# BMW e39 Imola red



## Mindis (Feb 2, 2011)

Updated on page 7 

First time I got some time wash my BMW and a day was quite nice so it took me about 10 hours in total so far

When I bought it










Firstly I started with headlight restoration, but it will need another go as I run out of sanding paper




























And then got in to interior























































Boot was in terrible state, but I plan to dye black in near future














































Spare wheel in not so great condition



















Interior vacuumed and pedals cleaned










Then back on to boot liner and spare wheel










Iron X










Much better when it was, but needs refurbish as the rest of the wheels



















New carpets in










Next day I started with exterior:

It was washed couple of times but just quick wash and now proper one













































































































After wash it looks much better but still plenty of tar and paint was very ruff























































So tar was removed with Auto smart tar remover, paintwork clayed, polished with 3in1 product as I am planing to fully mashine polish next week ( if weather is nice ) and applied sealant.














































And beauty shots
































































When I remembered that I haven't polished exhaust pipe

It was already cleaned with tar remover and degreaser



















And products used























































If you got s far thanks for looking and all C+C welcome


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## Chrissyronald (Jan 15, 2012)

Looks great!


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## ted11 (Jul 8, 2011)

very nice.


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## tonyy (Jul 26, 2008)

Very nice:thumb:


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## samm (May 19, 2006)

looks great mate. well done


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## DMH-01 (Mar 29, 2011)

Tidy job :thumb:


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## Smithyc1987 (Feb 2, 2013)

Good work fella.


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## CGRD (Jan 9, 2013)

Great results, I'm currently on with swirl removal on red paint too.


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## davo3587 (May 9, 2012)

Great job mate, you dont see many of these in manual.


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## MLAM (Jan 21, 2009)

^ Echo that, you also don't see many in Imola Red either 

Great job on the car mate, looks like its finally getting the TLC it deserves judging by the state of it before hand, job well done.


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## Old-scool- m3 (Nov 29, 2010)

That e39 looks great and rare in that colour. 
I previously owned an Imola red 528i sport and it was a truly fantastic car.
It was identical to yours even town to the trim cloth/alcantara trim.
It's nice to see one being looked after the way it deserves.

Top job.


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## Mindis (Feb 2, 2011)

Thanks for the thumbs up 

As far as I am aware, were was only 18 imola reds 525i manual build for uk market, so pretty rare I would say 

It does need a lot of TLC, a there is a long way to go. 
Already replaced oil, oil filter, air filter, rubber air hose ( was split almost in two pieces and held together by scotch tape  ) and already bought to replace polen filters and brake pad wear sensors. Ideally it would need front bumper repaint, but in the future I will try DIY, as I am not to bad at spraying, and already have air compressor  ( never tried thought ) wheel refurb and few other bits.


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## Bill58 (Jul 5, 2010)

Great turnaround!


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## snoopin (Jul 26, 2009)

I love this car.... awesome 

If you want to sell it


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

Love that generation of BMW, before they got all fat and niche filling. Yours is looking much fitter after the hard work


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## Mindis (Feb 2, 2011)

snoopin said:


> I love this car.... awesome
> 
> If you want to sell it


Sell it? I was looking for imola red sport for such long time so it's not likely it will be for sale any time soon 

But these times everything is for sale at the right price


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## snoopin (Jul 26, 2009)

Mindis said:


> Sell it? I was looking for imola red sport for such long time so it's not likely it will be for sale any time soon
> 
> But these times everything is for sale at the right price


I thought as much


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## Dift (May 22, 2011)

Beautiful car, and beautiful job!

Imola red is stunning!


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## Markdevon (Dec 29, 2012)

Great turn around, looking forward to the machine polish !


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## teamdirtydog (Jun 17, 2012)

Lovely job, do like a red e39

Sent from my S3 using Tapatalk 2


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## AdamC (Jan 31, 2013)

Great job on a stunning car. 
Real gem you've to there.


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## alexjb (Feb 13, 2011)

Good job man. Such a lovely colour. 
Love the graphics on the van in the background too! Hahahaha!!


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## VXR.Tom (Jul 20, 2012)

Got such a soft spot for these. Very nice


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## Dazz (Feb 8, 2013)

Looks a beaut now, great job with the headlights! Also the Capri is nice in the background :thumb:


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## DFEN5 (Mar 16, 2013)

Nice - these E39s are a classic imho (I have one) 

Although my headlights need the adjusters doing as well as a polish.


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## veb (Mar 13, 2006)

Echo all comments, stunning car in a very nice colour, a keeper im sure


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## bazz (May 15, 2007)

great job fella looks much better


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## spye435 (Aug 2, 2012)

Great work there. It's in a different league now.


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## jamesgti (Aug 9, 2007)

Great work mate.


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## JMorty (Apr 25, 2011)

Lovey mate, nice to see one in this colour! Is this turning into a progress thread? :thumb:


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## Trip tdi (Sep 3, 2008)

Looks stunning, great work :thumb:


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## Mindis (Feb 2, 2011)

JMDetailing said:


> Lovey mate, nice to see one in this colour! Is this turning into a progress thread? :thumb:


Might be, if I remember to take photos of what I am doing :wall: :lol:

Todays progress: 
Changed brake pad sensors, 
New polen filters 
and painted grill in black  maybe not to everyones taste but I think it suit red and black


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## MadOnVaux! (Jun 2, 2008)

Yeah, that grill looks great


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## mathyou78 (Mar 12, 2007)

Miles better with black grille


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## JMorty (Apr 25, 2011)

Lovely mate! I do think the grill kidneys look better in black. Keep it up!


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## Soul Hudson (Jul 5, 2011)

You have yor job cut out there. But its coming along nicely.

Paint work is responding well to a bit of TLC.


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## Mindis (Feb 2, 2011)

Thanks for all comments 

Also replaced thermostat, power steering fluid, brake fluid, brake pads going in today.

I am considering wrapping roof in gloss black vinyl, what is your thought about this?


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## nemo01 (Mar 13, 2013)

Very nice job.
Thanks for posting.


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## President Swirl (Oct 23, 2011)

There's absolutely no need for cars to be that nice. Tip of the cap Sir.


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## TopSport+ (Jul 22, 2012)

beautifull car


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## gibbo555 (May 3, 2011)

Lovely car mate, hard to beat imola red :thumb:


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## almeek91 (Feb 16, 2011)

good job. Can't beat an imola red bmw! love the capri aswell!


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## Black.MB (Aug 22, 2012)

Looks nice, love the hood reflection photo:thumb:


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## Guest (May 18, 2013)

So nice. :thumb:


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## Mindis (Feb 2, 2011)

Small update  had a couple of days to myself and managed to polish car ( took about 15 hours ) and changed vanos seals, new spark plugs and rocker cover gasket 

Couple pics I took after polishing, well pleased with the result.


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## gibbo555 (May 3, 2011)

Great job, looking nice and glossy


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## MadOnVaux! (Jun 2, 2008)

Slick!


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## Derek Mc (Jun 27, 2006)

Awesome job, nice to see the effort gave you such a great result :thumb:


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## Mindis (Feb 2, 2011)

Today had a bit more time with the car  
Repainted my spare wheel, I think it looks 100 times better now

Went from this :





to this:


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## AGRE (Sep 25, 2008)

Great results :thumb:


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## Mindis (Feb 2, 2011)

Cheers


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## Mindis (Feb 2, 2011)

Finally got round fixing radio pixels  well chuffed with the result


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## amand (Oct 28, 2012)

Nice work, I have the same car, and looking at your thread I noticed you restored your headlights. I tried it and its a b***h of a job to do. How long did you sand for before polishing with plastix for example???


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## Buckweed (Aug 27, 2012)

You've made a great job of your wheels :thumb:


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## Mindis (Feb 2, 2011)

amand said:


> Nice work, I have the same car, and looking at your thread I noticed you restored your headlights. I tried it and its a b***h of a job to do. How long did you sand for before polishing with plastix for example???


I have used DA with 1000 - 2000 - 3000 grit sandpaper, so it was pretty easy job to do, also I polished with Wolf's heavy cut polish and finished off with G technic P1


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## Mindis (Feb 2, 2011)

Buckweed said:


> You've made a great job of your wheels :thumb:


Cheers  now I have a set of style 42 wheels which I want to refurbish. Should look great once finished


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## Fromagerman (Jan 10, 2011)

Awesome car!
You gotta get the M-parallels to top off the whole M look.


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## danga200 (Feb 22, 2010)

What did you use on your wheel to get it back to looking OEM?


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## sprocketser (Aug 4, 2012)

Wow , great results mate , what were your paint procedures on the wheel that you repainted fella .


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## Mindis (Feb 2, 2011)

Fromagerman said:


> Awesome car!
> You gotta get the M-parallels to top off the whole M look.


I really want them, but they are so expensive  a set fetching £600.


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## Mindis (Feb 2, 2011)

danga200 said:


> What did you use on your wheel to get it back to looking OEM?


I just painted them.


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## Mindis (Feb 2, 2011)

sprocketser said:


> Wow , great results mate , what were your paint procedures on the wheel that you repainted fella .


Cheers 
I removed all flaking paint, put couple coats of primer and painted them with spray gun. It's not perfect, but it's spare wheel, and it's much much better then it was, just a couple off small imperfections.


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## Mindis (Feb 2, 2011)

Today I spend most of the morning cleaning car and also managed to wrap lower grill thingy 

From this


to this


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## JMorty (Apr 25, 2011)

That looks great, good look make!


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