# Refined Detail - Sparkling Graphite E92 BMW 320d coupe



## Refined Detail (Nov 27, 2006)

:wave:

This BMW was dropped off to my unit by a client from North London just into the New Year. It was to be left with me for around 6 weeks whilst he was out the country, so plenty of time to work on it!

Booked in for a thorough deep clean & overall tidy up and to lay down some long lasting paint protection in the form of my Protection Detail I was also asked to take a look at the alloys - all 4 had seen a poor mobile smart repair refurb, but unfortunately my client's budget couldn't stretch to all 4 at this moment in time, so only the 2 N/S were refurbished as 1 of these also had some light kerbing. Further information regarding my wheel refubishment service can be found here.

The car covers a fair amount of mileage on a weekly basis and with the weather at the time, there was a lot of salt present, so the car was looking pretty grimey upon arrival:






















































































































First up, the engine bay... Bilt Hamber Surfex and Autosmart G101, agitated, rinsed and dressed with Autosmart Finish. Left to dry naturally and excess buffed off later in the detail. Surrounding painted areas tidied up with Autosmart Tango.










Then on to the paintwork. Lower half of car treated with Autosmart Hazsafe and rinsed. Tyres & arches with Surfex and wheels with Autosmart Smart Wheels and Meguiars Wheel Brightener.

Foamed with Stjarnagloss Kokosnot:



















Paintwork washed via 2 bucket method, lamsbwool mitt etc using Autosmart Concentrated Car Shampoo and rinsed - revealing no form of protection as the water was just clinging to the surface!










Wheels and bodywork treated for metallic fall out with Auto Finesse Iron Out:



















Tar removed with Autosmart Tardis, rinsed and then clayed with 2 full clay bars which shifted a lot of bonded contamination!



















Re-foamed, rinsed and bought indoors, towel dried and crevices blow dry with a hot air drier.

With the car to be sat for a while, the 2 wheels to be refurbished were removed ready to send away:










We could now see just how poor the previous smart repair refurb really was (all 4 wheels were like this other than the kerb marks)























































A few days later the wheels were back and looking a whole lot more 'factory fresh'! Sealed with 2 coats of Auto Finesse Mint Rims:




























Paintwork was cleansed with Auto Finesse Rejuvenate via the DA and a 3M yellow pad, then glazed with Chemical Guys EZ Creme Glaze. Finally 2 coats of Swissvax Shield carnauba wax were applied - a wax specifically designed for daily drivers. Left to gas and a final wipe down with Auto Finesse Finale left the Sparkling Graphite paintwork looking stunning.

A few final touches to the exterior were attended to. Tyres dressed with Auto Finesse Satin Tyre Gel, glass cleaned with Autosmart Glass Clear and front 3 windows sealed with CarChem glass sealant. Exhaust polished with Auto Finesse Mercury:



















Interior received a through vacuum and dust down. Plastics deep cleaned with Meguiars APC and dressed with Auto Finesse Spritz. Overmats shampooed with Autosmart Brisk and protected with G-Techinq i1, along with the cloth seats leaving the overall finished results looking a little something like this:



























































































As ever, don't forget you can stay tuned with my day to day activities on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as I don't always get the opportunity to post that much on here!

Thanks for looking,
Rich @ Refined Detail


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## DannyMair (Jan 18, 2013)

car now looks mint. almost like new in the pics!!


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## deni2 (May 4, 2011)

Car looks great now, very nice job :thumb:.


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## AaronGTi (Nov 2, 2010)

Great work as always Rich, always enjoy your write up's.

:thumb:


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## Chrisbmw (Mar 6, 2013)

Great turn around!


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## TopSport+ (Jul 22, 2012)

nice finish


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## Clyde (Feb 15, 2012)

Lovely


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## unique detail (Jan 26, 2012)

Great work Rich:thumb:


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## 20vKarlos (Aug 8, 2009)

Well in Rich, great work again sir


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## Charge Chris (Dec 16, 2009)

Looks good!


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## Trip tdi (Sep 3, 2008)

Super clean and great write up :thumb:


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## Soul Hudson (Jul 5, 2011)

Cracking work my man. Paint work is looking very nice, pleasing glossy shine to it.

Inerior came up a treat as well.

Whats the Car Chem Glass sealant like to use. Got a couple of their products and have been impressed so far.

Units looking nice and clean as well.


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## gb270 (Aug 22, 2008)

Nice job there


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## Refined Detail (Nov 27, 2006)

Thank you all, really appreciate the comments and kind words! :thumb:



Soul Hudson said:


> Cracking work my man. Paint work is looking very nice, pleasing glossy shine to it.
> 
> Inerior came up a treat as well.
> 
> ...


Thanks Craig!  The glass sealant is a piece of cake to use. Car Chem stuff always seems to be from the various products I've used so far anyway. It isn't all that durable even by their own admission (recommends topping up every 2 weeks) but does the job.

:lol: @ at the unit - it's a mess in those photos and still is atm whilst I have a couple of little tweaks made in there!


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## tonyy (Jul 26, 2008)

Looks great:thumb:


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## domandmel (Mar 16, 2012)

brilliant transformation matey, looks like new again


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## dsms (Feb 1, 2008)

Great work and pics!


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## DMH-01 (Mar 29, 2011)

Looks much better, good job :thumb:


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## MR.Q (Apr 19, 2010)

Wow - VERY nice. THose wheels came up really well


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## MikeyD (Jan 4, 2013)

Looks Fantastic :thumb:

Quick question: What di you use on the Aluminium trim. Mines is looking a little dull and your absolutely pops !!

Thanks


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## mr polish (Jan 26, 2012)

never seen so many balancing weights!! you must have a buckle.


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## Refined Detail (Nov 27, 2006)

Thanks for all the comments guys, glad you like!



MikeyD said:


> Looks Fantastic :thumb:
> 
> Quick question: What di you use on the Aluminium trim. Mines is looking a little dull and your absolutely pops !!
> 
> Thanks


TBH it was already in good condition but I used 'Autosmart Stardust' just to lift it. Maybe try something like Werkstat Acrylic Prime Strong if yours is looking a little tarnished.



mr polish said:


> never seen so many balancing weights!! you must have a buckle.


There were more on that wheel before the refurb tbh, but yes it did have a very slight buckle. No dramas though.


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