# BMW M3 correction detail (Carbon Black)



## calum001 (Nov 18, 2010)

One of my pals just bought a nice black M3 and after a wee talk about how much better it could look after a machine polish (i noticed quite a lot of swirls, which i tried to break to him gently while he was talking about his newly aquired pride and joy lol) we sorted out a day to get it done, a couple of the guys from here (Donut and CraigQQ) also fancied doing a few bits to their cars so we met up yesterday for a day sesh on the cars

Plan for the day was as follows:

Fully wash and strip back (Tardis/IronX/Clay)

Paint correction to remove as many defects as possible (Craig did his best while i was washing it to tell me how hard a job i had ahead of me correcting BMW paint with a DA but luckily i have selective hearing !)

Glaze by DA (we were caught in 2 mind what to use so we tried EZ Creme/Pink mousse/Blackhole on 3 different parts of the bonnet and ended up going for Pink Mousse as i thought that gave the best finish)

Wax (Dodo PH on the body and stole one of Craigs Megs wheel waxes for...you guessed it the wheels)

This is how it looked before (all pics are courtesy of Craig as i stupidly brought my camera but left my memory card for it at home :lol:


































after a thorough wash down this is what we were left with (the whole car was quite badly swirled with holograms/buffer trails everywhere, looks like its from a previous 'attempt' at machine polishing that went majorly wrong)


















































and by far the worst part.........the bonnet










anyway i like a challenge and spurred on by Craig winding me up about correcting this with a DA i started getting on with the correction (settled on a green Hex pad with Menz 3.02.........and a lot of elbow grease !)










50/50 on the bonnet


















and after










bonnet and wing finished










some more pics after polishing (it was all taking me a bit longer to do than i thought so Craig and Martin gave me a helping hand to speed up the process, this was after standing about watching me for a while :lol my pal Nick who's car it was was also keen to give it a bash so we got him on the DA applying the Glaze, he did a cracking job aswell for the first time even picking one up !


















































and all finished


























































and a final pic of all the cars:










Been using Clearkote products for years but it's the first time i've tried out the Clearkote Pink Mousse mix (VMG/RMG) and have to say it didn't disappoint, gave a great glossy finish and brought out the paint flake nicely, also was the first time using Dodo PH and yet again was very impressed, gave a good depth and wet look to the paint

all in i was more than happy with the finish (and so was the owner Nick), was a good day and cheers for to Martin and Craig aswell :thumb:


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## CraigQQ (Jan 20, 2011)

you bought that rotary yet calum? get a move on mate eh :lol:
you forgot the part where even after tardis and iron x, it took 4 of us 30 minutes to clay the bloody thing!!! :lol:
and how much quicker and easier it was to correct with my rotary than your wee machine :lol: 
(oh and "megs wheel wax" makes it sound like meguiars :lol: its migliore wheel seal!!, and its bloody good!) 
poor nick got all the bad jobs, wheels, exhausts, ect. least he got some fun with the glazing (thanks to me, even though you made fun of me for bringing an extra machine!! :lol

thanks to nick for letting us work on his new pride and joy, and martin for giving us a place to work lol.

when you getting the evo back in... i have a proposition for you!, about the wax. 


oh and ez creme is better than pink moose.. but his vision was impaired :lol:

my car has been entirely sanded now, so the supernatural was on there for about 12 hours :lol: will polish it tomorrow, then it will take another day or two to refine totally.. then im toying with c1 or shield/best of show combo.


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## CraigQQ (Jan 20, 2011)

few more pics from the day...

one dirty evo :lol:








and calums wash kit... his dirty little secret there... no wash mitt insight he was using that big yellow sponge to wash the m3 :lol:


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## calum001 (Nov 18, 2010)

CraigQQ said:


> you bought that rotary yet calum? get a move on mate eh :lol:
> you forgot the part where even after tardis and iron x, it took 4 of us 30 minutes to clay the bloody thing!!! :lol:
> and how much quicker and easier it was to correct with my rotary than your wee machine :lol:
> (oh and "megs wheel wax" makes it sound like meguiars :lol: its migliore wheel seal!!, and its bloody good!)
> ...


pipe it you haha, ok yes you took about half the time with the rotary than me with the DA but could you argue with the finish 

yeh thats very true mate, i couldn't believe how much the clay was pulling off even after tardis/ironx ! the roof was ridiculous with it needing clayed around 6 times !!

ah right it was 'migs' and not 'megs' you said :lol: never seen it so never knew what you were on about

haha i know i felt kind of bad about that but he was on a mission with that exhaust from a couple of weeks previous when he brought it round to mine ! and yes your OCD did us a favour  was funny with 4 machines on the car at the same time at one point

was getting worried when you mentioned proposition there.....continue ha, will be a couple of weeks though as i've got the Edin Marathon next weekend and i want to get it machine polished again !

bit of bias there perhaps considering the EZ Creme was yours :lol: give that sample i gave you a go and see what you think 

how did you get on with the wet sanding then ? you got somewhere inside to work on it or hoping for the weather to hold out ?


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## calum001 (Nov 18, 2010)

CraigQQ said:


> few more pics from the day...
> 
> one dirty evo :lol:
> 
> ...


haha i was wondering how long it would take you !!

yes you got my i was too busy with Nicks that the Evo was neglected and it's been a whole week since a wash (which is around 6 missed washes for you with your serious OCD lol)

and you've failed with the sponge as that was taken after the car was washed and it's clearly brand new, dry and never been used :lol::spam:


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## CraigQQ (Jan 20, 2011)

calum001 said:


> was getting worried when you mentioned proposition there.....continue ha, will be a couple of weeks though as i've got the Edin Marathon next weekend and i want to get it machine polished again !
> 
> bit of bias there perhaps considering the EZ Creme was yours :lol: give that sample i gave you a go and see what you think
> 
> how did you get on with the wet sanding then ? you got somewhere inside to work on it or hoping for the weather to hold out ?


:lol: ill pm you about the wax.

me? biased? never :lol:

everything went well, doing it outside for the extra working space.. if needed, ie raining, or heavy winds, ill take the beach buggy out the garage, stick the cover on and put the QQ in there to work on it (just means moving it over to get to each side, then turning it to do the back end.


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## gally (May 25, 2008)

Cracking team work guys, super jealous.

What a fantastic place to be working, quiet and no hassle! All you need now is a decent camera and to keep Craig away from the checkout button! :lol:


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## calum001 (Nov 18, 2010)

gally said:


> Cracking team work guys, super jealous.
> 
> What a fantastic place to be working, quiet and no hassle! All you need now is a decent camera and to keep Craig away from the checkout button! :lol:


cheers bud, yeh it's a decent place to work with the space etc.. but we probably won't be there again any time soon

:lol: i had my Nikon D5000 with me but as i said i made the school boy mistake of leaving the memory card in my laptop ! As for stopping Craig buying anything theres not a hope in hell !!! He's even got me thinking about buying a few more bits...........


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

Looks good, job well done I say...

I guess my phone was broke, as I never got a call about the mini meet... 

:lol:

:thumb:


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## Mick (Jan 23, 2010)

The Cueball said:


> Looks good, job well done I say...
> 
> I guess my phone was broke, as I never got a call about the mini meet...
> 
> ...


+1 :lol:

liking the tags at the bottom of the screen BTW "we hate cueball" "we hate gally too" :lol:


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## gally (May 25, 2008)

Was always last pick for the netball team!


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## tonyy (Jul 26, 2008)

Looks great..


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## CraigQQ (Jan 20, 2011)

:lol: sure you do kev... sure you do... trampoline and net ball for you i bet :lol:

i still need to make that sun gun for you mate. should be able to knock one up and bring it through at the weekend.

theres nothing wrong with my camera... it just doesnt like inside for some reason :lol: and i can't work it..
:lol:


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## gally (May 25, 2008)

Aw mate that would be grand as I have a mates cars to do pre-sale. Even if you can't I could just give your one a try for a couple of days during the week?

I meant to PM you! Stupid me!


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## calum001 (Nov 18, 2010)

haha we'll make sure and invite you if theres a next time :lol:

will be popping through to see Craig to steal a few waxes to test on the Evo soon 

oh yeh and i'm guessing the 'useless da' tag was your doing Craig ha ! added one aswell


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## Brian. (Sep 21, 2009)

Not bad at all calum! Is that a random car park with a 240v socket that you've just borrowed? :lol:


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## Mikee (Apr 13, 2011)

Car looks great! Although I dunno How you managed a full day with Nick!


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## calum001 (Nov 18, 2010)

Brian. said:


> Not bad at all calum! Is that a random car park with a 240v socket that you've just borrowed? :lol:


haha nah i'm not 'quite' that bad mate ! It was at Martin's (Donut) work and the security guy is sound so lets us use it now and again, will be looking for a new place to do any future details though



Mikee said:


> Car looks great! Although I dunno How you managed a full day with Nick!


Nick is the guy who owns the M3 and isn't on here (yet anyway), unless it's a really small world and we know the same guy outside the site :lol:


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## obiwan-shinobi (May 15, 2011)

Cheers guys again..

It was a long day! but the results were awesome! car was looking a little blue/purple depending on the light. Now it just looks great. Depth in the paint etc.

Time to bin my sponge and fairy liquid and get something that will keep this thing looking at least half reasonable!!!

Very impressed and thanks very much for the help.




Mikee, it can be hard work spending a day with me. But i was ill and tired so wasnt my usual obnoxious self. I didnt use the C word once that day!!!!


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## Rust.Bucket (Feb 11, 2011)

The first few pics don't seem to be working- or is it just me?


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## Mikee (Apr 13, 2011)

calum001 said:


> Nick is the guy who owns the M3 and isn't on here (yet anyway), unless it's a really small world and we know the same guy outside the site :lol:


yeah nick is a mate of mine, actually he was my best man! (that was a long day)

Ask him about japshow


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## calum001 (Nov 18, 2010)

obiwan-shinobi said:


> Cheers guys again..
> 
> It was a long day! but the results were awesome! car was looking a little blue/purple depending on the light. Now it just looks great. Depth in the paint etc.
> 
> ...


good to see you finally signing up bud, very dangerous though :lol:

didn't know you knew anyone else (Mikee) on here aswell



Rust.Bucket said:


> The first few pics don't seem to be working- or is it just me?


all fixed now mate, was playing about with my photobucket account


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## s3 rav (Apr 30, 2008)

Great work. Lovely cars the m3's.


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## CraigQQ (Jan 20, 2011)

gally said:


> Aw mate that would be grand as I have a mates cars to do pre-sale. Even if you can't I could just give your one a try for a couple of days during the week?
> 
> I meant to PM you! Stupid me!


ill pm you now mate, been out at the car all day, your welcome to pop through and borrow mine if you need it mid week, and ill get one made up for you once im finished my car.



calum001 said:


> haha we'll make sure and invite you if theres a next time :lol:
> 
> will be popping through to see Craig to steal a few waxes to test on the Evo soon
> 
> oh yeh and i'm guessing the 'useless da' tag was your doing Craig ha ! added one aswell


Would I do that???? :lol: 
you can come through this week for the waxes mate, im off all week remember.. if your off the weekend you can bring the evo and play with a few things. magifoam aswell, did you not say you want to try that?



obiwan-shinobi said:


> Cheers guys again..
> 
> It was a long day! but the results were awesome! car was looking a little blue/purple depending on the light. Now it just looks great. Depth in the paint etc.
> 
> ...


Welcome to detailing world nick, thanks for letting us loose on the m3, great day, good laugh, and great results on the m3, 
and you got to grips with the DA, you will be doing paint corrections in no time 

get rid of the sponge and fairy yes:lol: calum will take the sponge though.. noticed he likes them.. loads of them in his boot :lol:
hope you weren't in too much trouble when you got home :lol:


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## North east Car Care (Jan 14, 2008)

Nice work guys


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## calum001 (Nov 18, 2010)

Mikee said:


> yeah nick is a mate of mine, actually he was my best man! (that was a long day)
> 
> Ask him about japshow


just realised that i spoke to you at Nick's wedding mate :lol: also recognise your private plate on the motor, can't remember from where tho 



CraigQQ said:


> Would I do that???? :lol:
> you can come through this week for the waxes mate, im off all week remember.. if your off the weekend you can bring the evo and play with a few things. magifoam aswell, did you not say you want to try that?
> 
> Welcome to detailing world nick, thanks for letting us loose on the m3, great day, good laugh, and great results on the m3,
> ...


simple answer.........yes

i'm working all week bud and won't get much time on the car at all, what days do you usually work/have off after this wk ? aye tempted by magifoam but still got to try the actimousse sample you gave me aswell haha

you and that bloody sponge  :lol:


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## Dohnut (Feb 4, 2011)

Aboot time these pics were posted up. Was a good day, and what a transformation on the M3. I think Nick was worried at a few points, after it was clayed and it revealed the actual state of the paint underneath what was removed with ironx, tardis and claying. He said at one point he thought holy **** it's worse now than it was when I arrived... something along those lines. The dealer had polished the car with what would appear to be a jack russell and there were lots of swirls and holograms over every panel. The car looked good before, but amazing afterwards it still impresses me what can be removed and what is left behind, and for anyone who has done this type of work, will agree that the pics can never show the full effect - but the 50/50 on the bonnet shows what patience and effort can do. Try removing that by hand.

I was knackered and was doped up on pain killers for my back so was in my own little world all day. Yesterday for me was bed - sofa - bed better today though. Good to meet you though Craig and Nick.


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## calum001 (Nov 18, 2010)

Dohnut said:


> Aboot time these pics were posted up. Was a good day, and what a transformation on the M3. I think Nick was worried at a few points, after it was clayed and it revealed the actual state of the paint underneath what was removed with ironx, tardis and claying. He said at one point he thought holy **** it's worse now than it was when I arrived... something along those lines. *The dealer had polished the car with what would appear to be a jack russell *and there were lots of swirls and holograms over every panel. The car looked good before, but amazing afterwards it still impresses me what can be removed and what is left behind, and for anyone who has done this type of work, will agree that the pics can never show the full effect - but the 50/50 on the bonnet shows what patience and effort can do. Try removing that by hand.
> 
> I was knackered and was doped up on pain killers for my back so was in my own little world all day. Yesterday for me was bed - sofa - bed better today though. Good to meet you though Craig and Nick.


:lol: that bit actually had me about crying with laughter mate, partly cause i had a mental pic of that and also cause your not far wrong ! i was about crying when i seen the state of the paint after we stripped it back and knew i had to correct it lol, love a challenge though

yeh it was definitely a bit of a rollercoaster day for Nick once we revealed the bare paintowork  glad it came out aswell as it did

oh yeh and the pics were on yesterday


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## slrestoration (Nov 11, 2009)

Great work guys, a very tidy transformation:thumb:


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## Mikee (Apr 13, 2011)

calum001 said:


> just realised that i spoke to you at Nick's wedding mate :lol: also recognise your private plate on the motor, can't remember from tho


yeah I remember you mate. Was a good night!

Only had the plate a couple of months.


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## calum001 (Nov 18, 2010)

Mikee said:


> yeah I remember you mate. Was a good night!
> 
> Only had the plate a couple of months.


it was indeed bud

ah right it must have been a similar plate that i'm thinking of then !


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## CraigQQ (Jan 20, 2011)

calum001 said:


> simple answer.........yes
> 
> i'm working all week bud and won't get much time on the car at all, what days do you usually work/have off after this wk ? aye tempted by magifoam but still got to try the actimousse sample you gave me aswell haha
> 
> you and that bloody sponge  :lol:


it changes every week mate :lol: normally have either wednesday or thursday off with the odd sunday thrown in every now and again. first week back will definitely be working sunday though so my mate can get the sunday off having worked the two im off :lol:
will give you a text when im off (normally get my rota up on a sunday night) and if your not busy we can sort something, or wait until i get a sunday off lol



Dohnut said:


> Aboot time these pics were posted up. Was a good day, and what a transformation on the M3. I think Nick was worried at a few points, after it was clayed and it revealed the actual state of the paint underneath what was removed with ironx, tardis and claying. He said at one point he thought holy **** it's worse now than it was when I arrived... something along those lines. The dealer had polished the car with what would appear to be a jack russell and there were lots of swirls and holograms over every panel. The car looked good before, but amazing afterwards it still impresses me what can be removed and what is left behind, and for anyone who has done this type of work, will agree that the pics can never show the full effect - but the 50/50 on the bonnet shows what patience and effort can do. Try removing that by hand.
> 
> I was knackered and was doped up on pain killers for my back so was in my own little world all day. Yesterday for me was bed - sofa - bed better today though. Good to meet you though Craig and Nick.


:lol: yeah, great transformation.. tbh i was a bit hesitant myself about the state of the paint :lol: alls well that ends well though.
nice to meet you aswell mate. :thumb:



slrestoration said:


> Great work guys, a very tidy transformation:thumb:


cheers nick :thumb:


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## -Kev- (Oct 30, 2007)

looks good in the afters..
im guessing this is before refining?..


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## calum001 (Nov 18, 2010)

CraigQQ said:


> it changes every week mate :lol: normally have either wednesday or thursday off with the odd sunday thrown in every now and again. first week back will definitely be working sunday though so my mate can get the sunday off having worked the two im off :lol:
> will give you a text when im off (normally get my rota up on a sunday night) and if your not busy we can sort something, or wait until i get a sunday off lol
> 
> :lol: yeah, great transformation.. tbh i was a bit hesitant myself about the state of the paint :lol: alls well that ends well though.
> nice to meet you aswell mate. :thumb:


no worries mate will sort something out in the next few weeks

oh yeh and thats the power of the DA and a bit of elbow grease


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## calum001 (Nov 18, 2010)

-Kev- said:


> looks good in the afters..
> im guessing this is before refining?..


we just did a one stage polish on it mate, in a perfect world we would have refined but time wasn't on our side (i don't think Nick would still be here if he had been any leter home :lol

some of the pics (like the one you showed there) don't do it justice as that was taken using the flash on his camera and not the sun gun, plus the lighting in there wasn't great


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## getthewheelsinl (Apr 6, 2010)

Looks good guys - also looks like you and Martin are more proactive on the machine polishing front - haven't touched my DA since our class!!! Hopefully get some time in the summer to get back into it...

Keep up the good work!!


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## CraigQQ (Jan 20, 2011)

i think that was partly my bad camera work aswell kev..:lol:

who added the "rotaries are for pussies" tag :lol: im guessing you calum!!
love how it says "da is for real men" right next to that "pink moose" :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## Dohnut (Feb 4, 2011)

CraigQQ said:


> who added the "rotaries are for pussies" tag :lol:


:tumbleweed:


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## CraigQQ (Jan 20, 2011)

Dohnut said:


> :tumbleweed:


:doublesho....terrible!!

its not my fault you lot are terrified of a wee rotary :lol: :lol: :lol:
ive got the hang of the pressure on the DA though. had a play with it on sunday. still not great at it though.. don't use it for correction lol.:thumb:


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## Leemack (Mar 6, 2009)

Nice job but i have to say the tags are better :lol:

Made me do a little wee reading those


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## CraigQQ (Jan 20, 2011)

its a shame the serious tags got lost in us making fun of each other :lol:... 
actually no it isn't :lol:


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## calum001 (Nov 18, 2010)

getthewheelsinl said:


> Looks good guys - also looks like you and Martin are more proactive on the machine polishing front - haven't touched my DA since our class!!! Hopefully get some time in the summer to get back into it...
> 
> Keep up the good work!!


cheers mate were getting there, it's still only the 3rd car i've done so still learning, looking to start doing it more often now though, will keep an eye out for the thread when you blow the dust off yours and give it a bash mate :thumb:



CraigQQ said:


> i think that was partly my bad camera work aswell kev..:lol:
> 
> who added the "rotaries are for pussies" tag :lol: im guessing you calum!!
> love how it says "da is for real men" right next to that "pink moose" :lol: :lol: :lol:


i tried to but had to stop at the 'da is for real men' and some actual useful tags, i wanted to add more but it wouldn't let me 

Martin you read my mind !

and yes that is a bit of a contradiction :lol:



CraigQQ said:


> :doublesho....terrible!!
> 
> its not my fault you lot are terrified of a wee rotary :lol: :lol: :lol:
> ive got the hang of the pressure on the DA though. had a play with it on sunday. still not great at it though.. don't use it for correction lol.:thumb:


give me a chance to 'master' the DA first lol :buffer: i don't think nick would have appreciated me practising with the rotary on his motor !


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## obiwan-shinobi (May 15, 2011)

That was only your third time! 

You told me you had done loads and it was very simple and had no bother doing it. Not that you were using my car as a practice!!! hahahahahaha

Just kidding guys!




Cheers for getting it done. It was all appreciated. Had a laugh doing, but man my shoulders were sore, felt like i had been to the gym or something! haha.



Only issue is, that its dirty again... was raining yesterday, so needs a wash again. Who is volunteering???


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## CraigQQ (Jan 20, 2011)

obiwan-shinobi said:


> That was only your third time!
> 
> You told me you had done loads and it was very simple and had no bother doing it. Not that you were using my car as a practice!!! hahahahahaha
> 
> ...


errr.... that was my first car with the new rotary nick :lol: before the m3 the new 3m rotary had only seen one 12"x12" section with menz 106FA :lol: 
now its been twice round my car, and its about to go a third time round the whole car.

lol get it round to calums, he will get the sponge out his boot and steal the fairy liquid from the kitchen :lol:
did you go out and watch the beading when it was raining like we talked about :lol:

lol thats the DA for you, the vibrations kill your shoulders....
the rotary isn't quite as bad but i was still a bit sore on sunday... not to sore mind as i spent 14 hours on my car on sunday, 8 hours yesterday, and so far 5 hours on my car today, and about to start another 5 hours or so.


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## m3vert (Sep 28, 2009)

Nice job on the M3, I have the same colour M3 and will be attempting mine in June! fingers crossed I think!!!!


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