# Alpina D3 Bi-Turbo- Gleammachine.



## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

BMW Alpina D3 bi-Turbo- Booked in for a minor correctional/paintwork enhancement detail, interior & engine bay treatment, in addition a popular treatment with most E90 variants that come to me, the hubs and calipers required refinishing.

*Upon arrival.*





































*Day 1.*

Wheels removed, starting with the arch area, suspension components and prep work to the hubs & calipers.










Cleaned using Megs SD, various brushes and finally Tardis to remove any tar spots.










Whilst the alloys were removed, a good opportunity to clean throughout, de-contaminate and remove some old wheel weight adhesive.










Iron-X gel soap working it's magic.










With all 4 arches, hubs and alloys cleaned and prepped, they were replaced and the vehicle pulled into the studio.

Alloys removed again and pre-cleansed, followed by 2 coats of Blackfire WD metal sealant.




























Hub & caliper area treated to brake cleaner to remove any grease & masked up.
2 coats of primer applied, followed by 2 coats of base colour and finally 2 coats of laquer, then left under the lamps to bake.










During the drying time I felt it necessary to refresh the wheel nuts.










With all the alloys replaced it was time to call it a day.

*Day 2.*

Starting with the engine bay.










Cleansed and de-greased, then dried using the blower, followed by an application of 303 Aerospace protectant.










Warm solution of AS Haz-Safe applied through the pump sprayer.










Pressure rinsed after a short dwelling time.










Hyperwash & citrus apc mix applied through the lance, again left to dwell for a short while, whilst cleaning various areas of the trim and door shuts.










Washed using the typical safe practices, rinsed and de-contaminated.










Moving onto the interior, firstly vacuumed, trim wiped down with a mild solution of APC and leather cleaned and fed using Raceglaze leather products, carpets and mats protected with Fabric Guard.



















With the vehicle back inside, any vunerable trim was masked up.
Knowing how hard the paint is on the later BMW models and not booked for a full on correction due to time limitations, I decided to try and remove as many of the defects as possible using a Festool sheepskin pad and IP 3.02.

*A few before and afters.*























































*Day 3.*

Light lenses polished using 203s on a spot pad.



















Paintwork then refined with M205 on a 3M finishing pad.










***Paintwork pre-cleansed with Blackfire GEP.
***Blackfire Wet Diamond sealant applied via the DA, left to cure for over an hour and removed.
***In addition to the 2 coats of sealant applied to the alloys, a further coat of Swissvax Autobahn was applied, cured and removed.
***Tyres dressed using Swissvax Pneu.
***Arch linings and plastic trim treated with 303 Aerospace.
***Glass pre-cleaned throughout & sealed using Nanolex UGS.
***Door rubbers and seals fed with SV Seal Feed.
***Door shuts and various trim polished and protected using Werkstat Strong.
***Tailpipes polished with Megs NXT.
***Finally a coat and wipedown with Carpro Reload spray sealant.

*Final results.*













































































































Thanks for looking, comments welcomed and appreciated.


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## dsms (Feb 1, 2008)

Looks awesome, fine work!


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## Exclusive Car Care (Jan 14, 2007)

great stuff mate.. is the iron x you used have the improved smell??


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## horned yo (Feb 10, 2009)

stunning work as usual


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## Auto Detox (Dec 22, 2007)

Sweet as a nut mate


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## The_Bouncer (Nov 24, 2010)

Great turnaround on that paint - amazing car :O)


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

Gleamingkleen said:


> great stuff mate.. is the iron x you used have the improved smell??


cheers Jay, just been out to the van to check lol, despite it saying "Improved Version" it still smells of rotten eggs.


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## rob929 (Aug 15, 2010)

Very nice job Rob!

What paint did you use on the hubs?


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## GSVHammer (Feb 7, 2009)

Another amazing job done.


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## fizzle86 (Apr 1, 2010)

As always.....AMAZING....


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## Exclusive Car Care (Jan 14, 2007)

Gleammachine said:


> cheers Jay, just been out to the van to check lol, despite it saying "Improved Version" it still smells of rotten eggs.


ta, yeah I just wanted to see how improved the smell was but doesnt sound like much of a improvement was made- Still a great product though


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## J99NNO (Aug 12, 2009)

Fantastic job, on a fantastic car. Something just a little different from the Msports if you like that kind of thing, which I do.

Just out of interest, what is your method for applying sealant with a machine? Do you just slowly work it in on a low rpm with a couple of passes on a finishing pad, or is there a better technique?


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

rob929 said:


> Very nice job Rob!
> 
> What paint did you use on the hubs?


Autosmart have a range of spray paint, tried Hammerite smooth in the past and wasn't overjoyed with the application, found it too thick.


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## Trip tdi (Sep 3, 2008)

interior of the car looks lovely, have u used autosmart paint on the calipers then...

welldone on ur efforts, very impressive..


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

J99NNO said:


> Fantastic job, on a fantastic car. Something just a little different from the Msports if you like that kind of thing, which I do.
> 
> Just out of interest, what is your method for applying sealant with a machine? Do you just slowly work it in on a low rpm with a couple of passes on a finishing pad, or is there a better technique?


Thanks, really grew fond of this car, very subtle styling.

When I apply sealants via a machine, I usually work it into the panel at speed 2-2.5 on the DA, vertical and horizontal passes to get a thin even coverage, less is more with most glazes and sealants.


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## Dizzle77 (Mar 27, 2010)

wicked car. excellent work :thumb:


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

Trip tdi said:


> interior of the car looks lovely, have u used autosmart paint on the calipers then...
> 
> welldone on ur efforts, very impressive..


Thanks, yes AS non cellulose, heat & oil resistant, on the calipers.

The calipers weren't actually part of the service, but I felt they let the overall finish down, so gave them a brighten up in the process.


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## ianFRST (Sep 19, 2006)

superb mate, how is that NOT a full correction? :lol:

the AS spray paint are actually REALLY good!! ive tried loads of alloy wheel paint (in a can) from everywhere, some as expensive as £12 a can!!! the AS beat them all hands down


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

ianFRST said:


> superb mate, how is that NOT a full correction? :lol:
> 
> the AS spray paint are actually REALLY good!! ive tried loads of alloy wheel paint (in a can) from everywhere, some as expensive as £12 a can!!! the AS beat them all hands down


Cheers Ian, was seriously impressed with the paint and very well priced.


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## NickP (Nov 20, 2005)

Great work Rob - looks a superb finish
I had a look at a few of these before getting the 330d, I found I couldn't find hardly any at all with the options I wanted i.e.. Xenons, Prof Nav, Bluetooth etc etc...


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## superdoug (Jan 4, 2010)

Nice write up


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

NickP said:


> Great work Rob - looks a superb finish
> I had a look at a few of these before getting the 330d, I found I couldn't find hardly any at all with the options I wanted i.e.. Xenons, Prof Nav, Bluetooth etc etc...


Thanks Nick, this one had the Xenons but I think they would added afterwards judging by the powerpacks in the engine bay.


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## NickP (Nov 20, 2005)

Gleammachine said:


> Thanks Nick, this one had the Xenons but I think they would added afterwards judging by the powerpacks in the engine bay.


Yes, certainly not factory Xenons....


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## s3 rav (Apr 30, 2008)

really like these cars. great work.


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## simonjj (Sep 25, 2010)

Very nice work, i'm sure the owner was over the moon with the finish.


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## toni (Oct 30, 2005)

Very very nice, as always :thumb:


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## Perfection Detailing (Nov 3, 2007)

Nice work fella, very nice motor :thumb:

Neil


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## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

top work as always fella


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## dazzyb (Feb 9, 2010)

love these cars, looks great


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## Uzz123 (Jan 26, 2011)

Great result! 
Those wheels must be a nightmare maintain, worth it for the look though!


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## dsc115 (Apr 8, 2007)

top work... give yourself a big pat on the back. Nice car too


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## Deeg (Mar 30, 2009)

Cracking work there


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## Simoni (Mar 21, 2006)

Nice work on a lovely looking car!


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## Auto Finesse (Jan 10, 2007)

Nice work Rob, rare old beast that.


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## Leodhasach (Sep 15, 2008)

VERY nice! :thumb:


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## Baker21 (Aug 7, 2007)

Very nice work as always Rob, the detail's you undertake look effortless with the final results speaking for themselves, camera work looks great, nice working environment and for me a nice shape of 3 series to work on..........:buffer:

Have to also say the additional work on the hubs, calipers and bolts is money and time well spent, thanks for sharing..........:thumb:


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

james b said:


> Nice work Rob, rare old beast that.


Cheers James, just looking to see what numbers were sold to the UK but it's a bit vague, the model before this (non bi-turbo) was about 220-230 cars.


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

Baker21 said:


> Very nice work as always Rob, the detail's you undertake look effortless with the final results speaking for themselves, camera work looks great, nice working environment and for me a nice shape of 3 series to work on..........:buffer:
> 
> Have to also say the additional work on the hubs, calipers and bolts is money and time well spent, thanks for sharing..........:thumb:


Thanks Simon, it's always a messy job with the hubs and calipers and can take a while, but does pay dividends in the finished results.


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## 123quackers (Jan 29, 2009)

Cracking job as ever... the steering wheel has 3 reccessed areas is it just gimmic or does the top one give the gear the left and right do revs lights???

The black with white centres are nice....:thumb:

Thanks for great read, would have thought by now they would have a decent solution for the wheel bolts. Always bad and rust on BM's:thumb:


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## nicp2007 (Apr 25, 2007)

very nice work mate,

that interior is lush too


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## Wardy (Jan 16, 2006)

Great result that, and superb attention to detail with the wheel nuts and hub/caliper work 

Where do you get the AS paint for the hubs from? Looks like I'm set on what to use on mine, then as they need doing. Was going to look at some Hammerite options, but after seeing these...

Probably my favourite 'everyday' Beemer this one too. Pretty rare and quick enough day-to-day with the 123d lump in it  Why do BMW not use it in anything else?!

Cheers,
Steve


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## Wardy (Jan 16, 2006)

Gleammachine said:


> Thanks Nick, this one had the Xenons but I think they would added afterwards judging by the powerpacks in the engine bay.





NickP said:


> Yes, certainly not factory Xenons....[/IMG]


Yep - wrong headlamp units and no headlamp washers tell us they'll be an aftermarket HID kit. Good idea on the upgrade though; always found std BMW halogens to be fairly rubbish.

Just hope he's not dazzling other traffic as the light output isn't through a projector unit


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## Guest (Feb 2, 2011)

very nice fella :thumb:

Anthony

www.detailstudio.co.uk
[email protected]


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

Wardy said:


> Great result that, and superb attention to detail with the wheel nuts and hub/caliper work
> 
> Where do you get the AS paint for the hubs from? Looks like I'm set on what to use on mine, then as they need doing. Was going to look at some Hammerite options, but after seeing these...
> 
> ...


Thanks Steve,

Paint is from the Autosmart rep, should possibly be able to find one in your area.



123quackers said:


> Cracking job as ever... the steering wheel has 3 reccessed areas is it just gimmic or does the top one give the gear the left and right do revs lights???
> 
> The black with white centres are nice....:thumb:
> 
> Thanks for great read, would have thought by now they would have a decent solution for the wheel bolts. Always bad and rust on BM's:thumb:


Thanks mate, the recessed areas are functional lights info, I thought at first just a gimic, but if you press the nodules on the alcantara part of the steering wheel it dislays gear change lights, lap time counter and various other readings.


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## Nanolex (Jun 8, 2008)

Very nice job! Nice to see some rather rare car! :thumb:


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## gb270 (Aug 22, 2008)

Nice work there


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## Mercury Detailing (Jan 26, 2011)

Lovely job.

Something about light colours when properly done that make them truely standout.


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

Looks lovely! That's probably the finest Derv built.


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

B&B Autostyle said:


> Looks lovely! That's probably the finest Derv built.


It wasn't till the 2nd day when I was cleaning around the fuel flap, I realised it was diesel, despite the D3 badge.


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## SamurI (Dec 29, 2006)

Lovely job on a lovley car. 

What dilution rate do you use with the AS HazSafe?

Got some off a friend to use as a pre-wash and want to try it out on my folks extremely dirty megane! 

Ben


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

SamurI said:


> Lovely job on a lovley car.
> 
> What dilution rate do you use with the AS HazSafe?
> 
> ...


Thanks Ben, 1-5 parts water on extremely soiled cars, 1-10 on average soiling.


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## Johnnyopolis (Oct 25, 2005)

Rob, great work again. Have a real soft spot for these alpinas, fantastic turnaround on it by you :thumb:

All The Best, 

John


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## rob_hawke (Aug 15, 2006)

awesome work mate... car looks awesome


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## 123quackers (Jan 29, 2009)

Gleammachine said:


> Thanks Steve,
> 
> Paint is from the Autosmart rep, should possibly be able to find one in your area.
> 
> Thanks mate, the recessed areas are functional lights info, I thought at first just a gimic, but if you press the nodules on the alcantara part of the steering wheel it dislays gear change lights, lap time counter and various other readings.


Thanks, nice touch, wonder how much that was on the options box££££££
Diesel track car mmmm Must not knock it Audi did win Le man with diesel power......


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## Mini 360 (Jul 17, 2009)

Whats at the top of the steering wheel?

LOVE Alpina cars. One of my top conversions/manufacturers.


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## 123quackers (Jan 29, 2009)

Mini 360 said:


> Whats at the top of the steering wheel?
> 
> LOVE Alpina cars. One of my top conversions/manufacturers.


If you look at the pics,it has gear and lap time reading built into the steering wheel, nice touch.:thumb:


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## Racer (Oct 27, 2005)

Superb Work , very nice finish :thumb:


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## Mini 360 (Jul 17, 2009)

123quackers said:


> If you look at the pics,it has gear and lap time reading built into the steering wheel, nice touch.:thumb:


SO! DAM! COOL! And its a diesel too! :lol:


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## funfun (Nov 18, 2010)

very nice :buffer: work on an awesome car :doublesho


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## slrestoration (Nov 11, 2009)

Fantastic end result Rob, awesome end result:thumb: Interesting to see that you topped the wheels with SV Autobahn after a base of Blackfire WD AMS which alone i've found to have suprisingly poor durability. Have you found the AS HazSafe to be wax/sealant friendly?
First class write up & pics!!


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

slrestoration said:


> Fantastic end result Rob, awesome end result:thumb: Interesting to see that you topped the wheels with SV Autobahn after a base of Blackfire WD AMS which alone i've found to have suprisingly poor durability. Have you found the AS HazSafe to be wax/sealant friendly?
> First class write up & pics!!


Thanks matey, I've found BF to be very good, I topped them of with Autobahn purely because the wheels had been rinsed after the hubs were sprayed.
Tested Hazsafe on my van a few times at it's weakest dilution and it didn't appear to strip the protection off, yet to test it at it's strongest solution on a car that needs the protection to remain.


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## slrestoration (Nov 11, 2009)

Thanks for taking the time to reply Rob:thumb:


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## Danny B (Apr 14, 2010)

Nice work, and great write up as always Rob, :thumb:


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## -tom- (Jan 27, 2009)

stunning :argie:


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

*Update.*

The D3 was back with me today for another layer of protection and wheels re-protected due to the owner deciding on a wheel colour change to add a stealthier look, the black colour works well with the mirrors and front grill IMO.





































I appreciate the colour may not be to everyones taste (Marmite) but would please ask that you keep your comments respectful.:thumb:


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## NickP (Nov 20, 2005)

Looks great Rob, I actually prefer the wheels now, I feel they look a little 'fussy' in Silver but look great in Black, the Alpina badges contrast nicely too, I've not made my mind up yet on the M3 mirrors though


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## tonyy (Jul 26, 2008)

Looks beautiful...


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## Mike03 (Jun 23, 2008)

Great Work As Usual! 

And That Final Shot Is Ace 

M


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## simonjj (Sep 25, 2010)

Looks fantastic with the new wheels, great work, starting to get very tempted by one of these.


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## 20vKarlos (Aug 8, 2009)

looks great with the wheels black!!!


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## Ojai (Feb 24, 2008)

Excellent work Rob!!


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## kempe (Jan 9, 2011)

Very nice :thumb:


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## ahaydock (Jan 4, 2007)

Top work as ever :thumb:


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