# Auto Detox: BMW 5 Series



## Auto Detox (Dec 22, 2007)

Hello all,

Thanks for taking the time to look at another detailing thread by www.autodetoxdetailing.co.uk 

This car was completed earlier in the summer, I actually thought I had lost the photo's as it was about this time I transferred all my images from when I first started ! To a NAS box I lost about 1,000 in the transfer which was a very small amount compared to what I have saved but none the less I was a little bit annoyed so imagine my joy when looking through an old memory card before formatting there she was in all her shiny blue glory a lovely BMW 5 series I spent 3 days paint correcting in the glorious sunshine in Stratford Upon Avon, happy days 

The owner a very nice man like his cars a certain way & cares for them very well indeed but he knew that this car would need some professional help we set a date & I went to view the car to properly assess the paintwork & offer my opinion plus talk through his options & expectations. A 3 day paint correction detail was settled upon a month or so away

As you can see the car is hardly filthy !














































Finally I found some water marks to photograph ! 



















The leather was a concern we talked about at length, this was to be taken care of along with the engine bay during the detail























































Back to the exterior:





































The owner is not new to detailing & had been in touch with another detailer in the area who performed a test section on the bonnet for him, this was the result.










He was very concerned about this & didn't want the rest of the car to resemble this mess when I was finished, I assured him of the finish he would get from me & was happy to proceed

OK enough of that.

As usual I started with a thorough clean of the wheel arches, first jet washed out, APC (all purpose cleaner) applied via a pressure sprayer & scrubber with 2 vikan brushes























































Jet washed out afterwards










The tyres were cleaned too with APC 4:1 & a stiff brush.

Alloys were treated to a non acidic wheel cleaner & various metal free wheel brushes used to thoroughly clean them inside & outside





































Once again a thorough rinse to remove all traces of wheel cleaner & dirt

Next job time to tackle the dirty engine bay, I turned down the pressure on the jet wash you really don't need 130bar to clean an engine  gave it a good rinse to remove laying dirt & applied APC liberally which was then agitated with various metal free detailing brushes, sadly this was to be the last outing for the boards hair brush in the picture he has been with me a good while now & I was sad to see him go to the detailing apartment in the sky, adios old friend   after i had worked my way around the engine compartment numerous times rewetting as I went I rinsed off the cleaner & dried with work mf cloths, the engine was re-dried later on in the detail & dressed














































Time to move onto the paintwork, jet wash back up to pressure I gave the exterior a thorough jet wash down prior to using apc on the front to loosen up any bugs & citrus prewash to the rest of the vehicle,this was left a few minutes & rinsed off

Intricate areas were cleaned with apc & detail brush, including grill, fuel filler & door shuts





































Rinsed out










Time to give the car a wash using 2 buckets, grit guards & plush wash mitt



















Quick rinse, any tar removed with tar remover & clayed with mild clay










Dried with plush drying towels










Re-dried the engine & went around the car with mf cloths making sure everything was dry enough to begin polishing










Paint readings were taken & here are some pre machining pictures showing the defects to be remedied

Nice colour ! Love blue cars 






















































































































Pretty stripes but not how it should look after machining










Okey dokey lets kick things off with the bonnet as a work in progress




























There had been some minor paintwork on the wing just a few sanding marks left to take out, no biggie really

Before:





































After: But prior to any refining




























Cheeky sun shot of the bonnet, before any refining










Ok time to get back to the rest of the car, another set of befores:





































The majority of the car received a 2 stage polishing routine leaving the paintwork looking like after machining























































Down low 










Up high 




























Last one !










After all this work looks like I had the shakes as some of the next lot of images are a bit shaky (no not the British super bike rider !)

Cleaner fluid normal before Swissvax Mystery wax










Alloys sealed










Buffed










Tyres with Pneu



















Tail pipes polished & sealed with blackfire




























Engine bay dressed & interior detailed with a good portion spent on the leather getting it to how it should look. Paint work finally quick finished from Swissvax & in the late afternoon sun on day 3 she looked like:






















































































































I would like to thank the owner, his wife for making me welcome & letting me work on their car 

Thanks for taking the time to look

Regards
Barry
Auto Detox
www.autodetoxdetailing.co.uk


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## Matt_Nic (Apr 15, 2011)

Interesting - thats the same engine as my 330CI 
What exactly did you do and what products did you use?
There's what looks like a box of open electrical parts in the top left of my engine bay that always worries me and has thus far, put me off going near it with a pressure washer.


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## athol (Oct 3, 2009)

Very nice work, looks stunning !


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## Huw (Feb 16, 2007)

Very nice.


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## samm (May 19, 2006)

Stunning.


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## North east Car Care (Jan 14, 2008)

Lovely work Barry, stunning colour


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## Derekh929 (Aug 28, 2011)

Great work and some good products used, thanks for sharing


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## dann2707 (Mar 25, 2011)

nice!


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## Racer (Oct 27, 2005)

Very nice , love the deep finish :thumb:


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## DMH-01 (Mar 29, 2011)

Great job fella.


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## Deeg (Mar 30, 2009)

Great work, love that colour!


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## tonyy (Jul 26, 2008)

Fantastic work..and a great shine..


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## Auto Detox (Dec 22, 2007)

athol said:


> Very nice work, looks stunning !


Thanks athol 



Huw said:


> Very nice.


Cheers Huw



samm said:


> Stunning.


Thanks Samm



butler2.8i said:


> Lovely work Barry, stunning colour


Cheers dude



Derekh929 said:


> Great work and some good products used, thanks for sharing


Thanks Derek



dann2707 said:


> nice!


Thanks



Racer said:


> Very nice , love the deep finish :thumb:


Cheers mate 



DMH-01 said:


> Great job fella.


Thanks mate



Deeg said:


> Great work, love that colour!


Thanks, gorgeous colour but shame about the patchy clouds at the end really dulled the finish to almost a solid colour 



tonyy said:


> Fantastic work..and a great shine..


Thanks Tonyy

Cheers guys for the kind words
Baz


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## Barry_T (Jan 10, 2011)

Like the work, also I feel that there are not enough references to BSB riders on Detailing World. So thanks for that also


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## badman1972 (Jun 24, 2010)

Lovely work mate, didn't look bad to begin with as you say but amazing what's there in close-ups, great corrections and a fantastic looking finished job :thumb:


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## GJM (Jul 19, 2009)

Nice job, have you ever put the blackfire metal sealant to test for durability.

Looking for a new product to try but to be honest wasn't overly impressed with the midnight suns duarability given the price point


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## Ultimate Shine (Jun 3, 2008)

very nice


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## The Pan Man (Apr 16, 2010)

Well it will be a year in a couple of weeks since Barry did this for me. I will take a few shots of how it looks now before I let Barry give it another going over. It has different wheels now and I think it looks even better.


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## The Pan Man (Apr 16, 2010)

Here is a little taster.


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