# BMW E38 740i - Solid Red (+ a couple of other BMs)



## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

When this car arrived at the unit, it looked very individual - rarely see a big 7 in a solid red colour, and to me this suited the car very nicely indeed... The car was just recently purchased by the owner however, and was showing signs of previous aggressive machine polishing leaving hologramming and marring that was robbing the finish of its true beauty. So on to restoring the original lustre to the car...

After washing and claying the car, the evidence of the paint damage was clear to see even under standard strip lighting:










In fact, the low brightness of these strip lights makes them ideal for spotting RDS which are typically hidden by the brighter swirl spotting lights. Its all down to contrast, and as you can see in the picture, the strip lights are superb for showing up RDS:










And the 3M Sun Gun is excellent for seeing the state of the paintwork in terms of swirls and holograms - yup, this car has been polished already!





































A thorough check of the paint thickness across the car revealed normal paint readings all round pointing to a healthy paint thickness to allow a degree of paint removal to correct the deeper marks... Typical readings in the 120 - 140um range:










A couple of regions, namely above the passenger side headlight and on the boot showed notably lower readings of 90 - 110um so much closer attention was paid to the paint here when correcting with more aggressive compounds:










Onto a test section to assess what polish setup and technique was going to work best for this car - time to "feel your way into the paint". Test section:










Working up to Menzerna PO85D3.02 Intensive Polish on a Meguiars W8006 polishing pad showed very good correction of the marring and swirls...



















But not of the RDS... brighter lights mask them effectively, dimmer lighting showing them much more clearly:










Given a good paint thickness and low removal rates with IP, I decided to step up to using 3M Fast Cut Plus on a Meguiars W7006 cutting pad, followed by Menzerna Intensive Polish to knock back the RDS a little further without more significant paint removal and refined using Menzerna PO85RD Final Finish on a Meguiars W9006 finishing pad (all work by rotary, Makita 9227CB). After:





































and under the strip lights to confirm better RDS removal:










A fair estimate here would say around 95% correction was achieved, the further 5% would have required much more significant paint removal and on an every day car the interest was also on preserving the life of the paint to allow future polishing should it be required for whatever reason. The owner was happy, so I was happy and the following methods were used across the car:


3M Fast Cut Plus, Megs W7006 pad, 600rpm to spread and worked at 2000rpm till defect removed
Menzerna PO85RD3.02 Intensive Polish, Megs W8006 polishing pad, spread at 600rpm, then worked at 1800rpm till residue clear, no refining made as left to stage 3...
Menzerna PO85RD Final Finish, Meguiars W9006 finishing pad, spread at 600rpm, worked until residue clear at 1500rpm, refined at 1200rpm, bunished at 900rpm

Driver's side befores:























































Driver's side afters:





































Passenger side befores:





































Passenger side afters:














































Rear light before polishing:










and after:










A couple of pics of the finish after machine polishing, and after the IPA wipedown to remove any light polish residue and to allow full assessment of the finish...



















The car was then treated to Clearkote Yellow Cream Wax, a glaze designed to add a little wettness to paints, much like Megs #7 and it did so here very nicely with a subtle extra wettness added and very easy to use - highly underrated are Clearkote products! Wax was three layers of ***** Concours applied over the two days.

Glass was cleaned with Nanolex Glass Cleaner (review to follow from prevkious week's testing, still catching up! :lol, and sealed with the Nanolex Glass Sealent.

Trim dressed with Black Wow.

End results, starting with the Fuji camera:























































Only one outside pic I'm afraid, as it was snowing on the day of collection!!










Over to the SLR for some good after shots! 
































































The owner of this lovely 7 also has a cracking E28 M535i (a BMW I'd actually consider buying ), detailed by use several months ago and well cared for by its owner it got a wash and a Z8 top up...





































And while we were at it, Stu's new E39 was also washed and given a Z8 top up following its full machine polish and Zaino detail a couple of weeks back...





































Not sure what the collective noun is for a trio of BMs, but here they are all sitting proudly!


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

Nice work Dave, great correction!


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## Mr Face (Jan 22, 2009)

Hi Dave, as always a pleasure to read one of your detailing reviews. 

More please 

Great work and have to agree entirely, the barge looks great in red and never noticed one around.

Also, great to see your having some normal weather up north too :lol:

Mike & Jr:wave:


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## caledonia (Sep 13, 2008)

Fantastic work and finish as usual Dave. :thumb:

Your really starting to collect those Beemers now. Quite a collection  Pity you have to give them back.

Nice to see the caravan and speed boat making a show too.

But you have moved them around since the last time. Will see where they are at the weekend. :lol:

Gordon.


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## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

looks like cameras don't like taking close up pictures of red cars. I struggled getting some good reflection pics on a scooby the other week!!!


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## JBR09 (Mar 10, 2009)

Great work Dave!


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## spitfire (Feb 10, 2007)

Great work as usual Dave. I like those E39s. Nice one Stu :thumb:


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## SCOTIA (Jun 1, 2006)

Excellent collection of bm's.never seen a 7 in red before.Superb mate.


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## BM-Stu (Dec 23, 2006)

Excellent work dave- as per! Nice line up. Tidy looking E39 Stu


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## GSVHammer (Feb 7, 2009)

Nice work. I think the older series & is going to be a future classic. It has a lovely shape.


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## Exclusive Car Care (Jan 14, 2007)

excellent work as always dave


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## Ali (Apr 5, 2006)

Faultless work as ever.


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## Deanvtec (Mar 3, 2008)

Brilliant work Dave, Im loving that old M535i, very cool.
The red on the 7 looks brilliant in the after pics.:thumb:


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## Christian6984 (Dec 20, 2007)

nice work all have come out great


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

Deanvtec said:


> Brilliant work Dave, *Im loving that old M535i, very cool.*
> The red on the 7 looks brilliant in the after pics.:thumb:


I think the owner is considering selling the old M535i  ... Perhaps I shall buy it from him!


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## Deanvtec (Mar 3, 2008)

Dave KG said:


> I think the owner is considering selling the old M535i  ... Perhaps I shall buy it from him!


You lucky man! Any ideas of what he may be asking for the m535!


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## Bulla2000 (Jun 5, 2007)

Great job as always Dave.


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## JohnWoods41 (Aug 20, 2008)

loving he work here and great write up as usual!! the car looks brand new!!

excellent!


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## KleenChris (Apr 4, 2008)

Excellent work and nice write up :thumb:


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

Cracking write up Dave


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

Lovely work on all Dave especially the E38, your right the colour suits it very well.
Loved the ownership of my E28, always aspired to own an M535i though.:argie:


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## Envy Car Care (Aug 17, 2006)

Great job on all 3 Dave.


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

Love the E28  very rare, a 7 in Imola!


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## ahaydock (Jan 4, 2007)

Top work there mate :thumb:


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## Dave KG (Feb 23, 2006)

Deanvtec said:


> You lucky man! Any ideas of what he may be asking for the m535!


I know he wont take any silly offers, he's spent a lot on that car... No idea in honesty, but I'll see what he's asking as if I can stretch to it, its a sorely tempting purchase... My neighbour had an M535i when I was 10, and it was the first car I decided as a kid I wanted "when I grew up!" :lol::lol:


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## macca5050 (May 17, 2008)

Very good, nice to see a few of them lined up!


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## paddy328 (Mar 4, 2007)

Great work dave and the colour really suits the 7.


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## M4D YN (Nov 24, 2007)

as always dave,brill :thumb::thumb::thumb:


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## tmclssns (Dec 28, 2006)

Nice collection of cars! I love the older 5 series.


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## Mr Face Jr (Feb 20, 2009)

Top Job mate!!


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## kash21 (May 19, 2011)

Wow!

Ok i know this is a bit of thread resurrection but have been using the search function 

Hopefully if DaveKG see's this, I have the exact same car, all be it in a different colour. Would you mind advising on which kit to get, for a novice, to use on a DA? I have heard menz are very good with hex logic pads, also Rupes polish and pads. I was hoping to but a "kit" as such.

thanks


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## ibiza55 (Feb 22, 2008)

Some beautiful BMW's, particularly like the E39 in metalic paint.


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## taz007 (Dec 31, 2007)

Wow that is just stunning and such a rare colour. My favourite 7 series.


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## ibiza55 (Feb 22, 2008)

3 very beautiful BMW motors, nice to know the owner of them, if they ever thought of selling.


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