# Neglected & Unloved '96 E34 BMW Touring Transformed!



## Matty77 (Nov 7, 2012)

A neighbour has been asking me for some time if I would detail his 'workhorse' 176k BMW 5 Series 2.5 Diesel Touring but I've never had the time.

But last week the sun was shining and I had some free time, so I gave him a call.

I'd seen him driving around in the car and from what I could tell it was a bit of a shed from a distance, but what the hell, I was up for the challenge and I thought the 17 year old Beemer might actually scrub up pretty well.

Ok, so here's the car as it was when he dropped it off round mine.








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Not much cleaner round the back...










It was pretty filthy as you can see, so the first thing I did was give it a good wash down (2BM + APC, Tardis, Iron X etc) which was followed up with a BH Medium clay bar.

It's amazing how many imperfections dirt can hide! On closer inspection I saw that I had a lot of work ahead.

When quizzed about the abrasions on the rear wing, my neighbour admitted that he'd used the harsh side of a washing up foam pad to 'scrub off' the adhesive left behind from parcel tape he'd used to hold the bumper up after a rear shunt!!










Check out the Defects, RDS and vandal scratches on the NS rear door...and marvel at that wonderful paint touch-up job!










Check out the defects in these shots...





































Paintwork on the roof wasn't much better. Millions of swirls, scratches and water marks topped off with a flaking roof rail!










PTG readings taken, it was time to get to work with some 2000/2500 Unigrit....

Starting with that nasty rear wing with the brillo pad etchings...










Followed by the doors...



















I continued around the car until I was happy I'd wet sanded as many defects as I possibly could.

Next up, I got to work with the rotary with a Scholl purple cutting pad and Scholl S2 and gave the complete car two hits with this combo followed by two hits of Scholl S40 on a Scholl blue polishing pad.

Sorry I haven't got any pictures of the polishing process itself but I was working my b***s off and got into a nice rhythm which I didn't want to stop to take pictures every five minutes.

Ok, after polishing I gave the old girl a wipe down with BH Cleanser Fluid I then I used BH Auto Balm for the LSP. It's easy on - not so easy off - but was very rewarding to use and felt like it was actually working which isn't always the case when using extremely easy-off products. Anyway, judge the results for yourselves in the 'After' pictures below.

Before taking these pictures I completed the external job by dressing all the trim and rubber using AG Bumper and Trim Gel and AG Vinyl and Rubber care products, then dressing the tires with AG Tyre Dressing.

The interior leather was given a once over, hoovered, trim cleaned and dressed as was the leather seats. Glass polished with AG Glass Polish. The engine bay will have to wait for another day!

Oh yeah, and I also rubbed down and repainted those flaking roof rails!

So after lots of fun. Here are the 'AFTER' pics...

The light was fading so excuse the picture quality, but you get the idea!














































This is the side with the awful vandal scratches on the rear door....not looking too bad now










Finally a side by side 'Before & After' comparison picture...










Not a bad job really given the sheer amount of defects in that paint and the limited time I had to work on her.

I appreciate she's not perfect, but that wasn't the aim - and I was quite happy with the result of my two days work - and so was the owner who couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the car again for the first time. I've got a feeling he's gonna be asking me to do his newish X5 sometime soon 

Anyway, thanks for looking. I look forward to hearing your comments :thumb:


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## okcharlie (Jun 29, 2010)

Nice job and hats off for rising to the challenge! So satisfying these type of jobs - bet you loved every minute of it. Thanks for showing.


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## Mitthero (Sep 10, 2013)

Nice work man!!

I'm thinking of buying an older unloved car as well and then to give it some love .. perhaps next year, nice project!


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## Jochen (May 21, 2007)

Epic transformation :argie::thumb:


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## GarveyVW (Jun 28, 2013)

Great turnaround, top job.


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## nbray67 (Mar 22, 2012)

Cracking job mate. They look like chalk n cheese in the before and after shots. Give yourself a pat on the back for that effort.


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## Matty77 (Nov 7, 2012)

okcharlie said:


> Nice job and hats off for rising to the challenge! So satisfying these type of jobs - bet you loved every minute of it. Thanks for showing.


I did 

But you know how it is, when I'd finished the car as agreed all I could focus on was the bits and bobs that still needed doing. I offered to spend a few days taking care of the stone chips and gravel rash but the owner didn't think it was necessary  LOL


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## realist (May 11, 2011)

Good work mate, I bet he was pleased with that:thumb:


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## PK001 (May 8, 2008)

Looked like it was ready for a respray.
But with a bit (lot) of elbow grease, what wonders you can do!

Great Job!


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## okcharlie (Jun 29, 2010)

Matty77 said:


> I did
> 
> But you know how it is, when I'd finished the care as agreed all I could focus on was the bits and bobs that still needed doing. I offered to spend a few days taking car of all the paint chips and road rash but the owner didn't think it was necessary  LOL


Was thinking the same.....it would make the wheels miles better just adding some cheap copy bmw centres off ebay, sometimes tho the owners just don't care.


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## neilb62 (Jul 30, 2007)

Amazing...


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## archiebald (Sep 7, 2009)

Top work really rewarding job, favourite thread in here for a long time


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## bazz (May 15, 2007)

great job and looks much better


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## Bartl (Apr 3, 2013)

Great turnaround


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## jamesgti (Aug 9, 2007)

Great work mate.


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## Kiashuma (May 4, 2011)

Fantastic work, really nice colour once you had worked your magic.


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## tonyy (Jul 26, 2008)

Great turnaround..


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## m500dpp (Feb 17, 2006)

great to see, getting bored with so many "5 minute old car" detailed threads! Great work and respect on treating the paint defects, awesome!

Did you do the interior?


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## Guru (Aug 28, 2013)

The colour shade looks totally different in the side by side pics.

Amazing work.


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## Soul Hudson (Jul 5, 2011)

Lovely work. Made the paint work shine.


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## RabRS (Sep 8, 2013)

Great job. I love seeing these, much more rewarding seeing one in this state rescued than something in better shape coming out perfect. This is what it's about, bringing old abused cars back.


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## Flakey (May 5, 2013)

What a transformation!


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## Matty77 (Nov 7, 2012)

m500dpp said:


> great to see, getting bored with so many "5 minute old car" detailed threads! Great work and respect on treating the paint defects, awesome!
> 
> Did you do the interior?


Yes I also did the interior which had been looked after about as well as the bodywork!

I hoovered up all the crap then cleaned the carpets and floor mats, removing most of the stains, then cleaned and dressed the leather seats, cleaned and dressed all the rubber, plastic and vinyl surfaces and then polished the glass. I didn't bother with pictures but it looked way better after I'd finished. I also attacked the engine bay. Removing leaves and crap followed by a thorough degrease, but I ran out of time so that's something to finish off another time, maybe


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## Flakey (May 5, 2013)

Did you paint the roof rails?


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## JBirchy (Oct 9, 2010)

You've done an absolutely fantastic job there buddy and should be extremely pleased with yourself! You've transformed it! Well done! :thumb:


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## Matty77 (Nov 7, 2012)

Flakey said:


> Did you paint the roof rails?


Well spotted, yes I did. Would have been a shame not too!


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## Matty77 (Nov 7, 2012)

JBirchy said:


> You've done an absolutely fantastic job there buddy and should be extremely pleased with yourself! You've transformed it! Well done! :thumb:


Thanks buddy :thumb:


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## deano93tid (May 8, 2013)

Great work there, it is quite hard to believe it is the same car. These are my favourite threads too. You can make a newer car better but you cannot transform the entire look of the car. 

The new plates make a huge difference too.


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## MrVix (May 21, 2013)

Good work!!!


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## Short1e (Apr 5, 2009)

Wow!!!

Massive change to the car, well done dude :thumb:


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## -Raven- (Aug 26, 2010)

Very sweet transformation! You really brought that paintwork back to life!


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## Ojai (Feb 24, 2008)

wow incredible turnaround!!


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## nick_mcuk (Jan 4, 2008)

Nice job....thats a proper correction job unlike some of these new or nearly new car "corrections"

I bet your neighbour was chuffed to bits.


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