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      04-01-2013, 11:40 PM   #1
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My Exterior Detail

Because I just purchased an F30 328i Sport line and with the summer months in Phoenix coming soon I need to get some fresh protection on the car. I am not a professional detailer and cannot be held liable for damage done while performing work explained in this article.
  1. Before I do the normal wash/rinse cycle, I walk around and inspect the car for dents, scratches or soiled areas. I start on the wheels with a stiff brush and some wheel cleaner. Followed by a rinse.

    For the wash I recently bought a Foamaster foam gun which makes life a lot easier. Paired with a quality wash mitt you can’t go wrong. Depending on the type of wash I either use DP Xtreme Foam Formula Auto Shampoo (works awesome with the foamer) or Pinnacle Bodywork Shampoo. After the soap I give it a good long rinse and dry with a Cobra 80/20 Waffle towel. After the paint has been through the wash I concentrate on the wheels with a stiff brush and some cleaner.

  2. Next is clay. Claying is probably the easiest step. I use Pinnacle’s Ultra Poly Clay kit but any fine clay and quick detailer will work fine. First, knead and reform the bar in the palm of your hand. Next, spray the lube on a small area of the paint and use a back and forth motion with light-medium pressure (no circles!). You will feel the clay grabbing on the contaminated areas, keep rubbing and lubing until the clay glides freely (its fine to test the surface with your hand). If the lube dries spray more, never clay an area without lube. Remove the lube with a microfiber cloth and repeat on another area. Make sure you check the clay and knead and reform it if you see lots of contaminates. Don't forget to use the clay on your windows too.

  3. Now that your paint is free of surface contaminates its safe to polish. My paint is free of swirls and oxidation so I just use a finish polish like Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish or Menzerna Final Polish with a white Lake Country CCS Dual Action 6.5 inch pad on my Porter Cable 7424. If your paint has swirls or oxidation you may need to use a more aggressive polish/pad combination. Another note is to not polish your car in sunlight, bring it inside and make sure you have a lot of good artificial light. I use a double-headed halogen tripod light I found on eBay for like $30. First, use some painters tape on all your trim so it won’t get discolored. Next get the pad ready by priming it with some pad conditioner. Put some polish directly on the pad and before starting the polisher rub it on the paint in a 2x2 area. Turn your polisher on a low speed, on the Porter Cable I start out at speed 3. Work the polish in for about a minute then bump the speed up to 5-6. Work the polish until you see it completely break down and all hazing/micro marring has disappeared. Remove the polish with a MF cloth or MF bonnet. Repeat until all your metal surfaces have been polished. Here is a good video demonstrating this: Youtube video on how to polish.

  4. Getting ready for Sealant/Wax. As an intermediate step I apply Pinnacle Paintwork Cleansing Lotion with a MF applicator pad or the porter cable (depending on how much it’s hurt me so far). After it’s all rubbed in and translucent just take it off with a MF towel. The paintwork cleaning lotion is designed to take off old wax, sealant, polish and other products that are left on your paint that way you can seal in a perfect shine. You can either use this after the claybar step or the polish step.

  5. Next is sealant. I use Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant 3.0 but am going to try Jet Seal 109 after reading so many good reviews. Apply a thin layer of the sealant with a new MF applicator, and wait 30-60 minutes before buffing it off with a MF towel. Then allow 12 hours of curing time before putting any other products on the car.

  6. After the sealant is cured you can layer on some wax. I use Pinnacle Liquid Souverän Wax with a gray or blue pad. Wax is pretty simple too; I just apply it with my PC on speed 3. You don’t have to work it in as much as the polish. Just put it on work it for little to make sure you’re coating the paint evenly with a thin coat. Allow to dry to a haze, and then remove with a MF towel or bonnet.

  7. Polish your windows. I have never used my PC to polish my windows before but I just bought a kit that will allow me to do so. The Diamondite® Glasswork System Kit came with all the products I need to get my windows back to showroom quality. I’ll let you know how it works out but here is a video: Youtube video on how to polish windows.

  8. Remove the tape from your trim and condition with a good UV resistant protestant and a MF applicator like 303 Aerospace Protectant
Printable PDFs:Some really good howto videos from Larry at ammonyc.com:Results of the last detail of my GLI before I sold it:


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      04-02-2013, 09:23 AM   #2
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some good tips

looks slick
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      04-02-2013, 09:29 AM   #3
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Looks terrific...if I only had a driveway
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      04-02-2013, 10:12 PM   #4
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Ru sure u dont work for that website, where is the pic of the detailed f30? Nice job on the gli btw
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      04-02-2013, 10:15 PM   #5
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Originally Posted by Roki_014 View Post
Ru sure u dont work for that website, where is the pic of the detailed f30? Nice job on the gli btw
Which website? I plugged autogeeks because that's where I get my products and plugged ammonyc because they have great howto videos. Thanks, I miss the GLI but really loving the F30.

Obviously you didn't read the first sentence or you would know I haven't detailed the F30 yet.
Quote:
Because I just purchased an F30 328i Sport line and with the summer months in Phoenix coming soon I need to get some fresh protection on the car.
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      04-02-2013, 10:40 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ntalekt View Post
Which website? I plugged autogeeks because that's where I get my products and plugged ammonyc because they have great howto videos. Thanks, I miss the GLI but really loving the F30.

Obviously you didn't read the first sentence or you would know I haven't detailed the F30 yet.
Anyways man it looks like you are really good at this, i have never done it , been reading a lot on it but i dunno if i ll have the patience for it
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      04-02-2013, 11:30 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Roki_014 View Post
Anyways man it looks like you are really good at this, i have never done it , been reading a lot on it but i dunno if i ll have the patience for it
Ya, it's not that hard. I normally split it up into two days. Day 1 is wheels, wash and clay. Day 2 is the rest. The polishing is always the hardest and takes the most time.
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      04-05-2013, 03:43 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ntalekt View Post
Ya, it's not that hard. I normally split it up into two days. Day 1 is wheels, wash and clay. Day 2 is the rest. The polishing is always the hardest and takes the most time.
hey what do you think of these 2 products:

http://www.f30post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=824778

and how easy is it to do it, my car has a lot of lines from all the drying i do with microfiber towels every time i wash it, will one of those fix those lines?

thanks
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      04-05-2013, 10:59 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Roki_014 View Post
hey what do you think of these 2 products:

http://www.f30post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=824778

and how easy is it to do it, my car has a lot of lines from all the drying i do with microfiber towels every time i wash it, will one of those fix those lines?

thanks
Best thing to do in your case would be to first wash it with normal dish soap. This will remove all protection, wax, polish...everything. So you start at square one. Then don't dry the car, use the water as lubricant for the clay process. After the clay process you should have completely bare and surface contaminate free paint. The lines from your microfiber towels might still be there, depending on whether it was scratches or left over product on the towel. You need to polish next I have only used Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish or Menzerna Final Polish but I have read good things about Meguiar's Ultra Finishing Polish if you want to stay within that product line. After you remove the polish you can layer on one of the waxes you posted. I prefer a liquid wax instead of a paste wax, i find liquids easier to work with.

Only use your towel for a single purpose, and wash them after each use. I have separate towels for each process, polish, wax, sealant, windows, drying etc. Try one of these, i love them: http://www.amazon.com/Supreme-Guzzle...a+waffle+towel
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      04-06-2013, 12:42 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Roki_014 View Post
hey what do you think of these 2 products:

http://www.f30post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=824778

and how easy is it to do it, my car has a lot of lines from all the drying i do with microfiber towels every time i wash it, will one of those fix those lines?

thanks
just for future reference, you can use an electric leaf blower then pat you car dry - swirl free
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      04-06-2013, 02:57 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by newbmwuser View Post
just for future reference, you can use an electric leaf blower then pat you car dry - swirl free
Negative. I live in arizona which is full of dust. An electric leaf blower is like a sand blaster. I do have an air compressor with a proper filtration system that I use from time to time.
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      04-17-2013, 10:24 PM   #12
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thanks
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      04-19-2013, 09:46 PM   #13
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Great information. Should be a sticky!
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      04-21-2013, 01:11 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ntalekt View Post
Ya, it's not that hard. I normally split it up into two days. Day 1 is wheels, wash and clay. Day 2 is the rest. The polishing is always the hardest and takes the most time.
but if you split it into 2 days doesn't that mean you can't drive the car after claying?
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      04-21-2013, 06:56 PM   #15
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Originally Posted by jtuds View Post
but if you split it into 2 days doesn't that mean you can't drive the car after claying?
Ya, I don't drive it when there is no protection on the car.
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