# BMW e46 M3 SMG - Enhancement Detail



## jonjay (Feb 28, 2008)

*BMW M3 SMG - Paint Enhancement *

Some of you might remember Dean car I detailed last year, the 106 Turbo pushing 450BHP. Detail thread can be found here: http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=218668

As it's not an everyday car, Dean decided to purchase an M3 to keep him busy during the week. He found a beautiful example but it needed sprucing up and protection for the winter. Here is what I found when I turned up at 8:30am.









































































*Products*
*Wash n Drying*
Meguairs NXT Tech Shampoo
Dodo Juice Supernatural Shampoo
Meguairs All Purpose Cleaner 
Chemical Guys Orange Degreaser 
Autosmart Tardis
Bilberry Wheel Cleaner
Valet Pro Snow Foam
Super Plush drying towel
Chemical Guys and Meguairs microfibres

*Body Work*
Sonus Green Clay
Menzerna Final Finish (106FA)
Meguairs Metal Polish
Meguairs Last Touch

*Glazes, Sealants and Waxes*
Autoglym HD Wax
Chemical Guys Blitz
Ziano Z6 Gloss Enhancer Spray

*Plastics, Rubbers and Glass*
Chemical Guys New Look Trim Gel 
Lusso Glass Polish
WD40

*Tools*
Meguiars G220 mk2 machine polisher
Karcher Pressure washer
Sonus foam applicators
Menzerna Polish Pad (Orange)
Sonus SwirlBuster Pad
Sonus Green Polishing Pad
Swissvax Detail Brush
Vikan Wheel Brushes
Polished Bliss Wheel and Arch Brush
Dodo Juice Buckets with Grit Guards
3M 3434 Masking Tape
500w Halogen

The weather was on our side and knowing the hard job in front I cracked on.

Cleaned the wheels using a combination of Bilberry Wheel Cleaner, CG Orange Degreaser and Megs APC.























































Cleaned all plastics and crevasses prior to the snow foam process.





































Valet Pro snow foam and wash





































Clay process - car must have been clayed in its previous life as it came out pretty clean?





































The BMW M3 needs taping all over. So many pad destroying areas!

The problem with Grey or the advantage of grey cars is that it is very difficult to spot swirls unless you have perfect darkness with a single light source or the power of the sun (or a 3M sun gun if you can afford one). As I could see what I was correcting I decided with Dean that we would go for pure gloss. I chose a Menzerna Polishing Pad and Menzerna Final Finish.
































































Here are the results without any LSP.



















I wiped the car down with Ziano Z6 Gloss Enhancer. For protection + shine, I chose Autoglym HD Wax and Chemical Guys Blitz. Hopefully this should see the car well protected for the coming months.

*Results*






























































































































































































Massive thank you to Dean for keeping the faith with me and letting me detail his amazing M3 (I now want one). He is a top guy and we had a good chat about all things automotive. I would also like to say a special thank you to Liam (lm_gauci) for arriving late to the party and helping with the buffing of LSPs. He has an annoying habit but welcomed one of spotting the places I missed! Really enjoyed the detail and amazing company from both Dean and Liam.

Hope you all enjoyed the detail.

*Detailers Notes*_
- Would the 3M sun gun help me achieve better results? Even if I did see all the RDS and Swirls would I have achieved better results….Probably but it's a lot of money! Might be a cost worth paying to become a better detailer.
- BMW paint is hard but with multiple passes the results do come.
- I destroyed a pad because I didn't tackle the hard tight areas first. This is a silly mistake on my part and maybe the limited time of the day made me rush stupidly.
- I love grey…amazing colour to detail and you get all the benefits of hiding RDS and Swirls in normal lighting conditions._


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## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

nice work fella


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## UBRWGN (Nov 25, 2007)

Great writeup and a very nice result.:thumb:


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## jonjay (Feb 28, 2008)

Cheers.


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## IYRIX (Jan 31, 2009)

Very smart! Makes me want to go detail my car now! Love the colour!


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## 123quackers (Jan 29, 2009)

Silver grey and Black best colour, miss my M3 fantatsic car:thumb:

Great job them front wheel arches are great are they!! so many nice lines and angles... Best shape IMO:thumb:

Cheers for write up...


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## jonjay (Feb 28, 2008)

123quackers said:


> Silver grey and Black best colour, miss my M3 fantatsic car:thumb:
> 
> Great job them front wheel arches are great are they!! so many nice lines and angles... Best shape IMO:thumb:
> 
> Cheers for write up...


Its a nice colour definately. The overal shape of the car and lines of the car are ace but it makes some areas hard to machine.


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## cotter (Aug 31, 2008)

Niiiiiiiiiice!


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## alx_chung (Aug 13, 2006)

Good work doode!!
Alex


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## littlejack (Jun 11, 2008)

Nice work there fella!!!!!!!!! Here my attempt with DODO super natural


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## 500tie (Oct 15, 2009)

Truely a great car in a great colour and a damn good detail too mate good job..


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## thehogester (Jun 15, 2008)

Excellent work mate! I love the E46 body shape, can't wait til i finally get one!


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## jonjay (Feb 28, 2008)

Cheers peeps - you got the love the e46.

When you get one, you realise its a proper car. 1 door weights more than 4 hatch back doors put together. lol!



littlejack said:


> Nice work there fella!!!!!!!!! Here my attempt with DODO super natural


Looks great!



alx_chung said:


> Good work doode!!
> Alex


Cheers Alex! Wheres your new car?


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## "SkY" (Apr 21, 2009)

great :thumb:


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## Dean_W (Nov 20, 2008)

Thanks again Maz, Top work as usual! Hopefully will be replacing them side repeaters etc in the next week of so. They now look discoloured due to there age because the car is so clean.


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## jonjay (Feb 28, 2008)

Dean_W said:


> Thanks again Maz, Top work as usual! Hopefully will be replacing them side repeaters etc in the next week of so. They now look discoloured due to there age because the car is so clean.


Cheers Dean! Glad you like the detail and hope to see you again soon mate.


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## Deeg (Mar 30, 2009)

Great job. 

I'm currently working on my brothers 320 coupe in the same colour. 

As you said it is definitely one ofthe best colours BMW do.


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## ALANSHR (Jun 29, 2007)

Looking good, a great detail by you well done.


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## slrestoration (Nov 11, 2009)

Great job & another very nice write up mate:thumb:


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

jonjay said:


> lines of the car are ace but it makes some areas hard to machine.


Looks a very nice result, I do a hell of a lot of E46 M3's and was interested to hear you mention the hard to reach areas, what parts did you find difficult?


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## Mike_T (Aug 2, 2010)

Gleammachine said:


> Looks a very nice result, I do a hell of a lot of E46 M3's and was interested to hear you mention the hard to reach areas, what parts did you find difficult?


Same question from me. Sounds interesting...


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

Nice job, love the results, but you need to really work on your 2BM..... Your wash bucket should still be pretty clean!



:lol:

:thumb:



jonjay said:


>


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## s3 rav (Apr 30, 2008)

Car looks spot on there. Great work.


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## glendog74 (Jan 11, 2009)

Nice job mate - car looks great! :thumb:

I've just bought a DA and Menzerna polish to tackle my M3 in exactly the same colour! Looking forward to having a go on it - only after i've practiced on the other half's car first! :lol:


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## Alex C (Mar 2, 2008)

Great job. Still love that shape m3 but the one I really want is the CS and I can't afford one

450bhp 106 sounds fun!


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## jonjay (Feb 28, 2008)

The Cueball said:


> Nice job, love the results, but you need to really work on your 2BM..... Your wash bucket should still be pretty clean!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Noted 

To be quite honest, the water got right near the end when I was doing the rear lower bumper. I accidentally put the mitt in wrong bucket.



glendog74 said:


> Nice job mate - car looks great! :thumb:
> 
> I've just bought a DA and Menzerna polish to tackle my M3 in exactly the same colour! Looking forward to having a go on it - only after i've practiced on the other half's car first! :lol:


Cool! Make sure you work on small areas and work in the polish well. BMW paint is hard with a DA.



Alex C said:


> Great job. Still love that shape m3 but the one I really want is the CS and I can't afford one
> 
> 450bhp 106 sounds fun!


The 106 is mental!


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## jonjay (Feb 28, 2008)

Gleammachine said:


> Looks a very nice result, I do a hell of a lot of E46 M3's and was interested to hear you mention the hard to reach areas, what parts did you find difficult?


I found the curvs on the front arches and the curved areas round the fogs a bit awkward. The rear spoiler on the end of the boot I found awkward also. They got corrected just couldnt get my angles right on those areas.

Rob - Waiting for your phone call back on detailing the Leon and the Ibiza that have had cement/dust contamination from the builders next door 

EDIT: cheers for calling


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