# My new car...first detail.



## nickfrog (Nov 29, 2010)

Got the car on friday in a filthy state (dealers don't know how to present a product properly) and spent just 6 hours today.

Snow foam
APC
2BM
Iron-X
Tardis
BH soft clay
2BM
Meg's paint cleaner
BH Autobalm
Flash with Febreeze APC 1:10 for interior with a nail brush
Carpro PERL for the plastic trims and interior trim
Megs Leather Cleaner
AG Glass Polish all round
Tyres finished with Endurance
Exhaust pipes polished with Autosol but not perfect quite yet, where's my dremmel ???

The paint is actually in a great state, I didn't feel the need to polish as most of the very light swirls are now hidden with Autobalm.


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## hillkidstr (May 14, 2010)

Paintwork looks great, and shiny


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## Rowan83 (Aug 21, 2007)

Very nice! Did the dealer not even valet the car?


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## Rowan83 (Aug 21, 2007)

hillkidstr said:


> Paintwork looks great, is that the Cooper S?


It sure is.


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## hillkidstr (May 14, 2010)

MatrixGuy said:


> It sure is.


just noticed the s on the back feel dumb now lol guess its the 1.6.

Also surprised the dealers didn't clean it up.


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## nickfrog (Nov 29, 2010)

The independant dealer in question did "clean" it, you know what I mean. Still there were tons of green stuff / moss in the roof gutter and even along the window seals, used a toothbrush and it all came out. Green teeth though now.


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## hillkidstr (May 14, 2010)

nickfrog said:


> The independant dealer in question did "clean" it, you know what I mean. Still there were tons of green stuff / moss in the roof gutter and even along the window seals, used a toothbrush and it all came out.


still not a proper clean tho. I bet the cars loving its new owner


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## Laurie.J.M (Jun 23, 2011)

MatrixGuy said:


> Very nice! Did the dealer not even valet the car?


I prefer them not to do it before collection as they always make a mess of it.

My Dad's just bought an original shape Mercedes CLK 320 and considering it's age and mileage it is or rather was in immaculate condition, the engines still great, the gearbox is silky smooth, everything works as it should, the leather interior is perfect although it could do with a clean and the paintwork is great apart from one thing. There are some swirls as you would expect from a 10 year old car but in the week between buying the car and collecting it the dealership have added buffer trails on practically inch of the paint seemingly didn't bother to polish out the sanding marks left from a couple of minor paint repairs. And because it's quite a dark shade of blue all these marks are really noticeable . The thing that made me really angry was that I clearly told them not to bother fully valeting it as I was going to do it myself. They didn't even remove the swirls that were already there so all they've managed to do is make a car that actually looked pretty good before into a complete mess, even my Dad who has really poor eyesight and doesn't normally notice things like this thinks the paint looks dreadful and can't wait for me to sort it out in the spring.

It's a pity that the trader in question screwed up the valeting because the rest of the buying experience was very pleasant.

By the way the Cooper S looks great :thumb:, my tennis coach had one just like that except in black and he liked it so much that when he came to change it he just bought another one in a different colour scheme.


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## Demetrios72 (Jun 27, 2011)

Great work buddy the car looks great :thumb:


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## nickfrog (Nov 29, 2010)

Laurie.J.M said:


> I prefer them not to do it before collection as they always make a mess of it.


Exactly. They can only make things worse I guess.



Laurie.J.M said:


> By the way the Cooper S looks great :thumb:, my tennis coach had one just like that except in black and he liked it so much that when he came to change it he just bought another one in a different colour scheme.


I had no idea those Minis were so good, blinded as I was by a prejudiced perception based on the lifestyle aspirations of the "typical" Mini owner.
I wanted black but this is a perfect compromise in fact. It doesn't show imperfections while still retaining some reflective capabilities.


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## Guest (Jan 16, 2012)

great work,very tidy


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## WP-UK (Apr 24, 2011)

Lovely car! Bet you're chuffed with that and I think you have done a brilliant job, the photos really emphasise the finish too :thumb:


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## nickfrog (Nov 29, 2010)

WP-UK said:


> Lovely car! Bet you're chuffed with that and I think you have done a brilliant job, the photos really emphasise the finish too :thumb:


Thanks but the base was pretty good tbf, which I couldn't really have guessed based on the dealer's "prep". After all the decon, claying etc I was expecting the usual swirl mess but to my surprise it was not bad at all, as in glazable not bad at all. I thought of putting BH but then I juast spotted a leftover of Autobalm and I thought a one stage LSP might be enough, and it is...

I was also expecting to eventually spot some sratches or small dents, but no, nothing. There's just a shallow stone chip on the bonnet, barely visible.


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## feeler (Mar 16, 2010)

nice job.


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## BlackPanther (Oct 23, 2010)

that looks sweet...

the colour is bang on, like you say disguises blemishes but gives a good glossy look, :thumb:


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## DMH-01 (Mar 29, 2011)

Looks a tidy motor mate.


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## jamesgti (Aug 9, 2007)

looks tidy.


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## craigy123 (Jan 20, 2009)

Great work mate. Looks fresh


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## Bratwurst (Jan 23, 2009)

That's one lovely MINI my friend :thumb:

Shame about the teeth  :lol:


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## Will-S (Jun 5, 2007)

Nice looking car. Tidy job


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## Toomer (Nov 6, 2010)

Looks nice mate!


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## JBirchy (Oct 9, 2010)

Lovely car mate, great colour combo and glad to see you've got it well protected up! Looks fab!

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk


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## JCW85 (Oct 29, 2009)

Tidy little detail and.......best colour choice imo 

Looks like we'll be taking our cars back to the Dealer shortly for this water pump recall thingy foc (BBC says March 2006 to Jan 2011 Cooper S and Works models)

Chris


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## andrewone (May 11, 2011)

Top work bud, looks tip top!


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## geoff.mac (Oct 13, 2010)

can't go wrong with a bit of autobalm, car looks great fella :thumb:


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## nickfrog (Nov 29, 2010)

JCW85 said:


> Tidy little detail and.......best colour choice imo
> 
> Looks like we'll be taking our cars back to the Dealer shortly for this water pump recall thingy foc (BBC says March 2006 to Jan 2011 Cooper S and Works models)
> 
> Chris


Cheers Chris. Not really clear they actually need to change the pump on all cars, read something about a faulty electronic board, don't know.

I've bought the car last friday so I wonder if they'll write to me by the time the DVLA processes the change of keeper...


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## nickfrog (Nov 29, 2010)

geoff.mac said:


> can't go wrong with a bit of autobalm, car looks great fella :thumb:


Funny that, I forgot about AB. I think I was put off by it when i bought it as I had used too much. It really has to be used in minute quantity. Basically, if you can see it on the pad, you probably have too much of it !


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## Lupostef (Nov 20, 2011)

Looks superb mate


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## nickfrog (Nov 29, 2010)

Did the interior today. Had to APC all the plastics and agitate with a nail brush (my fav tool atm) as the "grain" in the plastic is quite deep and holds the stuff in. Will post pics soon.


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## nickfrog (Nov 29, 2010)




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## Sportspack Mark (May 24, 2007)

looks great!


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## rcwilson (May 13, 2011)

Looks well, my interior similar just without the sports pedals and the dirty seats. Really need to get them cleaned back to their original lustre!


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## nickfrog (Nov 29, 2010)

rcwilson said:


> Looks well, my interior similar just without the sports pedals and the dirty seats. Really need to get them cleaned back to their original lustre!


Cheers.

Were those pedals an option on the 08 MCS ?


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## Sportspack Mark (May 24, 2007)

no they are standard fit


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## toomanycitroens (Jan 14, 2011)

Great job, love that colour.


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## Polo 52 (Jul 15, 2008)

Car looks terrific!


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## BandyQuill (Jun 21, 2010)

nickfrog said:


> Cheers Chris. Not really clear they actually need to change the pump on all cars, read something about a faulty electronic board, don't know.
> 
> I've bought the car last friday so I wonder if they'll write to me by the time the DVLA processes the change of keeper...


the recall is for the secondary turbo watercooling pump, so far there have been no recorded events of it failing, its the plastic that perishes leaving the PCB on show and it can short out and it might start a fire...

looking good there, i wish i could get my MCS interior that clean, really takes some work to get in all the nooks and crannies !


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## Nika (Feb 19, 2012)

keep up the good work and keep the car shiny


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## nickfrog (Nov 29, 2010)

Little update.

I have done a bulb deamberification and added JCW grill + black surrounds instead of chrome. I am quite tempted to have the wheels gloss black instead of silver but will it look a little chav?


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## slineclean (Dec 23, 2011)

Looks nice chap , I had the same car and colour as yours ( looked twice at reg incase it was my old one ) looks lovely , I didn't get into detailing until just after I had got rid of the mini. Can remember the days I used to just rinse the car and leave it. 

It was a nippy little car but with my short trips to and from work twice a day didn't do too much for my petrol. Hence why the trade in for my A1 tdi. 

Fab job


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## slineclean (Dec 23, 2011)

Forgot to say , I'd keep the silver Crome on the car


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## nickfrog (Nov 29, 2010)

slineclean said:


> Forgot to say , I'd keep the silver Crome on the car


I am in 2 minds. I think it works on a black car but maybe not so much on my car. I'll keep the black surrounds when I sell the car in case I buy a black one, as I'll deffo stay with MINI.


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