# Polished Bliss: Alpina B10 Touring...



## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

This was one done during the middle of last week and I'd looked forward to it for a while but at the same time I was dreading it due to the amount of paint on it and the fact that I already knew what the paintwork was like!

The car itself is pretty rare here - only 11 were brought to the UK as far as I'm aware and this one with the spec it has was worth nearly £75,000 when new! Nearly 8 years on and it still drives like a new car (i've had the pleasure of releasing those 350 horses several times now, much to the encouragement of the owner :thumb

This car is on a maintenance plan and has already been in once before but that was to get the interior fully detailed in order for me to spend as long as possible on the exterior when it came in for its 3 day correction detail 

So here it is 3 months on (The car is on a quarterly plan) from it's last visit where i'd just thrown on a coat of Vintage for durability whilst i'd concentrated mainly on the inside:










As you can see, the owner doesnt really ever let it get dirty :thumb:




























So on with the detail - first up was Hyperwash @ 60 degrees:










This was left for 5 minutes to dwell...










...Then it was rinsed off at high pressure - the Vintage stilll beading like it was applied yesterday and that's not even on a nicely machined surface yet:



















The wheels were done with Menz 7.5:










Arches/tyres/shuts/fuel cap were done with Megs SD cut 10:1, as was the Engine bay:



















I then washed the car with the 2BM and then rinsed off, followed by Tardis to remove some of the recently collected tar spots:










A final rinse followed and the car was then put inside for a mild clay to remove any small contaminants that may have bonded since it's last visit and also to ensure all the wax was removed prior to polishing.

I didnt go daft with pictures at this point as i really wanted to crack on and get machining. I've done one of these B10's in the same colour before (although it was a saloon) and the paint was ridiculously hard and needed alot of effort to remove minimal swirling - one of the hardest i've ever polished and whilst the paint wasnt really that swirly on this one, it was full of RIDS:










Luckily, the car was showing healthy paint levels all round with everything being original except for the front bumper which was just recently painted.

Alpina's tend to be around the 200 micron mark:










Polish of choice was 3M Fast Cut Plus and a 3M Compounding Pad @ 1500-2000rpm's:










Results after 2 hits:





































Rear 1/4 before:










After:










This is where the correction shots stop as i didnt take any more pics during that stage, I was just too aware of the size of the car and the severity of the defects in some places. We have a new range of polishes on test at the moment and these were used A) for when i needed a bit more cut than the Fast Cut Plus and B) Rich played about with them on the rear end of the car with the G220 to see how they stood up 

2 Solid days were needed for the correction before i could move onto the finishing polish.

This was Menz 106FA on a 3M Polishing pad:










The above is how much you typically need after initially "priming" the pad 










Once all the machine work was done, out came the duster:










Now, although Vintage was applied previously to the car - we suggested swapping over to Werkstat from now on as we felt it would offer more in terms of wetness and flake pop plus durability is excellent after a decent amount of coats are applied. I love the acrylic system and can't see me swapping over to anything else on my car for the time being. My dads 993 turbo (silver) now wears around 15 layers (at the last time of asking him anyways!) and just today I applied it to his Focus RS - so it's fair to say it's quite popular with us 










So, up first was the Prime:










This was worked into the paint, much like you would with the likes of HD cleanse etc:










This was applied to the whole car and then buffed off:










I then applied Acrylic Jett:










You can add as many layers of this as you like providing you leave 30 mins in between coats - time allowed me to get 2 coats on this time. I'd have liked to have got more on but I just ran out of time in the end.

All the usual bits were also detailed including the engine bay, using 303:



















The interior received nearly 5 hours of work the last time the car was in so all that was needed this time was a quick hoover and a wipe down of all surfaces etc:




























The wheels were sealed and tyres dressed by our newest member of staff, Marsha (I seriously fear losing my job if she ever learns how to machine polish cos I cant find fault with anything else i get her to do on the cars! :lol

So after a thorough wipe down with Acrylic Glos the next morning, this was the final result:

Firstly, a walk around with the sun gun to show the level of correction:





































































































































































































































































































































The next day was a nice relaxing end to a busy week with another maintainance plan car in for a protection top up - or at least it should have been!

This one is also on a quarterly plan and the owner hadn't the time to wash it at all since - so this is approx 4,000 miles worth of crap stuck to the paint!


















































































I won't bore you with another lengthy description so i'll just give you the process:

*Wash*:

- Foamed with Hyper Wash @ 60 degrees (twice)
- Rinsed at high pressure (for approx 15 minutes)
- Poorboys Bug Squash
- Rinsed again
- Wheels done with Megs WB (4:1) and Tardis
- Tyres/arches/shuts/fuel cap with Megs SD (10:1)
- Washed with 2BM & Shampoo Plus
- Tardis
- Clayed with Megs Mild Clay

- Engine done with Megs APC (4:1)

*Clean/protect*:

- Werkstat Acrylic Prime
- Werkstat Acrylic Jett (4 coats)
- Werkstat Acrylic Glos wipe down

- Engine done with 303

*Interior*:

- Hoover
- APC wipe down
- Leather feed with Raceglaze leather balm
- Glass with Megs GCC
- Shuts with Werkstat Prime Strong

*Wheels/tyres/Misc*:

- PB wheel Sealant
- Blackfire Tyre Gel

- Tailpipes with NXT and then sealed with Blackfire Metal Sealant.

*Afters:*








































































































































I wouldnt have usually bothered posting the TT but i promised the owner i'd shame him with the before pics 

Thanks for looking!

Clark :thumb:


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## Detail My Ride (Apr 19, 2006)

Fantastic work on both cars there, you never fail to impress me time after time :thumb:


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## nsanity (May 7, 2007)

Lovely work as usual there mate


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

Drool Alpina B10 4.6!!!!!!! My next car (saloon) awesome


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## Epoch (Jul 30, 2006)

Nice work on the correction, as usual when required, love that Alpina colour scheme (grey with white interior).

If i was on a quarterly at PB, the TT is how mine would come to you everytime mate


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

Gaz W said:


> Fantastic work on both cars there, you never fail to impress me time after time :thumb:


Why thank you sir! 



Epoch said:


> If i was on a quarterly at PB, the TT is how mine would come to you everytime mate


Haha - just aswell you aint then!


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## Guest (Sep 27, 2008)

Cracking work as usual Clark


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## MidlandsCarCare (Feb 18, 2006)

Simply incredible. You truly are the master!


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## TUBS (May 9, 2006)

Good effort, looking good !!


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## 94Luke (Mar 8, 2008)

Great work on a great car! Very well done Clark


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## S63 (Jan 5, 2007)

Excellent photography.


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## cdti_sri (Jul 17, 2006)

Love the alpina the afters are just outstanding. TT was manky as but i will admit to having my old white corsa in a worse state than that


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## Clarkep (Jul 17, 2008)

200+ microns !

I assume from those readings that Alpina hand paint their cars as opposed to taking a fresh BM shell and do their thing with the running gear ?


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## Mirror Finish Details (Aug 21, 2008)

Love the beemer.

What is that thing the car sits in at the beginning, is it some sort of water catcher? (If thats a daft question-sorry).

Cracking correction though, enjoy your write ups.


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## S-X-I (Sep 6, 2006)

Great work as always Clark, stunning finish on both cars, especially the B10!


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

Clarkep said:


> 200+ microns !
> 
> I assume from those readings that Alpina hand paint their cars as opposed to taking a fresh BM shell and do their thing with the running gear ?


From what i can gather, Alpina do re-paint the cars but going by the consistancy of the readings i wouldnt say they're hand painted (hardly the german thing to do anyways is it? leave that to the italians lol)


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

plankton said:


> Love the beemer.
> 
> What is that thing the car sits in at the beginning, is it some sort of water catcher? (If thats a daft question-sorry).
> 
> Cracking correction though, enjoy your write ups.


yep, it catches all the water which we then pump into a tank which then gets emptied every 4 or 5 months - I wish i had a £1 for every time i've been asked this question :lol:


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## jedi-knight83 (Aug 11, 2006)

very average 

i was having this discussion with another detailer the other day... if you were rich who would you have detail your car... we both said PB before the question was even finished!


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## Clarkep (Jul 17, 2008)

Clark said:


> From what i can gather, Alpina do re-paint the cars but going by the consistancy of the readings i wouldnt say they're hand painted (hardly the german thing to do anyways is it? leave that to the italians lol)


True, true............. food for thought though as IMO would be a definate plus point in terms of paying the extra for an Alpina badged car if the paint is of that level etc............. interesting to know what a standard E39 touring readings are ?


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## Trist (Jun 23, 2006)

Superb work once again mate :thumb:


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## Mirror Finish Details (Aug 21, 2008)

LOL, I think I may need one of those soon, as Cheshire CC are clamping down on waste water, as I'm looking at getting a unit rather than being mobile.


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## ahaydock (Jan 4, 2007)

Very nice work on both cars and that TT was looking a bit dirty :thumb:


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

jedi-knight83 said:


> very average
> 
> i was having this discussion with another detailer the other day... if you were rich who would you have detail your car... we both said PB before the question was even finished!


WOW! comments like that dont really get much better - thanks mate 



Clarkep said:


> True, true............. food for thought though as IMO would be a definate plus point in terms of paying the extra for an Alpina badged car if the paint is of that level etc............. interesting to know what a standard E39 touring readings are ?


I would imagine around the 130-150 mark...


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## jedi-knight83 (Aug 11, 2006)

Clark said:


> WOW! comments like that dont really get much better - thanks mate


ha just to clarify my comment incase you or anyone else gets confussed... when i said rich.. i didnt mean your employer... i meant rich aka loaded.. minted... whatever the in word is for it these days! :thumb:


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

yeah i knew what you meant haha!


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## dsms (Feb 1, 2008)

Phenomenal results on both rides Clark:thumb:


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## ChriS3 (Feb 28, 2007)

They're both looking good Clark. I remember seeing the B10 last time I was in there, and if you've got Marsha help clean cars then I couldbe swinging by more often 

Would I be right in saying that the TT owner also has a black RS4???


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## 911fanatic (Sep 10, 2007)

Beautiful work on both cars Clark!


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## Stew (Jul 9, 2007)

Not sure about the cleaning skills Clarkus but Marsha is definitely better looking than you!

Well more my taste anyway!

Did you post up the RS4 that you were doing when myself and Jayne popped in with the SL? She was impressed, I think it's the first time she has seen properly detailed paint!


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## rubbishboy (May 6, 2006)

More fantastic work, great job(s). I'm finding that TT, white with red leather, quite pleasing to the eye.


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## Mark M (Nov 29, 2006)

Awesome work Clark. That Alpina looks spanking, and a credit to the owner for keeping it clean 

What is Boyner doing, that TT was a disgrace!


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## N8KOW (Aug 24, 2007)

Clark its nice to see another write up from you. But I can understand why pro's don't do write ups on cars all the time, when your on a deadline, its the last thing you want to do!! Stunning results as always. My jeffs acrylic kit came the other day, whats the best way to use it? Also how's the scooby running? Any mods coming?


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## RenesisEvo (Nov 25, 2006)

Beautiful as always. Can I ask, what difference does the AJ Glos do over and above the AJT? Like you I adore the stuff, my previous silver car had 5-6 coats and always looked great, even several months down the line.


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## Refined Detail (Nov 27, 2006)

Great work as always!

Great turn around on the TT - those wheels were filthy!!

Never seen one of those Alpina's before :argie:


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## Auto Finesse (Jan 10, 2007)

Stunning work Clark on a beast of a motor, as you know iv started using the Jeffs stuff (from you guys ) and have been really impressed with it, so easy to use and you can stick layers on so quickly :thumb: i have a few cars to post up where i used the jeffs :thumb:


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## N8KOW (Aug 24, 2007)

Get them up James!!


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## ads2k (Jul 12, 2006)

AS usual truly awesome attention to detail and some cracking corrections 

Nice work on the TT as well, have the wheels been repainted in a graphite colour ? actually like the colour next to the white bodywork.


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## Dan Clark (Jun 25, 2007)

Excellent write up 

That B10 is lovely - so rare - and that don't look dated at all 

Shame on the TT owner - lol. Great turn around!


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## Finerdetails (Apr 30, 2006)

cracking work


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## Christian6984 (Dec 20, 2007)

great job on both cars, although from the first TT picture i did think the wheels had been painted black under all that brake dust


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## MotorCity (Jan 26, 2008)

That bimmer was simply perfect... I am always impressed with your work:thumb:

Good on you for shaming the TT owner


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## chris l (Mar 5, 2007)

top job as usual :thumb:


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## djcromie (Mar 22, 2007)

great work as always mate, new TT in white is lovely, alpinas are fantastic


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

ChriS3 said:


> They're both looking good Clark. I remember seeing the B10 last time I was in there, and if you've got Marsha help clean cars then I couldbe swinging by more often
> 
> Would I be right in saying that the TT owner also has a black RS4???


He does indeed  



Stew said:


> Not sure about the cleaning skills Clarkus but Marsha is definitely better looking than you!
> 
> Well more my taste anyway!
> 
> Did you post up the RS4 that you were doing when myself and Jayne popped in with the SL? She was impressed, I think it's the first time she has seen properly detailed paint!


Was that the Daytona Grey one? (cant remember if it was that or the sprint blue avant?). Either way i never bothered posting it as it was just a top up 



N8KOW said:


> Clark its nice to see another write up from you. But I can understand why pro's don't do write ups on cars all the time, when your on a deadline, its the last thing you want to do!! Stunning results as always. My jeffs acrylic kit came the other day, whats the best way to use it? Also how's the scooby running? Any mods coming?


Work the Prime as described in this very thread and then for the trigger and Glos - use them like you would with a QD really, it's as simple as that 

Scooby is still standard so i'm doing well! It's only done 1,000 miles since I had it serviced at the end of June and it shall be getting put away for winter soon!



RenesisEvo said:


> Beautiful as always. Can I ask, what difference does the AJ Glos do over and above the AJT? Like you I adore the stuff, my previous silver car had 5-6 coats and always looked great, even several months down the line.


The way to think of Glos is like a watered down version of the AJT - I use it mainly just to do a final wipe down after the AJT and to dampen the MF pad when applying Prime 



james b said:


> Stunning work Clark on a beast of a motor, as you know iv started using the Jeffs stuff (from you guys ) and have been really impressed with it, so easy to use and you can stick layers on so quickly :thumb: i have a few cars to post up where i used the jeffs :thumb:


Good Lad :thumb:



ads2k said:


> AS usual truly awesome attention to detail and some cracking corrections
> 
> Nice work on the TT as well, have the wheels been repainted in a graphite colour ? actually like the colour next to the white bodywork.


Yeah they've been powder coated, which actually helps when cleaning them - powder coated wheels always seem to resist grime and brake dust that bit better than painted ones in my opinion 

Thanks to all that commented as usual :thumb:


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## colarado red (Jun 5, 2008)

awesome :thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb:


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## Stew (Jul 9, 2007)

The grey one Clark. She has seen detailed cars having visited the premises a few times but not in the workshop. I think it makes a big difference to the naked eye!

Anyway, looked tasty!


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## KKM (Dec 10, 2007)

Nice work on both cars!!!

White TT.............mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

Great work as usual, nice looking Alpina and as you say very rare in the touring format.....

My hyper wash looks nothing like that on my cars....are you using a pressure washer instead of just the hose and gilmour gun (I have mine set on C...)???

Marsha.....I missed the pics of this new employee...... where are they?!??!?!

:thumb:


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

Stew said:


> The grey one Clark. She has seen detailed cars having visited the premises a few times but not in the workshop. I think it makes a big difference to the naked eye!
> 
> Anyway, looked tasty!


I posted that particular RS4 a year or so ago when it first begain it's maintenance plan but other than that I never bother as it's always minted when it comes in 



The Cueball said:


> Great work as usual, nice looking Alpina and as you say very rare in the touring format.....
> 
> My hyper wash looks nothing like that on my cars....are you using a pressure washer instead of just the hose and gilmour gun (I have mine set on C...)???


Yep, we're using a hot water Karcher pressure washer with a different lance - hence better foam than the gilmour will produce


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## saxoboy07 (Oct 20, 2007)

Simply amazing work:thumb: the wetness in the paint is increditable:argie:


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## Auto Detox (Dec 22, 2007)

Beautiful work on a lovley Alpina Clark


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## rfmatt (Aug 9, 2008)

Amazing BM, great work as impressive as always! Wow how drity was the TT! LOL


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## Bigpikle (May 21, 2007)

2 more superb details :thumb: That Alpina is some wagon and looks amazing now 

Good to see the Werkstat stuff getting more airtime - it really is such a joy to use and never fails to impress me. I just never got it looking that wet before though :lol:


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## ALANSHR (Jun 29, 2007)

Nice jobs again young man, saw the beemer on saturday and it looked great and that TT was minging so a nice turnaround.

Hope you had a great holiday and are enjoying being back at the grindstone


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## cotter (Aug 31, 2008)

Beemer looking stunning. You were working on it when I was in the other week for my foam lance, and it's certainly looking amazing when all finished :thumb:

I'm seriously impressed with the Jeffs Acrylic as well, I'm still new to this detailing malarky, and can't believe how easy it is to use, yet give such a fantastic finish :thumb:

This whole detailing thing is starting to cost me a fortune, t'other half thinks I'm off my heid............. :lol:


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## swiftshine (Apr 17, 2008)

Phenomenal work as usual Clarke:thumb:

Are you really _that_ good (i.e the best), or is it just cause you take a great photo?:lol:


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## Jesse74 (Jul 19, 2008)

Excellent work on both, sir! Those powder coat finishes (BMW) just pee on my parade when I get them. Really, what's the point of having a finish so hard if it still gets scratched and swirled so badly just from daily use?


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## Clark @ PB (Mar 1, 2006)

swiftshine said:


> Phenomenal work as usual Clarke:thumb:
> 
> Are you really _that_ good (i.e the best), or is it just cause you take a great photo?:lol:


I'd say neither


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## JJ_ (Oct 26, 2005)

That BMW is awesome. The paint is unbelievable for the age of the car, well in clark.


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## scooby73 (Mar 20, 2007)

Excellent work on both cars as usual!:thumb:

The B10 is a stunning looking car.


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## detailersdomain (Sep 13, 2006)

very nice work love the wagon


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## Ali (Apr 5, 2006)

great work as per. Alpina is very understated...Wouldn't know what it was tbh!


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## Buzzsaw (Nov 4, 2007)

Not usually a wagon fan but the looks great and the finish is sublime


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