
This is what the owner send to me. Always nice and cozy to have feedbacks from the owner themselves.

Nissan Latio Sport: Blemish killer.

Hi folks,

I am back and I bring you today a partial correction and deep cleansing of a white Nissan Latio Sport. As most of you already know, I own a white car as well and having a really clean white car is indeed a very awesome feeling.

Now, let the story begin.

Typical of white cars, your snow white always turn into zebra after a nice dose of polluted rain.


The color of the water after giving it a quick wash.


After a quick wash, the car was given another treatment. IronX and TarX. You see the purple lines, that is the result of IronX meets Iron. The chemical reaction creates the color. Plenty of iron at the back of the car.... i have no idea why.


Another shot of it after agitated with a brush to ensure all iron fillings are removed. No photos of the TarX in action but it was pretty much the same just brown color.


This is before wash, plenty of rain mark and is greyish. Not attractive at all.


This is after the quick wash...better but not perfect


Now, as the title says, blemishes..... actually refers to pimples on a teenager's face. In this car.... on the car bonnet. History lesson time:
- car was travelling on highway
- stone chips occured.
- owner bought some paint to touch up
- over time, the touch up part turn grey???


Now comes the blemish buster.


And you get back your glossiness and no blemishes.


Like all teenagers, scar is always an issue..... so this is consider as a scar on a teen's face.


This is consider scar removed..... with a bit of paint chip off as expected from a scratch.


Now, the car was given a partial correction instead of a full correction. To be explained further down.


Still looks pretty good if you ask me. Btw, that is my project Delsol there..... will have an update soon on that.


Notes:
- Car was given spot polishing to remove obvious flaws such as discoloration and foreign transference only.
- no attempt was made to remove swirls as owner only wants it to look awesome, not perfect. So according to the owner, awesome is given.
- white car is good in hiding swirls and scratches
- car was given a round of OPC 1:3 before the IronX and TarX treatment. Takes a lot of effort away from claying.
- the entire car was sealed using Opti Seal and given time to cure before a layer of Optimum Car Wax was applied. Last three shots was the result of it.

Time Spend: 4.5 hours
Product used: Osren Wash&Wax, Optimum Power Clean 1:3, Osren Crystal Cut 2.0 + LC Orange Pad + Ultramate DA combo. Optimum Opti Seal, Optimum car wax and patience.
Satisfaction level: Owner level = Awesome level.

Do leave your feedback if any (good, bad, gibberish or anything you want to ask) as it is much appreciated.

Delsol: All about the SOUL.... Part 5

Extremely sorry for the long hiatus. Been busy with other cars, life, day job, life, travel, life and etc....

So this update.... is a bit more extreme.... BE PREPARE FOR 88 pictures. Interior to exterior to....mechanical thingy.

So all the tools have been removed and the carpet looks...... messy...


Some white fungus (not the edible ones) found on the carpet.


Zoom out to make sure you can see that it is a big spot.


Spray with OPC 1:3 and brush with a........TOOTHBRUSH.....oh yeah.


After brushing.... no longer visible.


Proceed to vacuum the place....


The entire carpet was spray with OPC 1:3, agitated with a brush and vacuumed....


In the last update, the rear window was removed and this is the dirt inside the panel.....hmm... looks like hiding something


A 50/50..... reveals that indeed something was hidden


A closer look at the thickness of the dirt.... almost an inch (i love to exaggerate)


Yes, it was hiding a drainage hole.......which was blocked btw. So i stuff the vacuum and suck whatever I can and shot some compress air inside to clear it


Hmmm... the other side seems to be hiding something as well....


Cleaned both sides and no more 50/50. This is an after shot.


This is the other drain hole i was talking about


It has indeed been cleared... so no more water slugging around this area for awhile.


This is what the dashboard has been hiding....


Dust everywhere.... luckily no fungus


A simple wipe with ONR and water.


The rear window seals.... have seen better days. Over 20 years, it is bound to crack...


During the process of restoration... looks kinda ugly


Definitely not a nice sight....


Yeap, this was done over a span of a long time..... each coat was given at least 12 hours to cure and this is 8 coats... so you do the math why this update took so long to come out....


And the end results.... sweetness.... sorta. To be explained in the notes area down..... wayw ay down below.


Installed back and it looks pretty good.


This is how it looks like after being installed back....


The messy wiring has been settled as well... looks neater right now.


So, this is what was vacuum out of the car..... this is water vacuum which explains why I can spray OPC and water unto the carpet and vacuum it out.


Now, we move on to the rubber seals. Hmm.... dirt dirt dirt everywhere.


What dirt...... gone gone gone... HOW?


Ok, show you all magic trick. This is the top after removing the roof... pretty dirty ehh


A 5-/50.... i am quite surprised that this part of the rubber looks almost new after detailing.... considering that this is a 20 year old car.


Secret... OPC 1:5 and a tooth brush and microfiber cloth.


End results...... pretty good.


Now we move on to putting the interior back. Bits by bits and ensuring all screws are tighten so no lose sound is audible.


Crap...... I messed up, tweeter is suppose to be on top... not bottom... have to take out and do again...argh...


Placed in the correct place now..


So the entire rear panels have been installed...


EHHHHHHHH, why take out again?


Cause the car cannot start and troubleshooting forced me to open back the panels and take out the fuel pump..... (Fuel pump was faulty before the car was sent to me. It was replaced and it broke again.... probably cause the pump is Made In China and this is a Japanese car.)


So I left the interior as it is as the owner is not free to have it replaced at the moment. Now, we fast forward to two weeks later.... fuel pump still not replaced cause owner went JAPAN.


After taping the windscreen..... its time to see all the problems with this windscreen... mineral residue...


Wiper mark at the bottom as the car was not used for 3 years...


A 50/50 after removing the tinting and polishing


Another 50/50.... pretty good results.....


From inside, you can really see a WORLD OF DIFFERENCE.


Secret technique...... using a Dual Action Polisher + Glass Polishing Pad + Glass Polish.


After done polishing, its time to wash the windscreen with Osren Bubble & Wax.


Then washed with OPC 1:3 to remove any polishing oil.


What do you think?


I would say its pretty shiny and would be a winner shot.


Why take a photo of the wiper.... btw, this picture is pretty clear.....


Even when it was taken from inside the car.... that is how clear the glass is now.


Remember this side window.... It seriously look as if I am shooting the dirt...


So I am now seriously removing the tint. Cause it is like a clear plastic and serves no purpose anymore.


Cleaning the glass with OPC and a pen knife


After that sprayed ONR to the glass and you get water beading on the glass.... nice.


Can you see the watermarks on this glass.....


ZORRO came to the rescue...


This is before Zorro came..... note that this is taken awhile back hence the plant is still there....


See, plant gone..... this is after Zorro came and stole the plant. Btw, the glass is indeed up even if it is not visible... that is how clean the glass is now.


So we go to the driver side windows now.... dirt is that thick...


Secret to the side windows..... cannot use Dual Action Polisher here as the windows has no frames, the vibration and force may just break it... so use hand...


Not so consistent with hand power....


But still, end results is a shiny glass, definitely a winner shot.


Until this shot came along, try and spot the glass..... pretty easy if you follow the window line.


Now we tape up the headlamp.... for some fun.


Sanding starts with 1500 and followed by 2000 grit.


See the amount of residue and plastic is removed.


This is after sanding, can see the difference between both sides. One is whitish, one is yellowish. To be picked up on another day. Move on to other things.


Dusty roof.... left around for too long,


Going to clay the car after giving it another wash with Osren Bubble & Wax. Using ONR as lube.


After wash..... water sticking, whole roof feels gritty.


After claying half the roof.


Cleaned again with water and you can see that water sheets away from half the roof (also partly because of ONR was used.)


This is what was removed from half the roof..... and its a really small roof.


After the roof is done, proceed to the bonnet and this is what was removed.


Did not take more picture of the claying as that would bore all of you all. By now, it should have probably taken you guys/gals bout 15 minutes to reach. So now, we tape off the bonnet and went towards restoration. After one pass of Optimum Hyper Compound > Optimum Double Sided Wool Pad + Makita 9227c.


Pretty good for one pass.


Went at it a few more passes and you get sweetness.


Notice how the reflection is restored. Cause compounding removes oxidation and scratches. Basically removing the top layer of your clearcoat.


This clearly shows how big a difference it is. Btw, do not polish and compound your car too often as it thins your clearcoat which overtime would cause lots of problem.


Difference.....need not be pointed out.


And I went and pose the 9gag FUCK YEAH pose...... camera a bit off focus.... very off focus. And living to my theme... SINGLETS... the real white, thin and APEK singlet.


Why the pose... cause I completed compounding the bonnet.


Sweet? Note that the some parts of the bonnet, the color is off, cause of bad prep by the painter and also neglect by the owner. Could not be corrected.


Now, I move on to the roof.... wet sanding quarter of the roof...... made a mistake here as I used insufficient water as lubricant so you see some slightly deeper scratches.


Here you can see the compounded side and the untouch side. Look at the reflection.


And after compounding 5 passes (to remove those scratch marks), you get this 50/50.



If you have managed to read until here without flash glancing the pictures, I applaud you.

Note:
- This was done over a period of 1 month plus hence the pictures are kinda jumbled here and there.
- Total time spend: Glass polishing: 5 hours, Bonnet: 3 hours, Roof: 2 hours. The rest, cannot remember.
- Roof was completed but no picture as I stop here for the day and will pick it up again when time allows.
- Hopefully the fuel pump gets replaced soon.
- I spend almost 4 hours arranging the photos, renaming them, resizing them, uploading them and typing this long essay.
- Still work in progress, so lots more to do.

Btw, would you guys prefer higher resolution? Leave your thoughts at the comments below. Thanks.