# 1988 BMW M635 Alpina



## Auto Finesse (Jan 10, 2007)

Ok you may have been wondering where we have been for the last few days well this is what we have been up to, detailing this very tidy 1988 M6, the owner wanted it perfect as he had already seemed to have spent alot of time and money on the car to get it in to the condition it was in, we decided it would be a full stage 3 detail with stepped polishing, ie compound, polish, finesse, and any other part that needed cleaning treating done.

Here are some before pics of the car:





































As always we started work on the wheels and arches, using P21s wheel cleaner on the inners and fronts of the rim, and agitated with a Swissol wheel brush and a EZ detail brush, arches where treated with Auto glym power max 3 and scrubbed with a arch brush then jet washed clear:



















The door shuts where also treated with a degreaser and scrubbed with a brush then also jet washed clear:




























As the car had been mopped at the body shop it had alot of polish in the panel gaps Etc so using a citrus based TFR we pre soaked and agitated with various brushes to remove this:














































Now we moved on to washing the body work firstly we treated all the lower parts and the grills to a pre soak in CG citrus wash, the soaked the rest of the vehicle in Snow foam and Maxi suds mixed washed TBM with LW mits and rinsed





































Whilst still wet with rinse (ro) water we clayed the paint work to remove any bonded contaminates using sounus green, there was very little to remove only a slight bit of over spray around wing mirrors etc:










As i set about getting bits and pices ready for the exterior paint work, Jay got to work on the interior using a henry hover, extraction machine, G101 lots of brushes and MF cloths he turned this:























































To this:























































So while all that was going on this is what i was up to, After masking out some test areas using the least abrasive combo stepping my way up till it was correcting to a satisfactory level (this paint was very very hard), i settled on menz IP 3.02 folowed FF then a finishing glaze by Mark V ( very good stuff it is too ) this is what was achievable:














































As we spent so long cleaning all the panel gaps we did not fancy doing it again so we fully masked the car off, then we set about correcting the paint work with the rotary polishers and chosen polishes:



























































































That was the end of one day, so on the following day we continued work on the polishing of the doors and rear QTs










Once all the paint had been corrected to what was achievable (85-95%) as some deeper scratches could not be safely removed but where reduced in appearance, we now mixed the Zaino Z2 and ZFX ( the car has a modern clear coat finish now) We then applied it as per normal straight lines with a damp MF pad, and left each cot for 40mins to cure 3 coats where applied,




























Between waiting for the Z2 to cure we detailed all those small but important parts like the exhaust with autosol, trim and mud flaps with CG new look trim gel, the seals where feed with a Z product and wheels where coated with some Z2 too, even the door shuts got the Z2
































































So after all that and three coats of Zaino and a final wipe down with 
the Z8 here is what was achieved after 26 hours of labor in total




































































































Thank for looking, any comments or questions are welcome
James b


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## NKS (Feb 22, 2007)

Awesome details James :thumb:


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## 190Evoluzione (Jun 27, 2007)

Holy living ****.
That's awesome work, on one of the greatest coupes ever.
New Bimmers are just plain rubbish next to a car like that, it's poetry.


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## Summit Detailing (Oct 9, 2006)

sweet:thumb: 

gotta be one of the best BMW's ever made


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## V8burble (Jul 3, 2007)

Great work fellas :thumb: :buffer: :doublesho 

I have to agree with 190Evo the old 6 series are peaches


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## GlynRS2 (Jan 21, 2006)

A stunning detail with awesome results. :thumb: 
It looks absolutely mint and probably better than it did 19 years ago when it left dealership for the very first time


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## Trist (Jun 23, 2006)

Great work there. Swirl free. Nice Goody F1's too :thumb:


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## Nica (Jul 4, 2007)

You'r attention to detail is incredable, the entire vehicle looks remarcable. 
The 50/50 pictures look very nice. 

Thank you for sharing.


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## todd (Jul 28, 2007)

*THUMP*

Excuse me whilst I pick my jaw off the ground  

That's an amazing transformation, very impressive indeed :thumb:


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## *MAGIC* (Feb 22, 2007)

JB that looks AWESOME my friend hat off to ya, when we meetin up dude? :thumb:


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## blaze1235 (Oct 1, 2006)

that is absolutely staggering 26 hours of hard work paid off:thumb: :buffer:


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## Peter D (Oct 26, 2005)

That looks awesome - very wet and glossy. A great transformation:thumb:


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## d6dph (Mar 6, 2007)

Fantastic work there, Some real nice correction.

Stunning old thing too, Not many around that are not totally rotten


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## Paul-T (Nov 2, 2006)

Thats awesome James, I've got to go back and read through that again.

To see a shark-nose coupe back to proper ass kicking condition again, thats a real treat.


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## pcc (Oct 11, 2006)

Impressive work there fella. An old car brought back to life. Brilliant..


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## jedi-knight83 (Aug 11, 2006)

wow, very nice detail!!


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## astra-bertone (Mar 16, 2007)

fecking great work mate


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## wd40 (Jun 20, 2007)

:doublesho :doublesho 
Je**s H Ch**st how cool is that 
What a job on a beautiful motor , and i just love those alpina alloys !!!:thumb: :thumb:


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## BIG BAVARIAN (May 7, 2006)

stunning machine,is he taking it to the national day at gaydon on sunday ???,prizes in the offing me thinks superb write up and pics james, well done mate.:thumb: :thumb:


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## dino (Oct 26, 2005)

stunning is all i can say!


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## uberbmw (Jan 31, 2006)

Brilliant mate! Loving that. Hope the owner is taking it to the BMW Gaydon show at the weekend


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## paddy328 (Mar 4, 2007)

Superb work mate. Such a sexy car. I love the front end. Would be nice to see it at gaydon.


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## Maxym (Apr 27, 2007)

I have to say that that massive air dam spoils the look of BM's classic 6... But what a fantastic job you've done. Clearly the standard to aim for!


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## drive 'n' shine (Apr 22, 2006)

Top work there matey, looks absolutely spot on - one thing you forgot though.........no pics of that awesome engine!!!!!


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## Sportspack Mark (May 24, 2007)

:doublesho :doublesho 

jeepers thats an AMAZING detail 

well done to you! :buffer:


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## Scotsbil (Nov 27, 2006)

Well doen that looks the bolls.


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## Ronnie (Nov 15, 2006)

WOW that is all I can say speechless well done!


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## Jakedoodles (Jan 16, 2006)

Stunning indeed! Red is such a lovely colour to work with - and you've both done a cracking job!


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## Captain Morgan (May 7, 2007)

wow what a stuning car, you really did the busines on that J


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## AndyH (Jun 28, 2006)

Stunning...absolutly stunning. A credit to you both!


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## Phil H (May 14, 2006)

very nice work indeed! love the front of those cars


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## Deanoecosse (Mar 15, 2007)

That's the sign of a true classic. A car design that is over 20 years old and still makes jaws drop when folk see it. 
As Clarkson would say "sheer automotive pornography"


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## cosmos boy (Feb 24, 2007)

great work best bmw ever made in my opinion still miss my old one


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## Epoch (Jul 30, 2006)

Yep that's amazing, great work, looks real fine.

What a car as well


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## Rasher (Mar 6, 2006)

absolutely fantastic job mate


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## wfenix (May 13, 2007)

that is a fantastic detail mate and you should be very proud one of my most favourite beemers. awsome


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## dw0510 (Oct 22, 2006)

Superb detail!


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## Fat Audi 80 (Nov 8, 2006)

A M A Z I N G ! :doublesho 

Beautiful turnaround on a lovely car. :thumb:


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## rob750 (Apr 17, 2006)

Its my car and I can tell you that the pictures do not do the work justice. It looks brilliant. James at Autofinesse did a fantastic job

Robert Born


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## Coxy914 (Jan 14, 2007)

I saw that a let out a little sex wee, stunning, simply stunning!!
And that's coming from someone who owns a *Real 635 Alpina!!* (not one with just a set of Alpina wheels!!!)


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## Auto Finesse (Jan 10, 2007)

rob750 said:


> Its my car and I can tell you that the pictures do not do the work justice. It looks brilliant. James at Autofinesse did a fantastic job
> 
> Robert Born


that means every thing to me mate:thumb: i must admit it was hard to get pics to show off the finish to its fullest cos of the rich colour of the paint work, and the reflective ness of the Zaino is unreal


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## ChuckH (Nov 23, 2006)

COOORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR ! Nice car AWESOME WORK ! :thumb:


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## g00n3r (Aug 9, 2006)

Amazing detail, amazing car! just amazing!!!  :doublesho


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

absolutely cracking write up :thumb:

Stunning car and the finish is wonderful. The red just looks so much deeper and glossier and the attention to detail is first rate. I wish I had the patience for all those small but important jobs - inspirational! 

Really desperate for a UDM now so i can get swirl free on mine as well....


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## Wash'n'Go (Mar 13, 2007)

Fantastic job, the colour looks so bright. Good looking car.:thumb:


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## zippo (Mar 26, 2008)

i 'd been looking for pics of a M635.A and came across this. What a machine ,details not bad either 

Daz 
:tumbleweed::tumbleweed::tumbleweed:


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## jlw41 (Jun 5, 2011)

What an awesome motor, great work :thumb:


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## alesoft73 (Aug 27, 2012)

Fantastic CAR!
Nice Job!


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## Yowfailed (Mar 14, 2012)

If there was ever a true classic this is it. A fantastic job on a car that deserves only the best.

That car is just automotive Porn :doublesho :argie:


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## Aps-direct (Nov 19, 2012)

Great work.


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## Auto Finesse (Jan 10, 2007)

zippo said:


> i 'd been looking for pics of a M635.A and came across this. What a machine ,details not bad either
> 
> Daz
> :tumbleweed::tumbleweed::tumbleweed:


Holly thread revival Daz :tumbleweed: :lol:

Nice find i enjoyed reading that back, i forgot about that one


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## Black.MB (Aug 22, 2012)

Nice work:thumb:


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## rtjc (Apr 19, 2009)

Woah... this is an old one, but Phwooooaaaarrr.... i'll let you off


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## Kiwiteam (Nov 17, 2012)

Nice alpina


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## colarado red (Jun 5, 2008)

Stunning


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## id_doug (Apr 6, 2011)

Big old thread revival this one :doublesho nice work

Interesting to see what you were using before you had your own branded products


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## Auto Detox (Dec 22, 2007)

cant believe I missed this first time round, have a real soft spot for these old BMW's


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## gary2012 (Jul 28, 2012)

beautiful, no other words for it


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## ckeir.02mh (Jan 5, 2012)

Great job and a truly classic Beamer!

Chris.


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## WHIZZER (Oct 25, 2005)

great job


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## Rowan83 (Aug 21, 2007)

That looks epic!! They dont make them like they used too


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## Bowler (Jan 23, 2011)

Great write up, Love the car


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## TopSport+ (Jul 22, 2012)

Stunnig work mate:thumb:


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## ImDesigner (Jan 19, 2012)

I've had a look over this write up a few times now. Great car, nice work.


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## VenomUK (Oct 13, 2011)

Stunning work, a sucker for an old Alpina!!!

What brush did you use to clean the shuts please?


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## woodys (Dec 20, 2010)

Love the work, classic car real bit of class metal love the shape of the older 6 series :argie::argie::argie:


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## -Kev- (Oct 30, 2007)

looks like a radiator painting brush to me...


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## Ross (Apr 25, 2007)

Very cool.


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## zippo (Mar 26, 2008)

What brush did you use to clean the shuts please?

I Bought one exactly the same from megs about 3 years ago . A tenner as i recall. I Couldn't tell you if they still sell them though. hth

Daz


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## -Kev- (Oct 30, 2007)

http://www.monzacarcare.com/cleaning-brushes/monza-long-reach-tyre--engine-dressing-brush/0/


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## Cat Face (Jan 9, 2011)

Nice work, such a lovely car too.


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## Auto Finesse (Jan 10, 2007)

I think they are actually classed as "radiator brushes" or something like that, sorry this is quite an old thread (nearly 5 years now) so im not totally sure.


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## Mk2Singh (Aug 18, 2009)

Great work!


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## Brooklands (Jun 12, 2010)

That is a proper BMW - fabulous results!


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