# ✦ Cambridge Autogleam: Frozen Black BMW M3, 'PERL' review and other work ✦



## jedi-knight83 (Aug 11, 2006)

*✦ Cambridge Autogleam: Frozen Black BMW M3, 'PERL' review and other work ✦*

Evening.

Been rather busy recently so rather than do lots of write ups I'll pick this one out and for those that want to see what we have been up to you can view the photos of the other cars we have worked on in our portfolio on our website.

Click the thumbnails.

   

Well after owning this lovely white car for a relatively short time...










... the owner had the chance to swap into this brand new and mechanically identical Frozen Black M3...










Uber shiny white to matt black. I guess you couldn't get further apart 

The car was brand new only having been driven from the dealers home so was just covered in a very light layer of dust.

Wheels cleaned in the usual manner with acid free cleaner and super degreaser.

Then as it was a matt car (the finish is actually more satin than matt but anyway..) it was out with the Swissvax Opaque products..










As the car was only very lightly dusty it was pre washed with just clean water and then shampoo'd with the Opaque shampoo. The arches were then dressed earlier than usual as any slight product overspray would need to be cleaned of with the cleaner fluid as part of the next stage.

Back indoors the Opaque cleaner was sprayed on...










...spread and any greasy marks or bug splatter carefully rubbed with 1 MF cloth...










...and then before the cleaner fluid dries naturally its wiped with another clean dry MF cloth till any residue has vanished.










The wax was then applied with a foam pad and left to stand for 2-3 minutes per section

Seen here applied to half the bonnet..

















The wax wipes on and buffs of easily. I found it best to remove with 2 MF cloths. 1st one to remove the worst of the residue and then a 2nd cleaner one to give a final 'smearless' wipe (as obviously it doesn't get clogged up with so much of the product... which is more greasy than regular waxes I felt)

You can see the subtle change to the depth of the paint here...

Wax applied..









..and removed but you can still see where it was applied..









..and from the side.. still easy to see the difference after waxing..









The rest of the paintwork was waxed panel at a time and left for 2-3 mins before buffing. The carbon roof was waxed with Zymol Vintage as this had a regular high gloss finish.

I've been using a newer product on the last few cars for plastics and rubbers. Phil from Shinearama kindly sent me some Carpro PERL. There are various dilution suggestions but I decided to just use it neat for the tyres and external plastics and the engine. Very simple to use.. just spray onto a foam pad and wipe on. I found I didn't need that much product to effectively cover a decent sized area (I had a 50ml sample and so far its done 3 cars plastics and tyres and I still have about 1/4 left)

The finish is lovely and not that shiny to look at and not at all greasy to touch. I've seen good reviews for the durability and from the feel of it on the tyres I'm hoping there will be no product sling either.

Big thumbs up from me and will definitely be ordering more of this product.

Applied to the engine bay..









Applying to the tyre (you can sort of see the 50/50)









You can also see it applied to the plastics and tyres of this GT3...

















Back to the M3... the interior was then vacuumed and leather treated with Zaino Z10. Glass treated with RainX, wheels and exhaust with Blackfire metal sealant.

The car was given a final wipe with the Opaque quick finish and rolled outside for a few final photos...


































































































Thanks for looking. Dont forget to add us on facebook or twitter if you enjoy our work

Nathan


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## Andyuk911 (Sep 10, 2006)

So if the thing collects paint defects, how do you get them out ?

Nice job btw, and I like the GT3 Gen II wheel ...


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## tonyy (Jul 26, 2008)

Looks fantastic..


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## jedi-knight83 (Aug 11, 2006)

Andyuk911 said:


> So if the thing collects paint defects, how do you get them out ?
> 
> Nice job btw, and I like the GT3 Gen II wheel ...


The porsche is lovely..

..the photo was there to show the finish from the 'perl' dressing


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## Eurogloss (Jan 22, 2008)

Nice work there Nathan , love those matt or satin black M3 's haven't seen any in Australia yet 

Mario


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## ads2k (Jul 12, 2006)

Great job Nathan and I understand why the more 'exclusive' colour would appeal, but for me I prefer the white one .


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## Spuj (Apr 19, 2010)

I have to say I prefer the white, but the 'frozen black' is a very nice finish.

Some very nice results as always :thumb:


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## horned yo (Feb 10, 2009)

stunning work


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## gally (May 25, 2008)

Fantastic detail mate, really impressed with that finish. Loved the first M3 actually.

Really added a nice finish to the satin look. Nice deep and dark.

Silver GT3's are just fantatsic.


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## James_M (May 22, 2009)

What a finish! great work mate and top write up too. I think i love the white M3 more though lol.


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## Pedro.Malheiro (Mar 18, 2011)

amazing work. the color looks woww


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## DW58 (Nov 27, 2010)

Lovely job, but the white M3 is a much nicer car IMO.


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## uzi-blue (Mar 16, 2011)

Wow, the Matt Black M3 is just amazing. I want one. :argie:


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## jedi-knight83 (Aug 11, 2006)

Thanks for the comments. 

Yes I actually preferred the white one myself but I have to admit the black one grew on me and it was an excellent finish from BMW.


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## Scrim-1- (Oct 8, 2008)

Fantastic work.


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## gb270 (Aug 22, 2008)

Great work stunning


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## MilesBetter (Aug 9, 2010)

Loving that :argie: and nice results :thumb:

I have a Litre of PERL from Avi and its superb and use it in all my details now; replaces several other products was using (303 being one). I have diluted it right down to 5:1 to test durability and even at that ratio on tyres and trim it is holding up well, neat or 1:1 I reckon will be bullet proof. I have 1:5 on one car and 1:1 to the other to see how they compare and hold up.

Top Marks to CarPro on PERL


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## jedi-knight83 (Aug 11, 2006)

MilesBetter said:


> Loving that :argie: and nice results :thumb:
> 
> I have a Litre of PERL from Avi and its superb and use it in all my details now; replaces several other products was using (303 being one). I have diluted it right down to 5:1 to test durability and even at that ratio on tyres and trim it is holding up well, neat or 1:1 I reckon will be bullet proof. I have 1:5 on one car and 1:1 to the other to see how they compare and hold up.
> 
> Top Marks to CarPro on PERL


Im still using the 50ml tester lol... last for ages.... although on the DBS I was doing today i watered it down 1:1. When it was neat it squirted out in a stream of product... now its diluted (thinner) it mists out nicely .... so I think I'll mainly use it 1:1 purely for the ease of application


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## MilesBetter (Aug 9, 2010)

yes, I like the ease of application, things like the honeycomb grills that can be a PITA are now effortless with the spray and a detail brush to work it in. For tyres I was in initially upending the bottle onto a foam tyre applicator and wiping over neat, but as you say I think the mist works much better. Looking forward how durable it is and resistant to washes.


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## Ronnie (Nov 15, 2006)

stunning and very nice finish. Im very interested in the trim dressing as well..


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## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

stunnin work as always


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## WHIZZER (Oct 25, 2005)

Thats a nice looking M3


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## Sportspack Mark (May 24, 2007)

awesome looking car!

great job


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## 3976 (Nov 20, 2006)

Great work!


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## WW3 (Apr 14, 2011)

I wonder if that White BMW M3 is Alpine White, or Individual Pearl Silver like this X6


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## jedi-knight83 (Aug 11, 2006)

WW3 said:


> I wonder if that White BMW M3 is Alpine White, or Individual Pearl Silver like this X6


Neither.. its a new colour (well new 6 months ago when he got the car) called mineral white metallic.
http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=203246


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## Mark M (Nov 29, 2006)

Nice work, looks pretty epic!


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## dooka (Aug 1, 2006)

Nice work there Nathan :thumb:

Nice to see a little lower than usual Caddy in the background ..


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## Reflectology (Jul 29, 2009)

Love the car and appreciate the work you have done as no doubt it needed it, but the question again rises as to the gloss level of the matt paintwork, it has quite obviously been raised, which has been raised on more than one occasion by a few that have had Opaque applied....from your 50/50 it clearly shows that gloss is increased which cant really be a good thing which is why I would always choose Permanon for matt finishes over Opaque, and I love Swissvax products and thought maybe I should get some Opaque and try it myself....dont think i will bother now though....

Never the less the car needed some work and a fine job and a credit to you work mate....


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## centenary (Sep 5, 2010)

Very nice work but the white looks far superior imho.

Just my opinion though.


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## centenary (Sep 5, 2010)

WW3 said:


> I wonder if that White BMW M3 is Alpine White, or Individual Pearl Silver like this X6


Hubba, hubba! :argie:


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## jedi-knight83 (Aug 11, 2006)

dooka said:


> Nice work there Nathan :thumb:
> 
> Nice to see a little lower than usual Caddy in the background ..


Cheers... this was WAY before the suspension and wheels though im afraid



Reflectology said:


> Love the car and appreciate the work you have done as no doubt it needed it, but the question again rises as to the gloss level of the matt paintwork, it has quite obviously been raised, which has been raised on more than one occasion by a few that have had Opaque applied....from your 50/50 it clearly shows that gloss is increased which cant really be a good thing which is why I would always choose Permanon for matt finishes over Opaque, and I love Swissvax products and thought maybe I should get some Opaque and try it myself....dont think i will bother now though....
> 
> Never the less the car needed some work and a fine job and a credit to you work mate....


In the flesh I dont feel it added any 'gloss'. It certainly changed the shade but didnt in any way make it more glossy or shiny.



centenary said:


> Very nice work but the white looks far superior imho.
> 
> Just my opinion though.


Oh without a doubt the white was nicer


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## detailersdomain (Sep 13, 2006)

lookin good!


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## chris100 (May 20, 2011)

brilliant work, love those m3s


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

Exceptional.

Great images too.


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## MickPontoon (Aug 8, 2011)

amazing work buddy


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## DMH-01 (Mar 29, 2011)

Cracking job mate.


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