# BMW M3 in Carbon Black



## Refined Reflections (May 12, 2006)

The owner of this car wanted it to look as good as possible, while still allowing him to use it as it was built to be driven . On inspection a week prior the car was in need of some extra paint care, it was covered in swirls and many many RDS (water blade  ) The problem was on measuring the paint it had been treated to some polishing in its past and readings were in the 90 - 105mu area except for the bumpers and lower doors where these read in the mid 80's. We agreed that swirl removal would be suitable however some of the RDS would have to stay, or risk compromising the clear coat (something I wasn't willing to do). On arrival to the car the owner had given it a wash the night before, however it still needed some extra cleaning to make it suitable for me to look at machining it.

Here are a few before shots, as you can see looking good already, well from 5+ft away that is 


































The process was to clean the wheels using AS actimousse mixed 1:10 applied via a 5lt pressure spray, using the EZ Detail Wheel brush and Swissvax wheel brushes to get the rims nice and clean, the arches were also treated to the same mix, both finally were pressure washed clean. The same AS Actimousse was used via the foam lance, rinsed and foamed again, the 2nd foam was used as the shampoo/1st bucket and a rinse bucket with grit guard and sheepskin mitt to ensure all was clean, then it was all rinsed off. While still wet the car was clayed using the Pinnacle blue poly clay and a trigger spray mix for lube, once fully clayed the car was again foamed and rinsed, then dried using Sonus waffle weave drying towels.

Then came the time to do some test areas to find the ideal product and pad combination, now it is well known the BMW paint is hard and this was no exception, well not in the nice way. Here is a couple of 50:50 shots showing the amount of correction archived.


















Some more taken once I moved into the garage


























Doesn't look to bad really, however this was the result of 4 attacks using Menzerna Power gloss on the Megs burgundy cutting pad, followed by 1 hit of Menz IP3.02 on the wolfgang white polishing pad, not forgetting the 30 mins taken to do this 18" test area, I could tell my day had just got longer, much longer :wall: Oh and in case you are wondering how much paint was removed by this aggressive attack, well try a max of 3mu 

I spoke to the owner and said that given the amount of attacks needed there was no way I could do any more than swirl removal and hopefully knock the RDS's back somewhat, he was more than happy with this as he'd just watched me do the test area and told me I would probably need an extra 10 hours to do more.

Here is the teaster picture posted before, this side took 4 solid hours to do, I was sitting doing the front bumper when I looked along the car and thought WOW, what a pity I know there are some RDS's left in there. Oh and I didn't wet flat the orange peel, however I think the number and aggressive attacks need to knock the swirls down help level the paint somewhat.










After 12 hours of machining with no more than 30 mins breaks for coffee's, it was time to start applying products to protect the paintwork and associated parts. Paintwork and wheels were cleaned with Swissvax cleaner fluid, Swissvax Divine was applied to each panel in turn, Autobahn to the wheels, tyres were given a treat to Swissvax Pneu as were all rubber seals, including door and boot seals. Exhausts were cleaned using Autosol.

It was now pitch black outside, and I'd been working for 16 hours, I was dead on my feet, so I agreed to pop back first thing in the morning to give the paintwork a final buff and to get some after pictures.

Here are some after shots, Not 100% perfect but I think you'll agree a nice finish. Many thanks for reading.


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## Epoch (Jul 30, 2006)

Beautiful, love the car as well


Great bit of work Gary, The side reflections are fantastic


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## Finerdetails (Apr 30, 2006)

amazing work!


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## dodger (May 20, 2006)

stunning work there Gary


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## 190Evoluzione (Jun 27, 2007)

Good work, ten a penny these Carbon Black M3s :lol:


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

beautiful work mate, any idea as to why the paint was so hard? 4 hits of PG is just nuts considering 3.02 will normally do the job!! :doublesho 

I do not envy that particular job one bit, can just imagine how tired you must have felt after it, i HATE having to do multiple hits on the same section of paint  

:thumb:


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## Envy Car Care (Aug 17, 2006)

Well done mate, know what you mean about hard paint from the BM at mine....


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## Refined Reflections (May 12, 2006)

Clark said:


> beautiful work mate, any idea as to why the paint was so hard? 4 hits of PG is just nuts considering 3.02 will normally do the job!! :doublesho
> 
> I do not envy that particular job one bit, can just imagine how tired you must have felt after it, i HATE having to do multiple hits on the same section of paint
> 
> :thumb:


Yep no idea at all why it was so hard, I was measuring after every set and even took readings with both gauges as I started to get convinced the 6000 was reading wrong, I've never worked on paint this hard before and if I ever do again I think I'll just pack my bags and go home, it was a killer to say the least.



Envy said:


> Well done mate, know what you mean about hard paint from the BM at mine....


Made that one seem like melted butter Tim


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## Finerdetails (Apr 30, 2006)

the carbon I worked on this week wouldn't defect correct to a good enough standard with IP and had to have special mixture made up...

Yet the carbon black 535 last week was corrected with Pinnacle SR!!! go figure...


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## Justtourin1 (May 18, 2007)

Beautiful, excellent work.


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## Brazo (Oct 27, 2005)

Looks amazing Gary!! I did think you had done a complete wet sand given the teaser pic but tbh I agree on the rotary to some extent levelling paint


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## dw0510 (Oct 22, 2006)

Lovely !


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## drive 'n' shine (Apr 22, 2006)

Top notch as usual, love the look of carbon black when polished up the way it turn blue & purple in certain lights.

Agree with Mark i thought you had wet sanded the entire car from the teaser pic showing no orange peel


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## wd40 (Jun 20, 2007)

Brilliant job there and those reflections :doublesho :doublesho , i just love the way it blends in to the bushes . Awesome !!!:thumb:


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## GlynRS2 (Jan 21, 2006)

An absolutely stunning detail and your dedication to paint perfection is admirable. The reflection shots of the side of the car are some of the best I have seen, the car almost disappears into the greenery. A truly top job :thumb:

Water blades are the work of the devil, seemingly designed to introduce deep RDS's into paintwork that then frustrate detailers in their pursuit of perfection :wall:


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## Rich @ PB (Oct 26, 2005)

Dedication, dedication, dedication... shows what you're made of Gary, nice one fella, finish looks cracking, and love the reflection shots.


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## Rob1 (Feb 14, 2007)

Good Stuff mate:thumb:


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## Trist (Jun 23, 2006)

Great correction :thumb:


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## jedi-knight83 (Aug 11, 2006)

great work and dedication!


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## spectrum (Mar 6, 2007)

nice 1. I do love the m3


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## n_d_fox (Apr 18, 2007)

i've been humming the theme tune to record breakers while reading the thread... your work is an inspiration toa newbie like me... if i ever get my car to look half as good as that i'll be very very happy.


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## klaus (May 11, 2007)

mmmmmm very nice!


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