# Wax-IT.be: BMW M3 CSL Wrap Removal



## Wax-IT.be (Feb 3, 2011)

For all those Dutch / Flemish speaking peeps on the board, you can check the writeup on our website in your language… 

You can always follow us on Facebook to stay up to date with what we're on to.:thumb:


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Paintwraps are becoming a real hype in 2011, all kind of cars are getting finished in a variety of colors to create something really unique. As with most hypes or trends people tend to get tired of looking at it so they want the wrap to be removed. What they don't know is that this takes a lot of time, especially when - like in this case - the wrong wrapping foil was used.

A very dirty car with the wrong foil which left a lot of glue on the paint, this was already looking to be a big one. On top of that we were limited in time. 

*1. De-wrapping*

The car wasn't washed yet but we started of analyzing the wrap to be completely sure of what we could expect. The foil hadn't really seen any good maintenance, let alone some detailing TLC. We could see a lot of bug squash, greasy spots, tears, chips and so on. 
The owner had his car wrapped so the car would be protected. The foil made the paint very dry which was obvious because of sticky paint, a good polishing was necessary. The paint itself had a lot of damage, damage that was there before the foil was applied in the first place.







The foil was applied on the visible parts of the car. When opening a door you could still see the original black CSL color… On the front we could see the original paint through the film on several spots because of stone chips.
To make sure we could easily remove the entire film we removed several parts: the kidneys, the doorhandles, the CSL logo on the sides,...







After some testing it became obvious that this would become a very looong job. Warm or cold, the foil kept on tearing apart, we could never remove any bigger pieces. After calling two specialist in wrapping they both came to the same conclusion, the wrong foil was used (a non car wrapping foil). The foil was 1/3th of the regular thickness, that is why it keeps on tearing! Other damage and UV-radiation didn't help the foil's strength either..













* 2. Preparation*

The use of the wrong foil had another consequence too, you can already see it in the previous pictures… A lot of glue was left on the paint. A good car foil barely leaves any residue on the paint. We used Valet Pro Tar&Glue Remover to remove all the residue.







After this we could start with the regular washing. The car received a foam bath with All Purpose Cleaner, this was locally agitated using a brush. The engine got the same treatment to remove the dust and dirt built up.
We started cleaning the wheel arches too, due to the height of the car we quickly stopped. This was something worth doing with the wheels removed!







Once the car was clean and dry, it was moved onto the bridge. This makes polishing much easier and we could remove the 4 wheels at once to clean the arches and wheels.
The wheels received, a wash, followed by Tar Remover, followed by Jeffs Werkstat Prime Strong by hand. We sealed them of using Blackfire All Metal Sealant and topped up the tires with Gloss-it Tire Gloss.
With the car in the air and the wheels removed we started on the wheel arches. A combination of brushes and APC created a squeaky clean arch. Blown dry with the Black Baron they were ready for some 303 Aerospace Protectant to finish them of. The engine received the same treatment.
A lot of dirt was trapped under the foil so claying was really necessary!













*3. Paintcorrection*

The customer asked us to simply remove the foil without doing anything else. The company that installed the foil said polishing was not required after it was removed. Boy were they wrong! The paint was very dry and had a lot of scratches. The car needed a lot more work than we were allowed to.
We chose on Gloss-it One Step Machine Glos combined with a yellow Gloss-it pad using the Festool Rotex RO150. This is fairly powerful combo yet soft enough the achieve a nice finish. Combine this using the prolonged workability when adding Gloss Enhancer resulted in a great one step finish.

_In picture 1 the hood is polished, the wing was still to be treated._













*4. Protection and result
*
The windows had a lot of chalk stains, just as the carbon roof. They both were treated using Werkstat Prime Strong, a lovely chemical cleaner that leaves a water repellent surface.
We applied Blackfire Midnight Sun Paste Wax to maximize the shine. A second layer of Tire Gloss made the tires look brand new.
It is suffice to say that the owner was stunned by the result and finished. He said he'd never seen his car like this!



















*Thanks for reading / viewing

Greetings,

The Wax-IT crew *


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## Eddy (Apr 13, 2008)

Stunning, looks so much better, paint was in a right state!!


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## DMH-01 (Mar 29, 2011)

Cracking work mate, looks so much better.


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## Swell.gr (May 7, 2008)

Gracking work m8


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## MrBoJangles (Feb 18, 2011)

Look much better! I'm sure that wheel isn't face down on a concrete floor. Must just be the camera amgle


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## Wax-IT.be (Feb 3, 2011)

MrBoJangles said:


> Look much better! I'm sure that wheel isn't face down on a concrete floor. Must just be the camera amgle


It's not the angle, there's something underneath the tire to keep it lifted/tilted from the floor.


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## Mtpagey (May 22, 2009)

Really good turnaround  

Its not something i'd thought about much (I like my paintwork too much) but didnt realise the dangers that can occur when using wrapping.


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## Joeya (Jul 6, 2010)

Great write up and results! Always enjoy reading your stuff.

Did the owner of the car have it wrapped or did he buy it wrapped?


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## GSiFan (Jan 6, 2011)

Fantastic job!  Have you any pictures of the engine after the detail? Great write up too. Thank you!

Paul


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## prokopas (Apr 29, 2010)

Great work


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## TheGav (Feb 11, 2011)

Looks stunning

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http://www.bmwownersclub.com/


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## Wax-IT.be (Feb 3, 2011)

Joeya said:


> Great write up and results! Always enjoy reading your stuff.
> 
> Did the owner of the car have it wrapped or did he buy it wrapped?


He had it wrapped himself.


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## Wax-IT.be (Feb 3, 2011)

VectraGSiFan said:


> Fantastic job!  Have you any pictures of the engine after the detail? Great write up too. Thank you!
> 
> Paul


No I forgot 

You can find all of the pictures I took here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wax-it/sets/72157627131183854/


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## Martin C. (Jul 1, 2011)

Great work and good write up, many thanks! :thumb:

It's nice to see your choice of products and the results, it'll help me in my shopping... 

What did you use as an APC? I only see Poorboy's on your site...

Thanks!


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## tonyy (Jul 26, 2008)

Fantastic work..now looks much better...


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## uzi-blue (Mar 16, 2011)

Great work, car looks amazing. who would have thought a "wrap" could do so much damage?


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## SimonBash (Jun 7, 2010)

Really interesting write up, thanks for posting. Love the CSL in black and that looks absolutely stunning, great work


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## Wax-IT.be (Feb 3, 2011)

Martin C. said:


> Great work and good write up, many thanks! :thumb:
> 
> It's nice to see your choice of products and the results, it'll help me in my shopping...
> 
> ...


We have Gloss-it's APC in test. We have Eimann Fabrik's (which we used in this case) and we have Poorboy's...


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## Wax-IT.be (Feb 3, 2011)

SimonBash said:


> Really interesting write up, thanks for posting. Love the CSL in black and that looks absolutely stunning, great work


It's nice to see a non grey CSL isn't it 

Still don't know what color I'd prefer!


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## BRUNBERG (Oct 21, 2010)

Excellent work mate


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## adlem (Jul 6, 2008)

Lovely work, looks stunning after! What a mess that 'wrap' left


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## Leemack (Mar 6, 2009)

Great job mate

:thumb:


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## nogrille (Oct 27, 2005)

nice work
that porsche in the background looks tasty too


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## munch8987 (Jun 6, 2011)

wow.....amazing work

this sort of work aspires me to keep learning


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## Chris CPT (Dec 16, 2009)

Really great work guys, and a brilliant to-the-point write up! Wow! That's some seriously good customer care, and a great way to get good words said about you. Well done. :thumb:
Your garage is lovely and so clean that it reminds me of McLaren's factory lol - the type I'd have for detailing my own car if I was loaded. 
Also, have to say that there's some beautiful photography going on there too - I'm a big fan of good photographs. 
You guys got a Twitter account I can follow?

Cheers,
Chris.


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## himpe (Apr 20, 2006)

Chris,

Thanks, we do have a Twitter account @waxitbe :thumb:


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## Eurogloss (Jan 22, 2008)

Great work guys :thumb:


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## Chris CPT (Dec 16, 2009)

himpe said:


> Chris,
> 
> Thanks, we do have a Twitter account @waxitbe :thumb:


Thanks. Now following you.
Mine are:

CarProductsTest
Ignition_Point

Cheers,
Chris. :thumb:


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## fishbonezken (Apr 17, 2010)

Awesome work, love the photos! What lens were you using?


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## himpe (Apr 20, 2006)

Standard Sony NEX-5 with the pancake lens


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## Racer (Oct 27, 2005)

Awesome work , the CSL is much better now :thumb:


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## Kev_mk3 (Sep 10, 2007)

bloody beautiful cars and amazing work there


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## Sportspack Mark (May 24, 2007)

excellent! Looks 10 times better than when it was wrapped


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## mislavto (Jul 3, 2010)

can't believe that someone has put white wrap on this beautiful black color.
great paint correction


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## Demetrios72 (Jun 27, 2011)

Great job there guys!!! :buffer:
Well done :thumb:


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## k10mistry (May 3, 2011)

Looks MINT!!


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## Wax-IT.be (Feb 3, 2011)

Thanks a lot guys!


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## samcook (Nov 10, 2006)

awesome work


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## kstoilas (Sep 22, 2010)

Fantastic turnaround!


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