# BMW 320d engine detail



## Asim

Today I had a go at cleaning the engine bay of my 320d. The car is 5 years old and I've never once cleaned under the hood as it's not anything I've ever thought about until recently when I've got into detailing.

So here are the products I used today (apologies for the quality of the photos, they were taken on my phone as that's all I have):










A few pics showing the state of the engine bay before cleaning:























































First step was to use foil to cover anything that I didn't want getting wet. As it was my first time I was a bit cautious, perhaps overly so, but better safe than sorry:










Next step was to give a quick but gentle rinse with the hose to try to remove some of the loose debris and then spray with the APC. I used a 1:10 dilution (20ml of APC in 200ml of water). After leaving to dwell for a minute or so, I agitated with the brush before rinsing with the hose. After drying with an old utility microfibre towel, I decided to repeat the process as I wasn't happy with the results and could still see some grease and grime. This time I divided (by eye) the bay into quarters and tackled them one at a time i.e. for each quarter, spray APC, wait a few seconds, agitate and rinse and then move on to the next quarter.

Once this was done, I sprayed APC on the underside of the hood, waited a minute and then rinsed. This was repeated once more to tackle the stubborn areas.

The next step was to dry as much as I could using the old towel, remove the foil and then start the engine for a couple of minutes to a) make sure I could still do so and b) help dry off any water I couldn't get to.

Finally I used Aerospace Protectant to dress the engine bay. I used the method stated on the Polished Bliss site which was to spray liberally and then leave for 4-6 hours and wipe off any excess afterwards.

Here are the final results:
































































Not perfect as there are various bits I missed simply because I couldn't get into them. What I learnt from this attempt was you really do need a selection of brush sizes to do the job properly. Given the state of the engine I think perhaps I should have gone with a stronger solution of APC, maybe a 1:5 ratio. Also it would have made sense to try to deal with a quarter of the bay at a time from the outset rather than attempt to tackle the whole thing in one go give the condition of the engine bay to begin with.

Thanks to anyone who has read to this point! I'm forever a :newbie: so any comments and/or criticisms are welcome and appreciated.


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## chongo

Great engine detail mate. Looks 100% better than before


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## Guest

I've got a 320 and you've shamed me in to having a go at my engine bay tomorrow. Well done, looks nice.


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## Asim

chongo said:


> Great engine detail mate. Looks 100% better than before


Thanks chongo. Your recent Dodge Challenger engine clean helped inspire to get on do my own :thumb:



Hugh said:


> I've got a 320 and you've shamed me in to having a go at my engine bay tomorrow. Well done, looks nice.


Thanks Hugh. Have fun


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## camerashy

Major facelift, great job


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## Soul boy 68

Hard to believe it's the same engine bay Asim, looks fantastic, you deserve a beer on me for that effort. :detailer:


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## s70rjw

Great result. I love an engine bay cleaning thread. Well done.


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## Boxer

Great turnaround there, very impressive


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## robwils

Looks good, hadn't heard about the 4-6 hrs time, will give it a go too.


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## WaxIsForWinners

Looks really good. Makes such a difference when it's clean as people always tend to avoid the bay!

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk


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## steelghost

Only just seen this, great job 

Worth getting some wax or sealant onto the paintwork under there, just like on the other bodywork makes future cleaning that much easier :thumb:


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## scuba-phil

Looks great well done. I should have a go with mine whilst its still pretty good


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