This extremely rare car is one of only 35 E46 B3s Coupe's sold in the UK and one of only 5 sold during 2004!!
The car itself was in great condition, but needed machine polishing to remove the swirling present in the clearcoat which in turn restores the gloss/lustre to the finish.
Ahead of the detail, the alloy wheel centre caps were removed - some of the afters exclude these for which I apologise, but they are present in some of the later 'afters'.
On to the detail...
A few befores:
DSC05703 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC05706 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC05707 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC05708 by
RussZS, on Flickr
As always, wheels were up first:
DSC05709 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC05711 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC05714 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Ahead of any contact, I sprayed AutoSmart Smart Wheels cut 4:1 on to the wheels and tyres to loosen any dirt, before pressure rinsing off - the logic here being the same as snow foaming a car - you want to remove as much dirt as possible before making physical contact with the paint on the wheels:
DSC05716 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC05717 by
RussZS, on Flickr
and rinsed:
DSC05719 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Better but still nowhere near 'detailed':
DSC05721 by
RussZS, on Flickr
This was followed by a second generous covering:
DSC05722 by
RussZS, on Flickr
This was then agitated using the soft Valet Pro brushes:
DSC05723 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC05724 by
RussZS, on Flickr
The EZ Wheel brush was used on the rear of the wheels:
DSC05725 by
RussZS, on Flickr
G101 on the tyres:
DSC05727 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Then the Wheel Woolie on the arches - this is used as its relatively soft so won't harm the painted parts of the wheel arches:
DSC05728 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC05729 by
RussZS, on Flickr
and rinsed...
DSC05732 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Much better but still not good enough...
IronX next...
DSC05735 by
RussZS, on Flickr
This safely dissolves any brake dust pitted into the lacquer on the wheel:
Sprayed on:
DSC05736 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Left to work for 5 mins:
DSC05739 by
RussZS, on Flickr
This was then followed up with Tardis to remove the tar deposits:
DSC05744 by
RussZS, on Flickr
and finally rinsed...
DSC05746 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Much better!! :)
Next I turned my attention to the paint. The car was foamed with Bilt Hamber's AutoFoam to begin breaking any loose dirt down - again the logic being to remove as much dirt as possible before making physical contact with the paint:
DSC05747 by
RussZS, on Flickr
G101 was used to work around the more intricate parts of the car, which hand washing with a mitt sometimes misses:
DSC05748 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC05751 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC05752 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC05753 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC05755 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Pressure Sprayer used where required:
DSC05756 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC05758 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC05764 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC05766 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Next the car was rinsed at high pressure using my Kranzle K7, then hand washed with Zaino Z7, a CarPro Mitt and the Zaino Grit Guard Bucket system:
DSC05767 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC05768 by
RussZS, on Flickr
This was then rinsed. At this stage the car was looking much cleaner, but the following stages are designed to fully decontaminate the paintwork ahead of machine polishing.
IronX was used first to safely remove any fallout:
Not too bad on the boot:
DSC05773 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC05776 by
RussZS, on Flickr
however the drivers door...
DSC05783 by
RussZS, on Flickr
DSC05784 by
RussZS, on Flickr
This was followed with Tardis which safely removes any tar deposits present on the paint:
DSC05779 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Next the car was foamed with a deliberately watery solution to run any IronX or Tardis out from under trim pieces:
DSC05786 by
RussZS, on Flickr
The car was then rinsed and moved inside. I prefer to clay inside as it minimises the amount of debris which can fall onto the paint, which could potentially harm the clearcoat - this is of a particular risk on a windy day such as today:
Auto Finesse Clay was used:
DSC05788 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Nothing significant was lifted, showing just how effective IronX and Tardis are!
I dried the car next using the Microfibre Madness towel - not the cheapest, but one of the best...
DSC05789 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Next the paint was assessed ahead of machine polishing to remove the swirling present in the paint.
The car was reading a healthy average of around 160, with the lowest spot on the roof being 133:
DSC05881 by
RussZS, on Flickr
After trialling various combinations, I was getting a great level of correction from S17 and 3M Pad via Festool Rotary:
DSC05805 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Capturing defects and correction on silver is quite tricky, but hopefully you can see what has been achieved on some of these pics:
50/50 under halogen - not the best light source for silver!
DSC05794 by
RussZS, on Flickr
I switched to Halide on the bootlid, so before:
DSC05813 by
RussZS, on Flickr
After:
DSC05812 by
RussZS, on Flickr
A deeper scratch which was dealt with specifically:
Before:
DSC05820 by
RussZS, on Flickr
After:
DSC05821 by
RussZS, on Flickr
It is still there under certain angles/lighting, but much reduced!!
After each set, CarPro Eraser was used to remove any polishing oils left behind by the Scholl which *can* fill if not worked properly:
DSC05830 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Sprayed onto panel and left to sit slightly:
DSC05831 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Removed with soft MF:
DSC05832 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Still looking good:
DSC05834 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Bonnet before:
DSC05849 by
RussZS, on Flickr
After:
DSC05862 by
RussZS, on Flickr
50/50 from passenger door under DIY Sun Gun lighting:
DSC05873 by
RussZS, on Flickr
To finish, to paintwork was cleansed with Auto Finesse Rejuvenate via DA and 3M Polishing Pad:
DSC05894 by
RussZS, on Flickr
This was followed up with a layer of Tough Coat and a layer of the forthcoming range topping wax - Wraith:
DSC05895 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Crystal on the glass:
DSC05896 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Gloss was used on the tyres...
DSC05897 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Before:
DSC05899 by
RussZS, on Flickr
After...
DSC05900 by
RussZS, on Flickr
Also used, but no pics:
- Mercury on exhausts
- Revive on plastic trim
- Spritz on interior plastics
- Zaino Z9 on interior leather
- Mint Rims on alloys
