# 21 year old BMW 535 Sport EPIC clean!



## Mean & clean (Aug 19, 2007)

My Dad owns an old G reg BMW E34 535i Sport. He isn't in the best of physical health so can't clean the car himself, and he knows to stay away from the swirlomatic car washes.

Any way the car doesn't do a lot of miles and is parked under trees so this is the consequence of such...

Boot lid...


























Roof...


































Other various images....


















































The whole of the cars surface was imbedded in moss, sap, bird lime etc...

So I decided to set a weekend aside and wash it with Stardrops APC as regular shampoo just wasn't strong enough to de gunge this mess.
I had to wash and re wash the car several times to get it like this...


































Far from good enough, I washed again with Stardrops and Car Pro Tar X...

Tar X in action...









Badges cleaned with cotton buds...










Wheels cleaned with Turtle Wax Platinum wheel cleaner, an inch round brush and an MF sponge...

Before...









After...









I cannot stress enough how difficult this cars paint was to wash, bonded contaminants is an understatement!

Anyway after a LOT of washing and de taring I clayed the car with Meguiars aggressive clay up to 3 times in some places, to get the car looking like this...


















































Door, boot and bonnet shuts cleaned with Stardrops and AG Rapid Detailer...










I was now faced with a clean car, but the paint was heavily stained and oxidised so... Time for polishing!

I used Sonus SFX 2 (by hand, no machines here) and a Sonus pro applicator.

Door before polish...










Door after polish...










Time was running out for day one so I polished one side of the car and some of the bonnet...

Wing polished...

















Passenger side polished...










Bonnet partly polished...
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That was Saturday spoken for so I had to leave the car until the next day...

The next morning I'm greeted with rain.

It was plain too see the polished and unpolished parts of the bonnet...


















beading down the polished passenger side, don't think this car had seen any beading in years...


















After the rain I dried the car off and set about polishing again...

Bonnet partly polished...










Bonnet fully polished...


















I also fitted this M5 numberplate surround after cleaning it with Stardrops and TW Black in a Flash...










Fitted...


















Due to the forever changing weather on the Sunday I didn't get many before polishing pics. So here is the finished article...

Polished with Sonus SFX 2 by hand and waxed with Turtle Wax Platinum precision wax. 
Some pics were taken before the numberplate went back on but the whole car is clayed, polished and waxed from top to bottom...


















































































































The glass was cleaned with AG Fast glass and Turtle Wax Clear Vue rain repellent.

Tyres Dressed with Megs Endurance.

Wax used was Turtle Wax Platinum.

I ran out of time so couldn't polish the exhaust or any of chrome, I did give it a quick vacuum inside.

After all of the hard work and aching arms it rained again so here is some beading on the waxed paint...


























I had to dry off and go over it with some QD before dropping the car back off to my Dad.

Sorry for all of the pics but I thought you like minded folk would enjoy reading


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## awallacee30 (May 4, 2011)

Great job mate, looks lovely :thumb:

I do like the old E34's and that one looks great in white


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## DMH-01 (Mar 29, 2011)

Cracking job mate, looks mint.


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## e32chris (Sep 21, 2011)

i love it and i bet your dad was really pleased. im a big fan of the older big bmws they have a presence on the road, i have a 1992 e32 740i which shares a lot of parts with the e34 great write up


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## M4RC (Mar 15, 2011)

Looks great, you put some hard work into that racing tank! Your arms must have been hanging off.


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## Mean & clean (Aug 19, 2007)

e32chris said:


> i love it and i bet your dad was really pleased. im a big fan of the older big bmws they have a presence on the road, i have a 1992 e32 740i which shares a lot of parts with the e34 great write up


Yeah my Dad was over the moon, I was pleased to help him out and very surprised hoe good it turned out 

They old BM's are cracking cars and very well built :thumb:


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## PugIain (Jun 28, 2006)

Nice job,my favourite shape of beemer.Along with the E32/38 7 series.
Shame to see some rust creeping in though.


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## Mean & clean (Aug 19, 2007)

M4RC said:


> Looks great, you put some hard work into that racing tank! Your arms must have been hanging off.


Yes I was half dead after all of that :lol:


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## jmm86 (Sep 4, 2011)

looked a real challenge

shame they don't make BMW's like the used to anymore


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## Mean & clean (Aug 19, 2007)

PugIain said:


> Nice job,my favourite shape of beemer.Along with the E38 7 series.
> Shame to see some rust creeping in though.


Yeah it has some rust, very minor rust though. It does need sorting out, but it isn't bad for a 21 year old car that lives outdoors it's still very solid :thumb:

It has curbed wheels and dents in it too, it isn't a mint pampered example.


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## dazzyb (Feb 9, 2010)

good save there, looks sooo much better. really brought it back to life


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## ITHAQVA (Feb 20, 2011)

WOW!!! wonderful old E34 Racing Tank mate, love it, well done for bringing it back so well too :thumb::thumb:


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## stuart5760 (Jan 22, 2008)

I guess your dads reaction makes all the hours of work worthwhile. Brilliant turnaround and looks superb. very nice car too!!


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## Obsessed Merc (Apr 10, 2011)

Without a machine... Well played.


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## Mean & clean (Aug 19, 2007)

stuart5760 said:


> I guess your dads reaction makes all the hours of work worthwhile. Brilliant turnaround and looks superb. very nice car too!!


Indeed his reaction was well worth the work involved 



Obsessed Merc said:


> Without a machine... Well played.


Thank you


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## tonyy (Jul 26, 2008)

What a turnaround..great job..


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## Cosdog (Aug 22, 2011)

thats brought a new lease of life to it! great improvement, well done mate!


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## pee (Apr 6, 2009)

Nice work very impressed you got it looking so good without a machine :thumb:


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## Matt- (Sep 8, 2011)

good work man! looks a millions times better!


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## L4CKL (Nov 27, 2010)

considering your dad isn't of good health at the mo, bet he nearly had a heart attack on seeing the transformation.

great turnaround and you've really brought the paintwork back to life with those reflections.

seeing your dads face must have been a great rewards in itself.:thumb:


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## Dingo2002 (Apr 4, 2007)

Stunning turnaround made even more impressive it was done by hand. Congrats.


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## Bezza (Oct 6, 2010)

Well done, excellent job and good start to finish pics.
You'll have to do the inside next!


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## ted11 (Jul 8, 2011)

I owned one of these back in the day with a manual gearbox and was one of the best cars iv ever owned, well done for saving it, great job.


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## Leemack (Mar 6, 2009)

Looks great mate.

Cracking car


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## Rowan83 (Aug 21, 2007)

Fantastic turnaround, a cracking looking car too! :thumb:


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## Mean & clean (Aug 19, 2007)

thanks for the comments everyone 

It was very hard work getting it up to this standard and I was amazed I managed it! 

Very worthwhile I'm pleased I conquered it :thumb:


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## Idlewillkill (Jun 3, 2009)

Well done mate, looks truly epic now.


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## uzi-blue (Mar 16, 2011)

Nice job, great results


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

535 sport, G reg in white... this was my first BMW...loved it, great car...the great white shark as mine got called by my mates... :lol:

You have done a great job, car looks much better...

:thumb:


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## maestegman (Mar 3, 2011)

Excellent work there fella. The white paint's come up really well.


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## VZSS250 (Jan 8, 2008)

Fantastic detail. This car is a dream for an enthousiast detailer. A diamond in the rough! Nice pics also.


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## Bowler (Jan 23, 2011)

Top job with great results.


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## P.A.D (Jun 26, 2008)

Top class that by hand dude.:thumb:

Don't know how long it took you but fantastic effort and well worth posting up to see what can be done with some effort.

Well done dude.


Russ


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## alex12 (Feb 24, 2010)

great turnaround fella. looks mint.


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## Dizzle77 (Mar 27, 2010)

you put in a hard graft to get that beauty of a motor back to it's best. Excellent turnaround :thumb:

Bet your dad is well chuffed with that


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## Mean & clean (Aug 19, 2007)

Thanks to you all 


It was a weekend well spent! The car itself seems to go down well everywhere both on line and in person.

These old BM's are very well respected, and rightly so :thumb:


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## Demetrios72 (Jun 27, 2011)

Great turnaround matey
Well done :thumb:


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## steve D (Oct 5, 2010)

Superb fella. Stunning results and well worth the hard graft. Great car too.


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## Top Dog (Sep 11, 2011)

Good job mate


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## greenwagon (Dec 31, 2008)

Fantastic job you have done on a 21 year old car 
They were built to last 
Shows what can be done without a machine polisher or PW too 
Well done


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## 335dAND110XS (Dec 17, 2010)

Amazing! Very solid too considering the age and conditions it "lived" in!

For comedy rust, check the wheel hubs of any E9* BMW (all less than six years old I think) - had mine re-done but they were bad too. Seems odd that BMW "forgot" to rust proof them - the rest of the car is bulletproof.

Are those M5 alloys? I reckon the best rims on those 5ers are these:








In fact I reckon they are one of BMW's nicest alloys ever!


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## vxlnut24 (May 28, 2009)

now this is the type of detail i like to see, my uncle had 1990 535 se manual, god that was fun for a big car! excellant work!


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## Brooklands (Jun 12, 2010)

Fantastic work there! It really was in quite a state to start with......


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## keithyboy (May 21, 2011)

That's a nice old thing and very deserving of the effort.


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## Mean & clean (Aug 19, 2007)

Thanks to everyone for your comments 



335dAND110XS said:


> Amazing! Very solid too considering the age and conditions it "lived" in!
> 
> For comedy rust, check the wheel hubs of any E9* BMW (all less than six years old I think) - had mine re-done but they were bad too. Seems odd that BMW "forgot" to rust proof them - the rest of the car is bulletproof.
> 
> ...


Yes they are M5 alloys on there, and a very good choice they are too :thumb:


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## chad16384 (May 2, 2011)

That is a truly amazing job mate.


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## twoscoops (Mar 26, 2010)

That's fantastic work and a brilliant finish all by hand! Bet your dad was well chuffed!


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## magpieV6 (Jul 29, 2008)

great clean up!


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

Nice recovery on a great car, always very pleasing to bring a car back from the brink.:thumb:


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

335dAND110XS said:


> For comedy rust, check the wheel hubs of any E9* BMW (all less than six years old I think) - had mine re-done but they were bad too. Seems odd that BMW "forgot" to rust proof them - the rest of the car is bulletproof.


Audi's seem to suffer equally as bad, the only 2 marques of car that I get regularly asked to refinish the hubs. 
Mine have gone on the E39, but the disks and hubs come as one, so will replace the lot and add preventive measures.


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## Derekh929 (Aug 28, 2011)

Very tidy motor looks great now is that the original wheels?


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## 123quackers (Jan 29, 2009)

looking real good, just them little rust spots to sort and good as new...

Great work very rewarding indeed:thumb:


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## Soul Hudson (Jul 5, 2011)

Epic clean indeed fella great job.


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## Guest (Jan 27, 2012)

stunning work


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## Mean & clean (Aug 19, 2007)

Thanks for all of the comments everyone 



Derekh929 said:


> Very tidy motor looks great now is that the original wheels?


The wheels are from a later model M5, so no they aren't standard. They could do with a refurb TBH.


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## goldfinger (May 19, 2009)

*nice car*

Had one of those, brilliant car!


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## dhiren_motilal (Apr 3, 2011)

what a transformation, looks awesome mate.


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## phil_m_rob (May 8, 2011)

I love the old E34s and I love this!


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## Mean & clean (Aug 19, 2007)

Thanks a lot People


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## abbacus (Mar 24, 2011)

Great transformation there. Really do love these. The older they get the better they seem to look.

Top work! :thumb:


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## h4rn (Mar 9, 2011)

Stunning....cant fault the good old BMW


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## shaziman (Feb 11, 2010)

Well done mate, Apline white is a very unrewarding colour to work on. I'm doing the same level of restoration on a white 99 E36 touring and to say the least, once its clayed and washed, it doesn't show the benefits till the end!


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## spinr33 (Aug 15, 2011)

Looks great must have been alot of hard work by hand came up very well


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## Pablito (Feb 5, 2012)

nice mate, I love a car in white.. my old rocco was alpine white, and believe it or not i had an old 5 series in white years and years ago.... Good job :thumb:


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## james_death (Aug 9, 2010)

Superb job...:thumb:

Lovely motor... just need the few rust spots doing and she is good for 20 more years....:thumb:


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