# DetailMyCar Presents - BMW M3 (Oxford Green) - DW Studio first?



## DetailMyCar (Apr 19, 2010)

Well, I can't honestly say I've seen many M3's in this colour, and I don't think there have been any previously posted from searching but apologies if that's not the case!!

So the car is a 2004, BMW M3 in Oxford Green having done around 60k miles my customer owns a local car servicing and repair centre and has owned the car since 2006.

He's just had the wheels refurbed (Diamond cut) by Lepsons next to KDS so really impressed with them and agreed to put some protection on them to try and help stop the corrosion.

There's a concrete mixing centre near his garage so the car was pretty dusty due to some recent fallout but I was confident I could get it all off and restore the paint so it was back to how it should be looking.

Here's how it started












































































































Few bits of polish residue spotted from previous valeting


















On to stage 1, snow foam with Meg's hyper wash




























Then I went on to the intricate areas with some Gliptone Emerald Clean (APC) and a Meg's slide lock brush









































































Tyres and arches cleaned with G101 and a brush





































Under body lance used to rinse out arches










Although the wheels were refurbed they had a bit of dirt and dust from the drive over so just used a nice gentle wheel cleaner (Surf City's Beyond Steel)



















Car then hand washed










Rinsed










Tardis then used all over as there was a lot on the car










Tar breaking down





































IronX then used all over to remove the heavy fall out










Breaking down the fall out








































































































































Clay set-up









Not picking up a huge amount on the bonnet


















Car then rinsed off once more and sprayed with Last Touch









Towel dried









All dry ready for taping



























On to polishing, using S17+ and a Hex Logic Green pad (Died blue in the wash)

Before 








































































Afters



























Excuse the finger, just used to get the camera to focus



























Before and afters


















50/50's









Really happy with these 50/50's as you can really see how bad the paint was, it's almost a different colour












































































































Bonnet after polishing



























Wing before polishing


















Wing after




































Door before




































After


















Done









Scratch still there after polishing with one hit









Stepped up to an Orange hex logic pad still with S17+ and it has all but gone



























Door before polishing













































After

















































































Rear 1/4 before polishing






















































And done...













































Boot before polishing













































Boot done













































Side after polishing



























Car was then refined with 3M Ultrafina and matching blue pad









Looking better































































Not bad in the way of orange peel


















Grills taken off









Final wipe down with Eraser before putting on any protection, this gives a nice oil and dust free surface for the sealant or wax to bond with









Wheels protected first









Exterior protection was Zaino Z-2 sealant









Exhausts before



























I didn't have long left so the exhausts were given a very quick clean up, not perfect but they looked better then earlier




























After polishing the bonnet was wiped down with Eraser to ensure no filling or oils were left









Final wipe down with Zaino Z8 









Tyres dressed with Gliptone Trim & Tyre Jelly









All done!






















































































































Sorry for the crazy amount of pics but I was really pleased with how this came out, and told the owner I would do an in-depth write-up so he could see where his money went 

Really pleased with how it came out though, and nice to see an E46 in a different colour to be honest, it looked great driving off!

Thanks once more for reading another thread from me,

Next up is a VW Golf 2.8 4-Motion


----------



## ChrisST (Jul 19, 2009)

Great work Nick, fantastic level of gloss brought back.:thumb:
I have to agree, it's nice to see an M3 in a rare colour.


----------



## AaronGTi (Nov 2, 2010)

Brilliant work Nick, love that colour btw :thumb:


----------



## Derekh929 (Aug 28, 2011)

Fantastic result was not sure on the colour till seen final result looks great and good correction


----------



## Mr Face (Jan 22, 2009)

Lovely work Nick, beautiful finish and some wicked reflection shots ( great to see the old Karcher in there too) 

Sweet work, simply adore the colour :thumb:


----------



## nick.s (Dec 21, 2009)

Have to say I love the colour and the finish you have achieved, but I am not really keen on the rims. BMW produced so many better wheels


----------



## Miguel Pestana (Feb 16, 2012)

That looks stunning, fantastic job mate, well done :thumb:


----------



## North east Car Care (Jan 14, 2008)

Loverly work Nick


----------



## Bowler (Jan 23, 2011)

Love a challenge, great work there


----------



## Demetrios72 (Jun 27, 2011)

Great turnaround mate :thumb:


----------



## tonyy (Jul 26, 2008)

Looks amazing..like in this colour


----------



## renny (Aug 31, 2009)

Fantastic result, car looked stunning afterwards.

I love a good 50/50 shot as well, nice one.


----------



## ianFRST (Sep 19, 2006)

cant say ive seen an m3 in that colour either. seen alot of x5 in it though

i use that trick with my finger too :lol: i dont leave my finger in shot tho  once its focused, remove finger, and take pic seems to work well for me. not sure what camera your using though


----------



## DMH-01 (Mar 29, 2011)

Cracking job there mate.


----------



## DetailMyCar (Apr 19, 2010)

ianFRST said:


> cant say ive seen an m3 in that colour either. seen alot of x5 in it though
> 
> i use that trick with my finger too :lol: i dont leave my finger in shot tho  once its focused, remove finger, and take pic seems to work well for me. not sure what camera your using though


Hahaha I did realise after a while


----------



## R9SH G (Mar 14, 2011)

class work, that looks super:thumb:


----------



## DetailMyCar (Apr 19, 2010)

Mr Face said:


> Lovely work Nick, beautiful finish and some wicked reflection shots ( great to see the old Karcher in there too)
> 
> Sweet work, simply adore the colour :thumb:


Thanks Mike, always good to hear your comments!!

I've just completed my first "non-hose" wash at home on my own car using my new Karcher K3.550 and a hose that draws water out of a bucket. Surprising how quickly 15-20L buckets empty with the PW! Great for snow foaming using 40deg water though, not a bad option when no hose is available or allowed to be used.


----------



## Beau Technique (Jun 21, 2010)

Nice work.


----------



## 123quackers (Jan 29, 2009)

Looking good, must admit not seen to many in the Oxford myself....:thumb:

really nice colour in the sun 

Black interior or Beige ?


----------



## DetailMyCar (Apr 19, 2010)

123quackers said:


> Looking good, must admit not seen to many in the Oxford myself....:thumb:
> 
> really nice colour in the sun
> 
> Black interior or Beige ?


Thanks!

It had Black luckily, I'd imagine the beige looking a bit too retro in it to be honest


----------



## 123quackers (Jan 29, 2009)

DetailMyCar said:


> Thanks!
> 
> It had Black luckily, I'd imagine the beige looking a bit too retro in it to be honest


mmmmm

Could have been worse an had Kiwi (taste still prevails sometimes)....:thumb:


----------



## M3simon (Jan 23, 2012)

Looking good mate.


----------



## glo (Feb 8, 2011)

fantastic work and what a lovely house. just had to get that in


----------



## puppag (Dec 14, 2011)

Great work mucka, really like the colour.


----------



## grayz (Feb 2, 2006)

Fantastic write up mate, thanks for sharing.
One of my fave cars, look amazing!


----------



## DetailMyCar (Apr 19, 2010)

glo said:


> fantastic work and what a lovely house. just had to get that in


Haha thanks!

The colour is definitely different, I haven't seen another M3 like it around this area, and weirdly his wife also has the 330Ci that I detailed this week in the same colour - Nice "His & Hers" combination i thought!!


----------



## MidlandsCarCare (Feb 18, 2006)

Stunning work Nick, it looks like new again - better in fact!

I have an 'Individual' in Velvet Blue in during May, with a Purple interior - can't be many of those either!!


----------



## DetailMyCar (Apr 19, 2010)

MidlandsCarCare said:


> Stunning work Nick, it looks like new again - better in fact!
> 
> I have an 'Individual' in Velvet Blue in during May, with a Purple interior - can't be many of those either!!


Thanks mate 

Yes I know that colour, I've seen a nice E60 M5 in that Velvet blue, that will look stunning once you're done with it!!! It almost changes colour from every angle, looking forward to seeing what you do!


----------



## kk1966 (Aug 8, 2007)

Nice work.....ive done quite alot of BMW's over the years and quite a few M3's but never seen an M3 in that colour.......looks nice


----------



## Dan Clark (Jun 25, 2007)

Looks good in green - nice and sutble! Great work


----------



## M3simon (Jan 23, 2012)

Looks good mate.
Like the green colour.


----------



## wildwash (Nov 2, 2011)

Those close up images show what a nice colour that is, nice work on that


----------



## B&B Autostyle (Apr 4, 2010)

Definitely a first that I have seen. Top work mate.


----------



## alexj (Apr 12, 2012)

Shocker to Rocker !

Nice work


----------



## verbarthe (Feb 28, 2009)

Really good turnaround , my 330 Ci Convertible is the same colour, Oxford Green 2 ,and it is quite a rare colour on the E46 but it does shine up well


----------



## DetailMyCar (Apr 19, 2010)

verbarthe said:


> Really good turnaround , my 330 Ci Convertible is the same colour, Oxford Green 2 ,and it is quite a rare colour on the E46 but it does shine up well


Thanks matey, funnily enough this customer also has an Oxford Green 330Ci so I detailed that for him a week later:

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=260042


----------

