# BMW Z4m and a couple of other German marques- Gleammachine.



## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

This Z4m was recently purchased by my client, whilst in very good condition the owner felt it could be improved upon, so hence booked my services.

Upon quotation the paintwork looked excellent with very light swirling so was booked in for a 2 day minor correction/enhancement, upon receiving the vehicle and placed under my halogens I soon realised that a little extra effort was needed to remove the defects, hard clearcoat was an understatement, needless to say the additional work payed dividends.

A snippet of the e-mail I received from Tristan that evening after collection-

_Evening Rob

I have never had so many looks, people pulling along side me looking at the car ))......its stunning, made me feel I had just driven it from the showroom as brand new, actually it looks better than a new car......the finish is first class.....will definately recommend you to anyone I know who wants some detailing work._

Comments like this are what every detailer strives for, and IMO makes the job worthwhile.

*Upon arrival.*




























Starting of with the engine bay detail, honoured as per last months special offer, not in a bad state by any means.










Wiped down using a citrus based cleanser by hand,










Plastics and rubber dressed using 303 Aerospace, painted areas protected using Opti-seal,










Alloys and calipers cleaned using Espuma revolution, tyres and arches cleaned with a citrus blend, these wheels are to be replaced with genuine CSL alloys the following day.



















Vehicle pre-foamed using Meguiars apc and left to dwell for a short while,



















Rinsed then various exterior trim and shuts pre-cleaned using detailing brushes,























































Indicator housings removed and cleaned,










Washed in the usual safe manner, de-tarred and clayed,










A deep scratch on the roof was flattened using 3000 grit, not fully removable bit reduced on the eye,



















It was soon evident that my usual combo for these details was of no use,










Ended up for the majority of defect removal using 3m Fastcut+ on a Gloss-it light cut pad, IPA wipedowns per panel.
Some pictures of the polishing stage I managed to capture, camera was struggling to focus on the silver, but a few before and after prior to refinement.

Generally like the below picture all over,





































The following 3 are just after's,




























End of day 1 with all the major panels completed, leaving the bumpers, tailgate, lights and lower sills to correct.

*Day 2.*














































Midday and onto the refinement stage using Meguiars #205 on a Hex-logic finishing pad,










With the polishing complete the vehicle was pulled outside and re-foamed and rinsed to remove any dust,










Indicators and number plate housing polished by hand using #105,



















Adhesives removed,



















Paintwork pre-cleansed using Zymol hd and then waxed with Zymol Concourse,










Exhausts and chromework polished using Britemax easy cut and final shine to protect,



















Plastic trim given an IPA wipedown to remove any trace of grease, oils or dust, then protected using C4 permanent trim restorer,










*Glass cleaned throughout and exterior protected using Nanolex premium.
*Arch linings and plastic mesh grills dressed with 303 aerospace.
*Tyres dressed with 2 coats of Swissvax pneu.
*Rubber door seals treated with SV seal feed.
*Alloys and calipers protected using Opti-seal.
*Few hours later a final wipedown with Zaino Z8 grand finale detailing spray.

Interior given a vacuum, leather cleaned and fed using Swissvax leather milk, plastic wiped down with apc, carpets protected with fabric guard and veneer facias polished using EZ acrylic glaze.










A long hard 2 days but worthwhile in the results and the customers delight.



























































































































Many thanks to Tristan if your reading this, a true pleasure.

A couple of other german marques from this month, both finished using EZ acrylic glaze & Smartwax Concours.









































































Thanks for looking and comments welcomed and appreciated.:thumb:


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## Samjam927 (Sep 24, 2008)

Nice job on that Z4M!!!!!


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## Jamie-O (Jan 28, 2010)

Epic.


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## MidlandsCarCare (Feb 18, 2006)

That's incredible work mate, I'm not surprised he was happy, it really does look like new.

That Smartwax seems to have worked a treat on the Audi too? Very sharp finish.

Great work.


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## Nanolex (Jun 8, 2008)

Quality work, all 3 are absolutely stunning!


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## MAXI-MILAN (Oct 26, 2008)

Great work Rob as always :thumb:


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## Guest (Apr 12, 2010)

very nice:thumb:


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## Prism Detailing (Jun 8, 2006)

Excellent work


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## Perfection Detailing (Nov 3, 2007)

Very nice Rob, and great to get comments like that from happy customers makes all your efforts feel really worthwhile :thumb:

Neil


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## slrestoration (Nov 11, 2009)

Great work on all 3 Rob, the finish on that z4 tailpipe. . . awesome, a true testament to elbow grease!!


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## toni (Oct 30, 2005)

Looking sharp! :thumb:


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## dsms (Feb 1, 2008)

Killer work, man the RS6 is amazing!


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## amiller (Jan 1, 2009)

Must make a comment at how good that cars looks in the afters!

Z4M is a great great car and great VFM at the moment. Great work and thanks for the effort with the write-up, much appreciated. :thumb:


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## marc-l (Mar 22, 2010)

Me likey!!!!


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## DE 1981 (Aug 17, 2007)

Lovely work as ever Rob, i remember the first Z4M i did and thinking it was one the most understated M cars ever.

you been keeping busy? You busy around 15th 16th of May as i have a wedding down in your neck of the woods.

Gav


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## johnboyo (Oct 10, 2007)

Fantastic results all round :thumb:

Bought one of these Z4M coupes myself last week in Imola Red, quite looking forward to detailing it though now I'm not sure I've got a polish up to the job!


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## UBRWGN (Nov 25, 2007)

Love the coupes, and BMW is stopping production. Future collector's car for sure.
That RS6 is gorgeous. :argie:


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## Andy_RX8 (Jun 6, 2008)

Looks the nuts mate.

Cant wait till i try out my concours now.


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## HC1001 (May 27, 2007)

:doublesho Stunning...............:thumb:


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## ads2k (Jul 12, 2006)

Superb work Rob, the finish now does the car justice and great to see Zymol Concours being used again instead of the usual sealants :thumb:

Great finish on the RS6 to .


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## Jorge (Oct 12, 2009)

At last....the Z4...
That´s look amaizing, and the owner is the same opinion than mine...
Wonderfull work Rob :thumb:
The oders :car: are great too.
Great report :argie:
I´m just doing a Citroen 2CV (Red), waiting to use the Z. Concourse to see the finish...:lol:

Best regards,

Jorge


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## Mr Face (Jan 22, 2009)

Nice work Rob, big respect from us all at team Face !!


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## gb270 (Aug 22, 2008)

Great work


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## clcollins (Jul 30, 2007)

Top job :thumb: The Z4 looks perfect


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## paddy328 (Mar 4, 2007)

Looking good mate. loving the tail pipes.

That porsche looks amazing.


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## Auto Detox (Dec 22, 2007)

Very nice work Rob


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## VIPER (May 30, 2007)

Sterling work as usual Sir :thumb: :thumb: Great job on that exhaust Rob - only a small part of the finished car, but the view from behind it makes a huge difference (I mean when people following can see the silencer's polished and not just the tailpipe).

When you doing the GT3RS bud?


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

Viper said:


> Sterling work as usual Sir :thumb: :thumb: Great job on that exhaust Rob - only a small part of the finished car, but the view from behind it makes a huge difference (I mean when people following can see the silencer's polished and not just the tailpipe).
> 
> When you doing the GT3RS bud?


Thanking you Mark, yep the small details like the exhausts, trim etc.. are the parts I look forward to after several days machining, brings the whole detail together nicely.

GT3 RS is a little way of yet unfortunately, but I do have some cracking machines lined up this year and slowly getting through my remainding wish list.:thumb:


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## -tom- (Jan 27, 2009)

Rob simple stunning :argie:


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## -Ally- (Mar 6, 2009)

Great work, that RS6 is really nice.


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## ahaydock (Jan 4, 2007)

Spot on with all 3 there mate :thumb:


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## Nudenut (May 13, 2009)

Big thanks to Rob for leaving my pride and joy like this the other day... top man as ever :thumb::thumb::thumb:


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## Dunkwho (Jan 23, 2009)

Blinding work Rob.
How do you apply optiseal to the wheels - spray a pad\cloth and wipe round, or spray the wheel? Do you use a round foam pad\a MF pad\or some other solution that you've found?

Duncan


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

Nudenut said:


> Big thanks to Rob for leaving my pride and joy like this the other day... top man as ever :thumb::thumb::thumb:


Thanks mate and always a pleasure.:thumb:



Dunkwho said:


> Blinding work Rob.
> How do you apply optiseal to the wheels - spray a padcloth and wipe round, or spray the wheel? Do you use a round foam pada MF pador some other solution that you've found?
> 
> Duncan


Thanks Duncan,

I spray directly onto the surface and then wipeover with a MF cloth using the surplus to cover all areas.:thumb:


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## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

cracking work mate!

where do you get the britemax stuff from for the exhaust? and what is it like compared to AutoSol and Megs Metal Polysh


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

-Mat- said:


> cracking work mate!
> 
> where do you get the britemax stuff from for the exhaust? and what is it like compared to AutoSol and Megs Metal Polysh


Cheers Mat, Britemax metal polishes- http://www.i4detailing.co.uk/acatalog/Metal_Polish_Sealant.html

They are more of a liquid compared to the pastes of Autosol, bottles need a good shake to mix the polish but works very effectively.:thumb:


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## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

Cheers fella. Does the final shine hold up well? How durable is it? I seem to find that I have to polish my exhaust almost every wash! So I kinda give up with it, and clean it up for shows etc


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## Ultimate Shine (Jun 3, 2008)

very nice rob as always mate:thumb:


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

Nudenut said:


> Big thanks to Rob for leaving my pride and joy like this the other day... top man as ever :thumb::thumb::thumb:


Impressive Dyno win at the weekend- 721 BHP :doublesho and 3rd in the show and shine, beaten by a couple of mint older Audi's.



-Mat- said:


> Cheers fella. Does the final shine hold up well? How durable is it? I seem to find that I have to polish my exhaust almost every wash! So I kinda give up with it, and clean it up for shows etc


The final shine is very good and will make cleaning easier, but they will still need buffing after each wash I'd imagine.


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