# Polished Bliss: Germany's finest...



## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

Thought I better post something in here again seeings as it's been a while!

This is a multiple car post consisting of a few cars I've done over the last month or so 

So, a nice easy one to start off with, one of our regular customer's new toy:




























The paintwork on the R8 was pretty good as the car has done very little miles so this was just a 1 day protection detail for now.

The wheels were cleaned with Menz 7.5 Tyre and Wheel Gel:



















Arches/shuts etc were done with P21S.

Hyperwash was used as the pre-foam:










This was left to dwell for 5 mins and then pressure washed off:










The usual 2BM was used and the car was then put inside for claying, using Meguiars Mild Detailing Clay and Last Touch:










The top half of the car was loaded with various contaminants:










I then dried the car off with a waffle weave towel and the leaf blower and then set about cleansing/protecting the paint.

Only really one choice for a silver car:










This was applied to a damp MF applicator...










...then worked into the paint:










This was applied to the whole car and then removed using a Poorboys DMT.

The next stage in the Werkstat Acrylic System is the spray sealant:










This is sprayed onto a MF and buffed over the paintwork:










I applied 4 coats in total, leaving 30 mins between each coat and then gave the car a complete wipe down with Acrylic Glos.

Wheels sealed with PB Wheel Sealant, tyres dressed with Blackfire's Polycharged Tyre Gel:










The engine was given an APC wipe down and dressed with 303 Aerospace Protectant:




























Tailpipes were polished with Megs NXT and sealed with Blackfire Metal sealant, the interior was fully detailed too but muggins here forgot to take any pics!

After pics:




































































































Next up was a brand new Audi TT S with little more than Delivery Mileage.

Cut a long story short - the owner brought the car out to us the morning after Audi had handed it over to her in the showroom and we were completely shocked at the state of the paintwork. We've had to deal with some shockers that have come out of the local Audi Dealership here in Aberdeen but this one took the pi$$ to be honest. Fortunately, the Dealership agreed to pay us to fix it.

The usual wash routine was carried out so i wont bore you with that but instead we'll start with the defects.

This is what they thought was an acceptable level to hand over a brand new car to a customer (the car hadnt been washed other than by Audi themselves untill it came to us):














































This was the worst bit though...










They'd manage to inflict a pretty deep scratch in the drivers door/rear 1/4:



















The owner told Audi not to try and fix it, but i think they maybe did, what do you think?



















Disgraceful. No other word for it.

Knowing that the majority of the car would be easy enough to correct, i set about the scratch on the drivers door - using the tools below:










2000 and 4000 sanding dics were used to remove approx 10 microns of paint:










The sanding haze was then polished out:










But wait! Put the light on it and it doesnt look so good:



















This seems to be a common thing when wet sanding. Alot of people polish the sanding marks out, or at least they think they do because the gloss comes back incredibly easily, but as you can see the sun gun highlights alot of pigtailing that still remain in the paint.

A further 5 microns of paint were removed whilst i polished out the remaining sanding marks with 3M Fast Cut Plus @ 1500rpm's to achieve 100% correction:










Scratch gone too:



















A few more random areas were attended to before i corrected the rest of the car with Menzerna 106FF and a 3M Polishing Pad @1500rpm's:



















LSP was Blackfire Polycharged Wet Diamond which helped give the folowing results, the car now back to how it should have been when handed over:








































































































































I've found myself having to stop myself from going into a rant about the local Audi Dealership as we're sick to the back teeth of their **** ups on our customers cars, but i'm sure the above pics do more than enough talking!


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

I saved the biggest detail for last and this one required a fair bit of work!

The car in question (booked in for a 3 day correction) - a pretty rare AC Schnitzer pushing 300bhp :driver:










I'd got to know the car pretty well as the owner is a good customer of ours and regularly attends our breakfast club meets and open days so i knew what lay ahead.

Luckily, the owner had done 99% of the prep work himself to allow me as much time on the paint as possible, so all that was required was a wash and a quick going over of the wheels:










You may or may not have noticed that the side trims were missing. Well, so was quite alot of the interior trim too!



















This was because they (along with various other bits and bobs) were in the boot ready to be corrected along with the exterior:










The majority of the car has seen paintwork to rectify a couple of small issues so whilst this was done the owner had the bodyshop paint the interior trim the same colour of the car, hence why they were left off :thumb:

You were probably thinking that the car already looked pretty good in the before pic and you would be right, well from 10 feet away it did anyways. Up close it was a bit of a mess...

Buffer trails? Check!














































Pig Tailing? Check!










Loads of sanding haze and micro marring? Ooooooh yes!























































You'll now see why the side trims were removed in order for me to cut right in to the edge of the mouldings and fully remove the sanding marks

The bonnet was the worst though, purely because it looked like it had been machined with a pad that had been laid face down on the workshop floor - although it's hard to fully put across in the pics cos the buffer trails just hid everything underneath!

Bit more pig tailing:





































As an added bonus - the original paint wasnt exactly swirl or scratch free either:



















Even with 3 days i knew i was going to have my work cut out on this one!

As well as the side trims being removed, i took off all 4 door handles:










The correction work was done with a 3M Compounding Pad and a mix of Ultrafina and Fast Cut Plus @ 1800-2000rpm's:










I started on the bootlid which was original paint:



















Then onto the drivers side first:

*Before*:










*After*:










Fully corrected:










I used 4" Compounding pads alot on this detail, mainly to cut in tight to the areas the larger pads couldnt reach as the pig tailing was everywhere.

C-Pillar:










The sanding marks were right up to the window rubbers:










This required a couple of hits to fully correct:


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The worst affected panels needed at least 2-3 hits to get spot on. Anyone who has had to polish out these kind of defects will know how much of a ball ache it can be at times!

Now down onto the Drivers door - 50/50:










A small section left just to show the difference in clarity:










Fully corrected:



















The frustrating thing was that the actual paint job was excellent, considerably better than BMW's in fact with next to no orange peel at all in most places:










Fair enough, the aggressive polishing combination was helping to knock back some of the OP but overall i was very impressed with the paint job, which just made it even more crazy that the bodyshop obviously couldnt be bothered to finish the job off properly 

Anyways, back to the polishing:

Lower half (side skirt isnt polished at this stage yet):










Drivers side wing before:










After:










Here's a good example of how close to the swage lines and contours of the car the pig tailing and micro marring was:










I applied a couple of layers of tape as i had to slightly angle the pad and apply quite alot of pressure to get enough bite to remove the defects. Doing it without tape would almost certainly result in striking through the clear coat and more than likely through to the primer too!

After:










Passenger door before:










After:




























The Passenger door was probably the worst affected by the micromarring:










A 50/50 shows what kind of colour it should be:










Even with the light facing the other way you can see the difference in clarity:










Fully Corrected:



















N/S wing fully corrected:










Onto the rear end...

Before:










After:










Rear bumper 50/50:










Before:










After:










And onto the bonnet:










No messing around here - i went for a Menzerna Compounding Pad. This thing is like concrete and will do serious defect removal when spinning fast enough! 










During correction:



















Not too hard to see the difference here really!










I cut in to the edges with the 4" pad again:



















The bonnet initially looked like it had been machined with gravel such was the depth of some of the defects and it was the one panel on the car I still wasnt happy with at the end. A full wet sand would rectify this and that was explained to the owner that it is an option if he so wishes in future but obviously there just wasnt enough time to do it properly  This was me being picky as it looked 100 times better as the pics show but you could still see some defects under the sun gun or in direct sunlight.

Onto the front of the bonnet now:

There was a paint run in between the grills:










This was sanded flat with Megs 3000 Unigrit and polished up with 3.02:



















(that right hand side grill refused to come out so it stayed put for fear of snapping bits )










Before:










After:










While the door handles were off, I machined the recesses with the G220 and a polishing pad/Menz 3.02:










The whole car was then machined again with Menzerna 106FF and a 3M Polishing pad to further refine the finish.

The last night on the car was a late one so Rich helped out too:










Rich also corrected all the various bits and pieces that were in the boot and these were then re-fitted after he'd detailed the interior:




























After a thorough dust down I applied the LSP. The owner is a Raceglaze user so the number 55 wax was applied and buffed off after a couple of minutes:










As per usual,after a final wipe down, all that remained was to take some pics to show what over 45 man hours looked like:




















































































































































































































































Thanks for looking! This was yet another write up that seems to have taken about as long to put together as it did to actually do the cars  :lol:

Clark


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## BNR32 (Feb 1, 2008)

Sensational work! :argie:


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## Buzzsaw (Nov 4, 2007)

The finish on the bemmer is outrageous - fantastic work as usual :thumb:


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## Mark M (Nov 29, 2006)

Superb as ever. Proper dedication and attention to detail :thumb:


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

cheers guys! Surprised anyone's still awake! :lol:

Better go to bed now, got a Range Rover to do in a matter of hours


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## dsms (Feb 1, 2008)

Dedication at its best! Lovely work Clark and wow a peel free finish on a BMW?... A rare sight:argie: BTW I never realized how good the SG is at spotting swirls on dark metallics, my Infratech CM5300 is terrible on anything except flat colors.


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## pampos (Mar 15, 2008)

Great work on all cars...i am working now on my Civic and it is at the same situation as the BMW.I wish i will correct it so good as you did!!!
Fantastic job!!!!!!


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## A21GAV (Nov 26, 2007)

Awesome work on all 3 cars mate :thumb:

Attention to detail on the BMW is second to non, well impressed with that one.

After reading through this i think i deffinatly need to get one of those SunGuns.

Keep up the great work


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## tdekany (Jul 22, 2006)

*FANTASTIC WRITE UP AND DETAILS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*


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## tim (May 2, 2006)

Wow, serious pigtailing! Great to see the attention to the minor areas _most_ would just not bother :thumb:


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## 911fanatic (Sep 10, 2007)

Bloody good work as usual, Clark. Did you find that the 55 muted the flake on the BMW as most carnaubas do? The flake looked pretty damn good in the pics.


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## Porta (Jan 3, 2007)

I enjoyed reading this post :thumb:


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

Excellent work as always mate.:thumb:


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## Big Bru (Apr 27, 2008)

Fantastic work!:thumb:


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## 1996a6v6 (Feb 8, 2008)

Excellent work on both cars, the R8 looks awesome :thumb::thumb:


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## cocker92 (Mar 31, 2007)

THANX FOR THE WRITE UP, we wait weeks for a write up from you and then 3 cars come at once!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

keep up the good work (and write ups)

****er92


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## WHIZZER (Oct 25, 2005)

Top work as usual from PB ... Loving the BM


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## Auto Finesse (Jan 10, 2007)

Stuning work on all those cars, that R8 is lush, i have not had time to fully read through all that lot yet (you dont half go on ) but i will have a proper look when i get home,


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## Saqib200 (May 13, 2008)

Stunning, just absolutely stunning.

Just love the AC Schnitzer and the way the paint came back to this perfect, deep gloss. Also the reflestion shots with all the Menz and 3M polishes on the shelves shows how much you care.


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## Deanoecosse (Mar 15, 2007)

Are you guys paying an insider at the local Audi dealer to fu** up the paint on all their new cars, so that P.B. get the correction job out of it? Most of the Audi's i've seen you do from the Aberdeen Audi dealer have been in a pretty poor condition when they handed it to the customer, but that TT has to be the worst one I've seen from them yet, totally unnaceptable on any new car.
I'd have thought the dealer principle would have sorted out his valeters by now after spending what must amount to a few £K's with PB now over the last few years. I assume the R8 didnt come from the same dealer since it was in pretty nice condition?

Great correction work & beautiful finish as usual tho Clark, impressive attention to detail on the BMW especially, it really showcases your talents.


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

Very nice work, that TT was shocking! Great turnaround the the BM as well


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## ads2k (Jul 12, 2006)

Truly stunning work as always PB 

Totally shocking TTS and the correction work on that BMW is probably some of the best I've seen.

Keep up the good work guys....


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## Mark J (May 10, 2007)

As ever, work of the highest standard ! :thumb::thumb::thumb:


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## Guest (Sep 5, 2008)

Stuning work as usual Clark. Your write ups and work is worth the wait


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## bluetrebor (May 1, 2008)

Amazing work, really stunning!

Was just wondering is the new poly charged tyre gel much different from the original? I have the original stuff bought from you and is a great product.

Also what camera have you got? you capture some amazing shots!

Cant believe how some of these dealers present cars to customers, you would think that presentation is everything with selling cars.


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## Jim W (Feb 3, 2007)

Great stuff Clark. Very nice attention to detail with the BM.

I don't suppose you got any outside afters of the BMW?!


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## marc4452 (Nov 22, 2007)

top work as ever :thumb:


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## spitfire (Feb 10, 2007)

Excellent work. Your write ups always leave me with more questions than answers though, and I mean that in a good way


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## baasb (Aug 8, 2007)

Good to see you posting again, I always love your write ups. The BMW is just WOWIE!
Super!


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## visor (Sep 8, 2007)

superb detail PB! :thumb: simply amazing!


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## colarado red (Jun 5, 2008)

awesome work on all 3 cars:thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb:


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## bennyp (Mar 7, 2007)

Amazing work as always! Really enjoy reading the posts! I think the combination between excellent quality of work and some good photography skills really work well.

Out of interest, what camera do you use? I see it is some kind of handheld? Also to what extent do you post process the images?

Nice one

Ben


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## Gruffs (Dec 10, 2007)

I don't usually post on this section as i have limited experience and very little to add.

But, I always love looking at a Polished Bliss write up. Your attention to detail shows right through your work to the quality of your write up.

All of the detailers on here are dedicated and excellent at what they do but you guys are something else.

Thanks.


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## fbi3000 (Jul 24, 2008)

Stunning work on the BMW :thumb:

I'm also liking the Audi R8 :argie:


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## JamesnDaz (Feb 27, 2007)

amazing, take a bowwww son! it just makes u think tho how many other detailers are leaving tiny imperfections behind, not having the 3M Sun Gun ?????


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## ALANSHR (Jun 29, 2007)

Great work there Clark and Rich


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## Arun (Dec 25, 2007)

Look at the flake on that beemer!!!!! Stunning job :thumb:


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## PaulN (Jan 17, 2008)

Without giving you guys too much of a big head............. I really love your write ups and the finished job is breath taking....

Cheers

PaulN


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## dibraggio (May 31, 2006)

superb work clark. read your wee piece in the evening express the other night too!!


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## wfenix (May 13, 2007)

WITHOUT DOUBT ONE OF MY MOST FAVOURITE DETAILERS ON THIS SITE, clark the attention to detail is incredible as usual and as a business always helpful and polite, aw inspiring work fella's


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## Ali (Apr 5, 2006)

It should be your duty to post up at least 1 detail per month! lol Then again i would imagine your freetime outside that unit is somewhat non existant.
Cracking work!

Ali


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## Toolman (Nov 17, 2007)

Fantastic writeup as usual Cark...never failed to inspire :thumb: :thumb:


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## leo_jones (May 27, 2008)

awesome work as usual clarke! legend in the detailing world i think!


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## srmtor (Jul 12, 2008)

outstanding work, the work on the BMW was awesome :thumb:


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## DPN (Jan 7, 2006)

:thumb::thumb:

Nice results as always.


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## A20 LEE (Feb 20, 2007)

nice work Clark. Was chatting to Kenny over the weekend and checking out the G60, very thorough job.


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## chris l (Mar 5, 2007)

fantastic work as usual well done


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## saxoboy07 (Oct 20, 2007)

Increditable work on all of the cars:thumb: stunning correction, finish and pictures what camera were you using by the way?


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## Ultra (Feb 25, 2006)

the finish on the bmw is fantastic.


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## n_d_fox (Apr 18, 2007)

All cracking details and as always awesome work Clark... the 3 series is simply fantastic though, the clarity in the side reflections is almost unbelievable !


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## CupraRcleanR (Sep 2, 2007)

Great write-up and again top drawer stuff. clarity in some of the shots is amazing


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## Scotty17 (Jul 8, 2008)

clark do you mind if i ask what the hell the black thing is you wash the car on and what differences does it make? Cracking work its great to see!


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## rfmatt (Aug 9, 2008)

WOW amazing work, so much hard:buffer:, but they all look great!


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## Rowan83 (Aug 21, 2007)

Excellent as always mate!

The reflections shots on the BMW are incredible!!!! :doublesho


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## jamiesim (Feb 7, 2008)

Awesome, they should sit you at the end of the production line in Stutggart (i think that's where they make the TT) so they all go out like!!!

you should open the polished bliss school of excellence!


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## Trist (Jun 23, 2006)

Fantastic work again!!! :thumb: The BMW looks superb!


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## Ultra (Feb 25, 2006)

Scotty17 said:


> clark do you mind if i ask what the hell the black thing is you wash the car on and what differences does it make? Cracking work its great to see!


the black thing is there to collect the contaminated water.


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## Thomas-182 (Mar 5, 2006)

Awesome work man, that TTS was in a right state before, now looks amazing just like the others :thumb:


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## djcromie (Mar 22, 2007)

wow wow wow, you hear nothing from you lads for a while and then you post this, fantastic work fellas.


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## Coops (Apr 26, 2008)

Not usually a big BM fan but that one is looking sweet !

Gotta love those Audi's tho.


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## jedi-knight83 (Aug 11, 2006)

great work..

the solid black TT was a joke.. but serves the owner right for ordering possibly THEE most annoying colour to detail ever! 

the work on the 3series was perfect... makes me want to bring you my M3 and not bother doing it myself!


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## dubnut71 (Jul 25, 2006)

Perfection mate.

As for the TT, shame on you Sp£[email protected]%list Cars........


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## scooby73 (Mar 20, 2007)

Sensational work on all three! The BMW looks especially lush!:thumb:

Cannot believe the Audi dealer had the sheer bloody affrontery, to hand the TT to the customer in that condition!:doublesho


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## Kev_mk3 (Sep 10, 2007)

amazing work there  im glad the TT owner noticed it and knew what to do - if a deal gave me that car id of gone mental.

love that bmw


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## joe_0_1 (Apr 7, 2007)

You must be fooooking minted!  

Amazing work, goes without saying!


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## Exotica (Feb 27, 2006)

Wow, i challenge anyone that can resist clicking on your posts.


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## Offyourmarks (Jan 4, 2006)

awesome mate - the BMW in particular. I can really appreciate the level of correction there, what with all those pigtails and defects in really tight areas. bet you were twitching doing the paint run!

Astounding as usual mate


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## Jesse74 (Jul 19, 2008)

Nice work there, man! A lot of the contaminants you found were probably caused my the car itself. I have a regular R8 customer and after a couple of details we both realized that the aerodynamics of the car cause a lot of contamination. The back panels are always covered with brake dust and th e entire back of the car gets infested with soot. A couple coats of sealant will dramatically reduce cleaning time on the upper back end of the car but the lower end will never be easy because the soot is much hotter when it lands on the paint. Another flaw with the car is the inner back glass. It's always full of water spots due to the vents on the sides of the glass. Rain-X helps but the water spots are inevitable... Cheers!


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## Racer (Oct 27, 2005)

Great set of works, i really like your works


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## ClearCoatChrist (Mar 23, 2008)

Great detailing! All 3!
Stunning work on the BM, love the Audis! Damn!


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## nimburs (Apr 26, 2007)

Very nice work, good to see you posting again, that Audi looked shocking. great stuff


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

some seriously fine work there - all look great in the afters


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## typefern (Apr 7, 2006)

Great work, if I'm honest, the reason I click on the 'the studio' is to see if theres P.B. report.

Don't leave it so long

John


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## uberbmw (Jan 31, 2006)

Awesome work and great details on all cars!


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## Brazo (Oct 27, 2005)

Nice one Clark, I obviously wasn't paying too much attention initially as the RS8 turned into a TT:lol:

Top detail(s) as ever!


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## ALANSHR (Jun 29, 2007)

Superb work Clark and a great write up, all 3 look lovelly


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## Angela @ PB (Jan 3, 2007)

Clark has taken a week off, so for those who want to know about his camera - he uses a Nikon Coolpix camera (can't narrow it down any further!). Some of the pictures would have been taken with the Nikon D300 we have.


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## SuperchargedLlama (Apr 25, 2008)

brilliant turn around, I agree that TT was shocking, and the bmw not much better, look much better now though.

Odd thing about the schnitzer bmw, looks like they stole the exhaust off my Fabia vRS


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## Neut (Mar 15, 2007)

Great work as usual

great to see the before pics after seeing the bm at the breakfast club meet looking soo good!


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## Exotica (Feb 27, 2006)

Mrs Bliss said:


> Clark has taken a week off, so for those who want to know about his camera - he uses a Nikon Coolpix camera (can't narrow it down any further!). Some of the pictures would have been taken with the Nikon D300 we have.


He uses a coolpix 3100 i believe, i brought one on ebay for about £40. Cant get the same photo quality as Clark though.


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## Christian6984 (Dec 20, 2007)

great work, may consider some of that Werkstat stuff for the silver citroen we have got recently, but great jobs on all of the cars


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## Zero Defects (Sep 3, 2008)

nice, very nice


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