# Carbon Black BMW X5 enhanced by Ti22 and Swissvax



## Ti22 (Mar 24, 2009)

After a few mundane details over here in Taffyland, I thought I'd make the effort to do a bit of a writeup on this rather nice Carbon Black X5, which the owner was disappointed with the dullness of the paint on.

After collecting from the client, I wanted to get a head start as I only had one day to do what I could. .

So back down to the unit after walking the dogs and dinner :thumb:

and on with the wheels first - after pre rinsing, the sides and back of the arches were cleaned



















Then the wheel faces










then the BIG insides










front arch all ready for rinsing










After all 4 wheels and arches done, onto the engine bay - all foamed










and rinsed and dried with a microfibre while the engine was running










then on with the shuts










and the grilles










all the badges










while the tar remover did it's thing on the insides of the wheels, etc










Foamed and left to dwell










then rinsed, washed using the 2BM and dried with a super plush drying towel to avoid any more swirls










All dry and not looking too bad on the reflections.. hmm wonder what it'll look like under some proper lighting?










First, the owner had just had new tyres and the old wheel weight glue and sticky foam looked horrid...










After soaking with glue/ tar remover they came off with the 'Swissvax right Thumbnail wheel weight glue and sticky foam remover'










All rinsed off looking much better










So.. Inside for a proper look at the paint

Bonnet:



















drivers front wing










Drivers door



















Drivers rear quarter










rear tailgate










Nearside quarter



















Not pretty! Ahh well, by now it was after 10pm and time for some bed before an early start, mostly taped up ready for clay..










1st thing next day on with the claying, bonnet not too bad










Lots of nasties on the sides though!










On with the long part of the detail.. the machine work. After some work on a test panel, megs 105 on a medium pad was doing the business, however some areas were still needing a few passes to get all but the deep RDS's out.

some 50/50's



















rds'd patch on the bonnet before..










and after - the deepest scratches still there but a big improvement. Pity there was no time to fully correct these today.










Some random shots in direct light showing no more swirls and the flake now popping and coming through the clearcoat beautifully ..



















Numberplate removed to correct and protect the aperture properly before the owner puts new plates on ..










The paint was then refined with CF pro on a finishing pad and given a coat of Best of Show, while I Pneu'd the tyres and clayed the wheels










prepped them with cleaner fluid










and put a layer of Autobahn on










No time for photos, but while the BOS and Autobahn cured for as long a possible, I did the glass (including both sides of the panoramic roof!) with Crystal, the interior plastics, the leather, the pedals, the palstic floor mats and had a bit of a hoover.

9:30 pm, BOS and autobahn polished off and outside for a couple of quick finished photos..



















before being delivered back to the customer for 10:30!

Thanks for looking and reading if you got this far... questions/ comments welcome.

Cheers!

James


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## Clio1.4s (Sep 20, 2008)

Great job, the paint looks great:thumb:


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## VIPER (May 30, 2007)

Fantastic work there - looks superb :thumb: :thumb:

Can't find these you mentioned on the official SV site or with any of our traders 

*"'Swissvax right Thumbnail wheel weight glue and sticky foam remover"*

Although I have got 2 very similar looking devices at hand :lol: :lol:

Those ally sills looked in good condition compared to the ones on an X5 I look after, in fact I've got to remove all those rubber plugs in order to clean them up properly.


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## Ti22 (Mar 24, 2009)

I think they sold out as soon as they were launched. Ive only got the one now. The left handed version sold out pretty quick too.. I've only got one of them as well


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## Bulla2000 (Jun 5, 2007)

NIce job and great pics.


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## RobA3 (Jun 14, 2007)

Yeh that looks good, I bet you were knackered when all completed as those X5's are rather big.


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## Ti22 (Mar 24, 2009)

RobA3 said:


> Yeh that looks good, I bet you were knackered when all completed as those X5's are rather big.


Oh yeah.. I can feel it today! All pat of the job though.


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## 5hep (Oct 12, 2007)

Must say a special thanks to James for giving my X a fab new paint job.

It now looks as shinny as its little sister


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## Ti22 (Mar 24, 2009)

5hep said:


> Must say a special thanks to James for giving my X a fab new paint job.
> 
> It now looks as shinny as its little sister


Thanks John. Glad you're happy now you can see it in the light!

Hope it didn't get too bad on the way back to you last night.


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## 5hep (Oct 12, 2007)

Ti22 Vehicle Services said:


> Thanks John. Glad you're happy now you can see it in the light!
> 
> Hope it didn't get too bad on the way back to you last night.


Looks really good in the daylight especially with the bright sunshine here today.

Thanks once again, and I'll give you a call in a couple of weeks about the m3.


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## Ti22 (Mar 24, 2009)

5hep said:


> Looks really good in the daylight especially with the bright sunshine here today.
> 
> Thanks once again, and I'll give you a call in a couple of weeks about the m3.


Excellent news! I'm glad it looks good in the sun, there wasn't much about last night to do a final check with!


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## vxrmark (May 30, 2009)

Fantastic work there -the car looks great m8 :buffer: :thumb:


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## RefinedDetails (Dec 17, 2006)

superb as always.


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## Ti22 (Mar 24, 2009)

RefinedDetails said:


> superb as always.


Thanks!


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## Fastmonkey (Aug 4, 2006)

Good job, those X5's are big old beasts to work on, it takes me ages to clean ours let alone full detail ! Though I am getting it ready to do the paint, halfway through full clean up and clay.

One question for you, I've got really bad water staining or similar on the mirror'd black sections all around the windows, I didn't see you mention those specifically any tricks to be passed on as to how best to clean ?


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## Fastmonkey (Aug 4, 2006)

Also just spotted the 99? in the background with fairing panel off........ How I miss my 996s ............. 










Any interesting story on it ?


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## Ti22 (Mar 24, 2009)

Fastmonkey said:


> Also just spotted the 99? in the background with fairing panel off........ How I miss my 996s .............
> 
> Any interesting story on it ?


I nearly ran a 'guess the bike' competition on that one !

It's actually a customers 748 I'm rebuilding the engine on. . in a quiet moment or 2.

Do you mean the gloss black sections on the guttering/ b/c pillars? If so I lightly rotary them with the finishing combo. Normally sorts it.


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## glyn waxmaster (Dec 20, 2006)

Nice write up and photography again. Well done mate.


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## Fastmonkey (Aug 4, 2006)

Ti22 Vehicle Services said:


> I nearly ran a 'guess the bike' competition on that one !
> 
> It's actually a customers 748 I'm rebuilding the engine on. . in a quiet moment or 2.
> 
> Do you mean the gloss black sections on the guttering/ b/c pillars? If so I lightly rotary them with the finishing combo. Normally sorts it.


That was my first duke a 748 ....... good skills. Sorry I spoilt your competitiion ! :lol:

Yes spot on re the gloss black sections, I've got a DA so I'll give them a quick going over with Megs#80 on a finishing pad, thanks for the tip !


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## REFLECTS (Apr 7, 2008)

Nice work :thumb:

I hae a Black X5 and it's a big old girl to work on...


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## VIPER (May 30, 2007)

Fastmonkey said:


> Good job, those X5's are big old beasts to work on, it takes me ages to clean ours let alone full detail ! Though I am getting it ready to do the paint, halfway through full clean up and clay.
> 
> One question for you, I've got really bad water staining or similar on the mirror'd black sections all around the windows, I didn't see you mention those specifically any tricks to be passed on as to how best to clean ?


I've used Menz 106FA, and sometimes 203S by hand on these before and whilst tackling them with the machine is obviously better, this still sorts it :thumb: Very common on these, in fact on a lot of BMWs of this period, and I've had to sort my Dad's 330i's out as well.


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