# 2010 BMW E92 M3 Edition



## tim (May 2, 2006)

*Tim: 2010 BMW E92 M3 Edition*

This Detail was done back at the very start of the year for a good friend and fellow Member here Amos.

Having previously owned many tastefully modified Evo's then more sensible White 335d before seeing sense and chopping it in for a new Pearl White GTR. Aarons was left with a choice most of us would only envy when it came time to sell on the Datsun. But for a petrolhead and a fellow detailing nut, what car could fill the shoes of the GTR and at the same time be more satisfying to Detail?

Aaron's eyes set upon the E92 M3, but not just any M3, a special one more specifically the 'M3 Edition'
The Edition Model is a limited run of a few specific Colours. Each one would be a limited production and only for just a 6 month production period each. The Edition's have unique Black Leather interiors with special coloured Leather trim and stitch to match the exterior paint colour. On the outside matching gloss Black Mirrors, Kidney Grills and Side Grills with special 'eloxy-plated chrome' the Exhaust tips too are finished in Black. To optimise the car, the suspension of the Edition Model is lowered the by 10mm over the standard M3 and finished with Gloss Black Wheels.

Only available only in striking Alpine White, Dakar Yellow and a brand new colour Monte Carlo Blue. So having previously owned an Alpine White 335d and with Dakar Yellow not being his thing. The choice was obvious and wasn't it a good one, I think so anyway.

So on the 2nd of January, Aaron took delivery of his beautiful new 2010 E92 M3 Edition in Monte Carlo Blue.










But before he had even taken delivery of the car, the detail had already begun.

Having been delivered to the dealership just after Christmas myself and Amos visited the Dealership to inspect the car. Having instructed them not to touch the car but to only carefully rinse it down on arrival, we arrived to see that true to their word the car was just as was instructed. I'm sorry I've no decent photos of this as I actually was distracted by a Aston Martin Vanquish sitting in the corner while we were waiting on the M3 being moved into the showroom. So this is the only photo of this off Amos' phone.










So after carefully examination of the Paintwork with PTG's and intense lighting via 3M Sun Gun we were both more than happy the car and as you can see Amos collected the car after New Year before carefully driving home and locking it in the Garage until I was finished with it.

So on to the Detail.

First off was removing of the front Number Plate. Amos asked the dealer not to attach the number plate holder as he did not want any holes in the front bumper, for the smoother look. And again good to their word they just applied the plate with sticky pads.










The car was then thoroughly pre-sprayed with Citrus Degreaser then left to dwell. And then rinsed off with 0ppm Filtered Water at 60 degrees C


















Wheels and Arches were then tackled with an array of brushes using Aarons favourite, Gloss-it Wheel Gel and G101 for the Arches.

















































All the Badges and Panel Shuts were then APC'd and agitated before Foaming the car and leaving to dwell. The wash method was as usual, washed with the Two Bucket Method and Grit Guards.


















And after 5minutes or so the Car was then thoroughly rinsed and foamed again before being washed with a natural sea sponge.


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## tim (May 2, 2006)

The M3 was then brought inside to be decontaminated and dried off ready for the correction stage.


















As you can see in the photos below, the Bells are not coated and had started to corrode already. So Aaron wanted these cleaned and taken care of, so they were rubbed back and lacquered for protection.










































The wheels were removed to be thoroughly cleaned and sealed for easy maintenance in the future. The backs of the tyres were also dressed and the wheels were coated in Gtechniq C5 Wheel Armour.


















The wheels were then replaced and I began to clay the car. Sonus Green and Megs Last Touch were used here.

















As you can see, not a lot was coming off the car. But it was a considerable amount of bonded containments for what was a brand new car with less than 100miles on the clock.

















An idea of some of the minor defects throughout the car.


























Light swirling which is to be expected but not accepted for a brand new car.

Hard to capture defects in a tight position in the garage, again not great photos here. But just some general photos to show you the correction stage going on.


















































Some quick during shots of the progress of the overall level of finish. Remembering that the car is has only been compounded at this stage.


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## tim (May 2, 2006)

After the correction stage, the M3 was brought out given a thorough foam and washed to remove any excessive amounts of dust created from the correction stage.


























The finish you see here has not been refined or waxed yet.










































Foamed with Megs Hyper Wash at 60 degrees C and left to dwell.


















































The engine bay was carefully rinsed here to remove some light dusting, with 60 degree 0ppm Filtered water.


























































































Excuse the terrible shot at the end! But remember, the car has only been corrected here and has yet to be refined.

So the M3 was once again, brought back inside to be dried off before the Refinement Polishing stage.










This is where having the correct tools are invaluable, having now corrected all defects from the car. The last thing I want to do is possibly inflict more of them while drying the car with a drying towel.

This is where an air blower or vehicle drier is easily one of the best tools you can purchase to prevent yourself from doing re-work. Touchless drying is fantastic and you can 100% dry the car so that those annoying drips of water from head/tail lights and wing mirrors don't drive you mad! Which then need re-drying and again opens up the possibility to inflicting more defects into the paint again.










The car was then finished with the combo you see below, Makita, 3M Ultrafina SE and 3M Finishing Pad.
Time was pressing on, so no real photos of this stage but just this showing what was used.










The car was cleansed and waxed with Amos' choice of LSP, Swissvax Crystal Rock. Which he then added a second coat of again 24hrs later again.

Again, excuse the out of focus photos.. It was nearly 11pm on my 3rd day straight on the car and I'd forgot to take it off Manual Focus. But you can still see the impressive finish even in my terribly soft photos.


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## tim (May 2, 2006)

So finally after 3 solid 10, 11 and 12hour days, 2 coats of one of the world's finest waxes and a lot of work! The car was wheeled outside for the final time and we were blessed with a beautiful winters morning.

Hope you enjoy the after shots, this has to be one of my favourite cars I've detailed to date. It was just such a stunning Colour to work on, and overall was as close to perfection as is reasonably possible in my opinion.



























































































































































As you can see above, this was about the only noticeable blemish on the car after the correction was finished. I can honestly say this car was as close as it gets from factory to paintwork perfection.


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## Shanukes (Jun 17, 2007)

wow! Great work!


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## tim (May 2, 2006)

So to make use of the great weather we then popped round the corner to take some photos in a better location at the local harbour.










































































































































The Leather was cleaned and conditioned with my personal favourites, Zaino Z9 & Z10.


































Unlike the previous M3 model the E46, you can see that the E92 really needs it's 'power bulge' on the bonnet.










Engine bay was treated with 303 Aerospace Protectant



















































































































Hope you enjoyed the write up, it was another monster as you can see. But I thoroughly enjoyed working on this one and thought it was worth sharing.

Thanks

Tim


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## wookey (Jul 13, 2007)

Fantastic car and stunning colour.

Excellent work!


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## Detail My Ride (Apr 19, 2006)

When I first saw these, I went a little weak at the knee. I will own one of these in Monte Carlo Blue before I die, i'll make sure of it, they are truly stunning. The colour is incredible. 

Fantastic work, love the write up/pics. :thumb:


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## SimonW (Jun 3, 2007)

Looks fantastic!

Simon
*Exotic Detail*
Facebook
Website


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## Ebbe J (Jun 18, 2008)

Great job. The colour suits the car very well. 


Kind regards,

Ebbe


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## vickky453 (Feb 27, 2009)

what a beautiful car.


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## BangorGav (Aug 13, 2009)

As i said on RMS tim, Fantastic work.


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## llowen27 (Nov 1, 2009)

Fantastic car & colour, great write up & pictures.:thumb:


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## Raife (Jul 14, 2009)

+1 on the good work and agree totally on the colour! Its beautiful!


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## Mini 360 (Jul 17, 2009)

Stunning!


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## SubtleAggressiv (Jul 17, 2010)

I love the car, its beautiful. Excellent work and I enjoyed the write up


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## Razzzle (Jul 3, 2010)

Nice work looks immense, you mentioned one of the worlds most expensive waxes, vintage?

Edit: Just seen: Crystal rock 

Daz.


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## gally (May 25, 2008)

Beautiful, beautiful car.

Great work mate. 

The number plate imo lets it down a little.


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## rds1985 (Mar 7, 2009)

sublime


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## Gaz_jones (Apr 24, 2009)

Lovely Car! Lovely Colour! Lovely Job!


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## UBRWGN (Nov 25, 2007)

That. Looks. The. Business. :argie:
The owner must be really pleased with your work. :thumb:


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## Gus82 (Feb 9, 2010)

Absolutley stunning job mate, such an awesome car aswell. You've sold me after reading this, just purchased a new Mk7 zetec s in colorado red and is suffering from minor swirling, could you pm a price please? Thanks in advance


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## Dizzle77 (Mar 27, 2010)

great work!

loving the car too


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## maikolo (Oct 27, 2009)

AWESOME WORK! BEAUTIFUL CAR!:thumb:


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## Owensy (Jul 27, 2010)

Fantastic work and lovley car!


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## FlawlessDetailing (Mar 13, 2010)

That car would make freedie crugar sh*t himself !!!!
Mean as hell looking !! 
Loving the carbon roof and the black exhaust tips. there the kind of details that make all the difference.

Top Notch Work mate. :thumb:


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## Sonic (Jun 28, 2007)

Gaz W said:


> When I first saw these, I went a little weak at the knee. I will own one of these in Monte Carlo Blue before I die, i'll make sure of it, they are truly stunning. The colour is incredible.
> 
> Fantastic work, love the write up/pics. :thumb:


Same here, looks stunning in that blue.

Stunning work :thumb:


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## mattjonescardiff (Dec 12, 2006)

The colour looks superb afterwards. Good work.

I could do with some new buckets. Where are yours from?


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## B&B Autostyle (Apr 4, 2010)

Totally stunning Tim! Awesome.


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## riddlesstephen (Sep 20, 2008)

Fantastic Work. Quickly noticed this, and maybe I'm wrong, but is the front number plate a vinyl?? Looks really really neat and tidy, really helps the look of the front :thumb:


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## Homer J 727 (Oct 6, 2009)

Perfection. I've had the pleasure of seeing this car from PDI (im a tech at the dealership the car was bought at) to now and the difference is night and day. All I can say is what a car.


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## tim (May 2, 2006)

Thanks for the kind words chaps, they make the effort of the writeup worth while :thumb:

Yes Stephen, It's a vinyl. Aaron wanted a smoother look than the standard Plate and Holder. It's very nice, a good compromise from no plate at all imo.


riddlesstephen said:


> Fantastic Work. Quickly noticed this, and maybe I'm wrong, but is the front number plate a vinyl?? Looks really really neat and tidy, really helps the look of the front :thumb:


Hi Homer (sorry I doubt this is your real name) :lol:

Glad you can appreciate from start to finish as I have, it truly is a stunning car. It wasn't presented in bad condition by any means by yourselves, but I hope you can show some others in the dealership how cars can be left with the right skills :thumb:


Homer J 727 said:


> Perfection. I've had the pleasure of seeing this car from PDI (im a tech at the dealership the car was bought at) to now and the difference is night and day. All I can say is what a car.


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## giblet (Feb 26, 2008)

Great work, noticed its up for sale though. Any idea what its being replaced with?


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## tim (May 2, 2006)

gib786 said:


> Great work, noticed its up for sale though. Any idea what its being replaced with?


Hi Gib, Amos doesn't usually keep his cars longer than 12 months. I'm not sure what he has in mind next, though I'm sure I'll get some pics of it up here for your viewing pleasure!


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## G105ALY (Dec 6, 2006)

Absolutely loving that colour combination. The best M3 I have seen! Great attention to detail too. Bet Amos was thrilled with his new purchase.

Aly


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## Amos (Feb 28, 2007)

Thanks for all the comments....

It is a great car...

Many Thanks again Tim, for a great great job....

OH, and I'll see you on Wednesday for its monthly top-up....!


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## remonrace (Jan 13, 2009)

What a beautiful colour, well chosen!


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## Zander (Aug 31, 2010)

:thumb:great detail mate! m3's are to die for


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## J D Peace (Feb 3, 2010)

Stunning looking car, just thought I would say I have the registration number TDZ 23!!


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## SeanyBean (Sep 24, 2010)

lovely work and a nice looking car


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## stu1027 (Jan 15, 2010)

You've gotta love those M-Beemers. And that one is just incredible. Excellent work.


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## AlexTsinos (Oct 10, 2010)

fantastic job!
fantastic car!


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## Deeg (Mar 30, 2009)

stunning motor.


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## ant_s (Jan 29, 2009)

a very nice car, looks very mean, and i like the vinyl number plate


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## ALANSHR (Jun 29, 2007)

lovely, just lovely, need to start saving now to get me one of those.


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## prokopas (Apr 29, 2010)

Impressive car and very nice work


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## centenary (Sep 5, 2010)

Is it just me or has all those pics been blocked by photobucket!?

Beep, beep :driver:


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## DiscoTD5 (Feb 12, 2010)

Not you, i can neigh seem them either!


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## tim (May 2, 2006)

Oh dear, sorry gents I didn't renew my PB account. I'll get it tonight when I have more time!

Thanks for the kind words, it was a rather special one


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