1987 e30 Enhancement Detail 21k (pic Heavy)

Got this lovely e30 in for a couple of weeks last month, job was as follows:

*2 stage polish on paint
*Interior detail
*Engine bay tidy up
*Convertible protection
*Improve rear screen visability
*Clean out arches

So bit of work to be done, was carried out of a few days. At the moment I don't have time for detailing full time so I need to do this between other work I have on, hence the reason why we are not doing many details at the moment. Turning down job is hard (4 jobs in 3 weeks) but time just isn't there so this was nice to get stuck into :cool:

The car itself has 21k and 1 owner from new, it has recently been snapped up by one of our member who was looking for this spec for many years. I got to hear about the car before I laid eyes on it, and was a bit shocked at how the paint was all considered, but knew there was a lovely deep shine hiding behind the 26 years of poor washing.

Few pics on arrival:

WOW look at the rear screen :surprised:

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Engine bay wasn't too bad, dusty and a bit grubby in places

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Mirrors looking abit sorry for themselves...

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Roof with signs of polish residue and needing a deep clean in general to prep it for the Gtechniq protection :)

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Car was taken outside to prep it for polishing, the wheel had just been refurbed by Wheel Wizards so were in good condition just needed a clean:

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Acid FREE wheel cleaner doing its thing:
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More polish residue on the 2nd lock and boot

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Some other areas to clean and polish

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Arches got a decent scrubbing in the pockets too to get the dirt out bit of rust preventative maintenance

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Even the brush had enough, he collapsed and died :D

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Some signs of protection, more then likely a filler product to make the car look better prior to sale

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Dirt running from some APC+agitation of the rubber around the windows

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Onto the washing stage after the snow foam had been rinsed off, mitt of choice these days :)

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After the car had been washed and rinsed I noticed LOADS of small paint spots on the car, I originally thought it was tar but sadly it needed more then tar remover to get off and extra time :sad:

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So onto the claying, using Bilthamber AutoClay, look at the dirt in the clay lube, and that's after a deep clean and iron cleanse!! hard to fully see on camera. Just shows how important it is to clay the car even if you think its clean, think again :wink:

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This is the paint spots after the initial clay, had to repeat many times to remove all specs...

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Next up was to take the seats out and get some pics of the inside, didn't look too bad from the start but that soon changed when Numatic George got his way :D

The interior would take 2 days to complete, was done by my brother Peter who, unlike me, loves to do interiors :smiling:

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So more parts removed carefully for a better clean ;)

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So while the seats were been removed this little bits got seen too :)

Before:http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/...ps11935d9e.jpg

Tools for the job:http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/...ps231476e7.jpg

After, much better:http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/...pse739b83d.jpg

Original matts :cool:

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/...psea1b577c.jpg

Floor matts getting some love, lot of dirt was taken from these and made them nice and fresh again :cool:

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The dirt wet vaced from the floor matts..

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So after many hours the floor and seat were done including the seats that were removed

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again, more dirt that was removed. The wet vacced was drained 3-4 times...Not what we expected from a low miler BUT at the end of the day its still 26 years old

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Seat belts good some tarnish marks so got a little hand polish

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In behind were the roof is stored when down got a clean too, never gets seen but that's not the purpose of detailing if it seen or not, it gets done!

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And after, one or two areas were impossible to get into but much better!!

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In the boot itself got a lick

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Front indicators were removed for some polishing, 2 50-50 shots..

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Side indicators removed too, look how dull and discoloured the area around the indicators had become! while these were off the car the area got its polish and coat of wax make sure it was all protected before putting the freshly polished parts back on..

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After shots, you can see here how close to the original finish the paint got after the polishing was done :)

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Some befores, dirty and polish residue

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Afters, much sharper

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So onto the bigger job of polishing and a before shot of the bonnet in natural light

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Next this was the test section see how things were looking with the combo I choose...MAJOR improvement. This was after the first stage, this will remove most of the swirls and scratches but will need to be refined then so to add more gloss and remove any buffer trails or marring from the first step

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Rear lenses before and a attempts at 50-50

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Onto the rear screen, were to start....

These are fairly delicate and im sure big money to replace. Plan was to improve the appearance and visibility within reason. These pics below are from the first stage I got to, but it was annoying me so got back to it a few days later just no pics of it unfortunately!

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Some shots of the condition of the paint:

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http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/...psd0c0c545.jpg

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/...psb7ab03c6.jpg

And some 50/50's in progress

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Taped up for the next 50-50

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Before and after shots from tripod

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Front grill was removed to be cleaned and as much split as possible, the chrome parts were hand polished and the plastics were finished in some Gtechniq C4 no in progress of that but an after shot out in the pics below, looked like a new grill when back together :cool:

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All split ready to go..
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After, nice and fresh not 100% but improved

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So onto the plastics, they had aged and gone grey so Gtechniq C4 it was..

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Random after shots:

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The protection, 2 coats of Collinite 476s

http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/...psae9fb891.jpg

Wax curing

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Roof protected with some Gtechniq

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http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/...ps885cdda8.jpg

Got to the shed yesterday to get after shots with the owner to discover my camera had no battery, I left it on in the bag so had to use a phone!!! Does not do the car or job any justice...

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Thanks for reading, was a pleasure to work on this car so thanks to the owner for giving us the job. Hope you enjoyed the thread, took 2.5 hours to write up, 1.5 hours to upload and time to take the pics themselves ;)

Wow is all I can say! :cool:

Realistically with a car like that the owner should paint all that faded trim and wing mirrors etc or replace them with new parts as the G-Technic is just a stop gap.#

If they are looking to show the car then its things like that which really detract from what is a lovely car.

Cracking job Chris...would have liked to work on that one! ;)

When you said that it was a lot worse than you'd think for a car with 21k, I didnt think it would be that bad!! Great turn around!! Seen this a the meet on Sunday and it really is a very very nice E30.

Great work. Lovely to see the before and after shots. Gives a great idea of the effort yous but in. Top job.

Dazzling work as always Chris

Attention to detail was relentless !!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by E60Dave

Dazzling work as always Chris

Attention to detail was relentless !!

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Thanks Dave, I agreed a deal with the owner but warned him I might end up doing more then I charged for, don't think he had a problem with that :D:D

I really enjoyed doing this car, the detail got it to that stage of looking like a 21k mile car, beforehand I would of put a guess if maybe 60k on the clock.

Lovely X5 in next week will do a thread on too :cool:

Saw this at the meet last Sunday, it looked immaculate to my eyes anyways and I was very impressed

Fantastic job Chris. The car looks stunning.

Your attention to detail is a credit to you.

So nice :smiling:

Love these threads, seen this car at the huas meet recently and it looked like new. Great work Chris! :cool:

Did this car use to belong to the "Chief Engineer of the Starship Enterprise" famous for "beaming people up"??? :wink:

Nope...not Scotty's!! Think that went to the UK?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Curran

Nope...not Scotty's!! Think that went to the UK?

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Who???

I meant Geordie LaForge! (Trekkie Alert)

:D :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Curran

Nope...not Scotty's!! Think that went to the UK?

---

And it was only a 318i.

Amazing work and dedication to the task Chris, I thought the car looked well beforehand. I can't wait to see it up close someday, well done.


Regards,

Andy

:cool::cool::cool: amazing!!!!! perfecto as usual :wink:

Thanks for all the comments lads, nice to see the work and thread appreciated :)

Sooo nice and spotless as always Chris ! Love these threads and see you work your magic ! Inspiring ;)

Thorough is an understatement.
Great job :cool:

Wow, that's pretty special Chris:cool: Is she a 325i? Like the lads said, fair lay for the attention to detail!

Thanks lads

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 318 iS Cosmos

Wow, that's pretty special Chris:cool: Is she a 325i? Like the lads said, fair lay for the attention to detail!

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Yeah Shane, the owner was waiting a long time for something like this to show up, manual 325 vert with low miles.

Love working on stuff like this, this for me is what detailing is about, restoring old paintwork to a standard above what most consider "clean" or "mint"

I don't need to be working on Ferrari's or Porsche to get the kick from it when its all done :cool: :cool:

Really amazing job!! Well done :)

Lovely work as always and great documentation.

Great thread Chris, reall enjoy seeing the transformation.

Not easy to make sure you're taking photos as you go either

Beautiful job, would imagine it's rasied the value of the car quite a bit.

Thanks lads :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Don B

Great thread Chris, reall enjoy seeing the transformation.

Not easy to make sure you're taking photos as you go either

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Thanks Donal, nice to see people enjoy reading them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by xworks

Beautiful job, would imagine it's rasied the value of the car quite a bit.

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Thanks Brian, I think your right, especially with a car of this era and mileage it would for sure, most other jobs on newer cars would make them easier to sell and add a small value on top of paying for the job :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Don B

Not easy to make sure you're taking photos as you go either

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Have to agree with Don, taking the pics could be a bit of a pain at times but then again it may be helpful in a range of other ways such as companies previous work, detailed description of how you approached it, improve photography skill and also prove as a bit of insperation for the rest off us to get off our asses (me included :tounge:)

Very nice work as always Chris, detail just added the final finishing touch to a very nice car

Nice work Chris! :cool:

Always like reading these threads!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Owen E46

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Don B

Not easy to make sure you're taking photos as you go either

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Have to agree with Don, taking the pics could be a bit of a pain at times but then again it may be helpful in a range of other ways such as companies previous work, detailed description of how you approached it, improve photography skill and also prove as a bit of insperation for the rest off us to get off our asses (me included :tounge:)

Very nice work as always Chris, detail just added the final finishing touch to a very nice car

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Sometimes its also hard when you present a customer with a car to explain all the work done and time spent on the car, also the difference in the paintwork.

Nice to get feedback too, but also it might introduce more people to detailing and what it is, Ireland is well behind when it comes to it hence the lack of full time detailers.

I hope from the past couple of years between here and other sites by posting these threads its opened lads eyes up and made them be more aware of how to wash their cars, look after their paint by seen the damage it can do and maybe even get into detailing :)

Absolutely amazing job!! Looks immaculate after! Three questions:

1. How much does that time and treatment cost?
2. What did you use to sort out the pitting in the chrome bits?
and 3. When can you fit me in?!!!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Paddy

Absolutely amazing job!! Looks immaculate after! Three questions:

1. How much does that time and treatment cost?
2. What did you use to sort out the pitting in the chrome bits?
and 3. When can you fit me in?!!!!

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Cheers Paddy.

1. I work on a few base prices and then what the customer wants to add on top of what I do.

2. That's all done by hand, and very easy to do once you get the grills off and split, I don't the same to my own on the e36 came up like new http://www.bmwhaus.ie/forum/showthread.php?tid=208

3. Be January :D:D

Amazing work as always lads, the car looks seriously minty fresh...!

Cracking car, cracking work done Chris, fair play!