E46 Detail - Newbies attempt at machine polishing ('05 E46)

With the weather clearing up, getting sick of looking at a dirty car and wanting to finally let loose with the da on my car here are the results.

The following was completed in 5 hours (with many more to come)

Steps:
Interior
Interior Wet vac finishing (drivers seat and footwell, forgot about the door card)

Exterior
Quick Soak with Orchard Preclean
Snow Foam with Orchard Cotton Candy
Tar Removal with Orchard Tar Cleanse (cant recommend enough)
Iron Removal with Orchard Iron Cleanse
Clay with dodo juice born slippy concentrate
Machine polish (only top of boot lid and lights so far :sad: but more to come tomorrow weather permitting)

....and now for the pics:

Interior first:

Now too bad you would think:
http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...pswickd9sr.jpg

http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...psgo9u6eg6.jpg

After a quick hoover:
http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...psb6t4wvvg.jpg

After the wet vac:
http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...psefae76lb.jpg

http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6gqwy33d.jpg

From just the footwell (mats used every day)
http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...pstlbswdax.jpg

From just the drivers seat (bought second hand, roughly 130 miles worth of wear and tear)
http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...psjtmzbrmz.jpg

Exterior
The dirty pics :wink:

http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...ps33owgie3.jpg

http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...psjnqbiqew.jpg

http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...psrh13sfye.jpg

http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...pshwxkiocf.jpg

A quick soak with preclean and a covering of cotton candy quickly ate into the dirt
http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...psp6alpp7u.jpg

So much so this shows how easily the dirt washes off as a result, at this point I hadnt touched the paintwork with anything (have to thank Autoglym EGP aswell :tounge:)

http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...psme0ad0cr.jpg


Had to throw in this cheeky 50/50 so show how dirty the wheel was:

http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8r63kyzi.jpg

Looks clean:
http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...pssbfwl5mg.jpg

But after a quick rub of the mitt.....im not too sure haha, its definitely worth investing in a second bucket
http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...psdxxniid6.jpg

A quick de-tar and clay resulted in this:
http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...psuglpir8t.jpg

Now was time for machine polishing, with the weather closing in and the light fading decision was made to focus on just the boot lid and lights, pictures are only from the phone but shows a 50/50 of the bootlid

http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...psjc3w4c6k.jpg

http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...psayhq27ps.jpg

The biggest transformation was seen in the rear light, 3 hits with a finishing pad with meguires 205, below shows the difference between the left (polished) and right (not touched)

http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...psmabulgv3.jpg

http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5rfnmdma.jpg

Thats all for 1 day, hopefully weather permitting I can get more polishing done tomorrow

Great job on the clean up. She looks great, Wet vac does some job.

Good man Owen. Nice thread an write up will keep an eye out for more updates :)

Looks great nice job man :cool:

Good to see that you got cracking with the few bits and the DA :)

Expecting big things from ya! :D Keep up the good work, and keep the thread updated with the jobs you've done and of course pics! ;)

Good stuff! She looks well, im wating for the weather to clear to do my own,

Sent from my GT-P5110 using Tapatalk 2

Great work, looking well. Thanks for posting and look forward to seeing your detailing updates. :-)

Nice work, and I may have said it before but kudos for having a sweet tech-1 saloon :cool:

Thanks for the comments lads, Unfortunatly not much in the way of updates due to bad weather and a combinatation of working hours when the sun does come out.

Today only got the rest of the boot lid finished off and a start on the bonnet, apologies for the size of the pictures and also the quality of some of them, trying to get a hang of photographing swirls, next on my shopping list will be a halogen with stand combo. So ill let the pictures do the talking

http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...psdljewt4a.jpg

http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...pshlctqpvn.jpg

A few random swirls:
http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...psbb2a3736.jpg

http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...psf43d8b57.jpg

http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...psa5757008.jpg

Before:
http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4082562f.jpg

After
http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...psbec98ac5.jpg

http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...ps88ce3409.jpg

The light colour is very difficult to capture on camera, as a result the polished bootlid can look both lighter and darker depending on the angle as shown in the following pictures:

http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...psc809cd70.jpg

http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...psa5271cc0.jpg

But in reality the paintwork does 'pop' more and is a slight shade lighter (but hard to show with the angles of the various panels

http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...psb14c2cbb.jpg

Then came the bonnet, one of panels I am willing to spend the most time at to get right due to the large area and therefore easy to spot any imperfections. Time was limited to say the least so got cracking as fast as possible:

http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...ps093376f7.jpg

http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...ps326a941d.jpg

Some more swirls:

http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...psfe7cfe29.jpg

http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2c1a4ed4.jpg

The swirls were first tackled with a medium foam pad with meguires 205, this did not have enough 'bite' so upped to a heavy pad with chemical guys V32 Compound and felt this has suffecient bite to get through some of the swirls/defects.

http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...psb0d1c31c.jpg

Unfortunately the rain began so had to throw in the towel :p

http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1691bed4.jpg

Time taken - 3hrs (Quick Wash/dry, take apart boot lid, polish rest of boot lid to finish, half bonnet with heavy pad/compound)

Lessons Learned: will be worth buying a halogen lamp/stand to spot swirls (have no garage)
do not cut corners - prime the pad with a wax before first use, i didnt and the polished 'caked' to the paintwork

I will leave ye with 2 of my favorite pic:

Bonnet after compound:
http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...psc4db5c27.jpg

Bootlid after a shower on wednesday morning:
http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...psvqfqncpt.jpg

Good work! Light colours are hard to photograph all right, shes lookin well though, I dont know why but E46s in all models be it coupe saloon or touring still look great to my eye I think the have aged very well, when compared to contemporary cars from other manufacturers!

But I might be just Biased! :D

My little coupe my not be worth alot, but to me it is, I know it inside out and what's done and needed, if I sold it tomorrow id only buy another! Haha

Sent from my GT-P5110 using Tapatalk 2

Lovely write up and pictures Owen! I understand how hard it can be to work outside with no garage or shed hence being at the mercy of the weather especially now with low temperatures when doing the claying :wink:
The last picture and the beading is really nice and very artistic, love it !
Keep up the good work and pictures :smiling:

Nice progress Owen. Where did you rent the wet vac from?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by EndaC

Nice progress Owen. Where did you rent the wet vac from?

---

Bought if off Amazon as a black Friday deal, 112 euro all in, well worth the investment, your welcome to borrow it if you want to try it out

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Thanks Owen, I may take you up on that offer when the weather improves a bit

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by EndaC

Thanks Owen, I may take you up on that offer when the weather improves a bit

---

No problem, will be attacking the interior again soon, pics above is just a quick going over with the wet VAC and no agitation with a brush or any other products, i say it will be scary when I attack it properly to see what dirt it pulls out, might pull out the rear bench next week and attack it in the warmth and comfort of indoors.

This week there will be very little updates unfortunately due to graduation and working hours, hope to finish the bonnet and maybe tackle the roof on Friday weather dependant

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Nice job owen, fancy having a go at my Golf some day? I'll help of course and give you some beer tokens after, shoot me a pm if you do!

Not much updates recently due to the weather, got so sick of the lack of progress decided to take matters into my own hands....stripped the rear seats for cleaning indoors

http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...psc5tnetre.jpg

It may seem a bit excessive but wanted to limit the chance of the alcantara getting wet or exposed to any chemicals


http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...psntx6ofny.jpg

I have already tackled these while in the car and got a good about of dirt off them but while they are in the car it is limited accessibility.
Items used were;
-Mer carpet and interior cleaner
- stiff brush (too stiff so wrapped with a microfibre)
-wet VAC

After 3 passes on the seat bottom

http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9x0hciwh.jpg

And after cleaning the seat backs:


http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...pstnsgupkd.jpg

Have no pics of it in the car yet (currently drying in the garage :p )
Will attempt the front seats during the week if the weather is bad, swap out the alcantara and in with the old cloth interior

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

It's very satisfying getting the crap out of seat and you see (and smell) the difference for a long time. Thanks for the pics Owen, when you said you 'primed' the pad prior to polishing do you mean you just gave the pad a blob beforehand ?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Korsam

It's very satisfying getting the crap out of seat and you see (and smell) the difference for a long time. Thanks for the pics Owen, when you said you 'primed' the pad prior to polishing do you mean you just gave the pad a blob beforehand ?

---

I sprayed a small bit if spray was on the pad to dampen it then put 4 blobs of polish and spread evenly on the pad. I find the wax stops the polish dry out as fast, forgot it once and was awkward to buff the polish remainder off. Hope that answers your question, anything else give a shout, the junkman videos on YouTube are a good source of advice

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Owen E46

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Korsam

It's very satisfying getting the crap out of seat and you see (and smell) the difference for a long time. Thanks for the pics Owen, when you said you 'primed' the pad prior to polishing do you mean you just gave the pad a blob beforehand ?

---

I sprayed a small bit if spray was on the pad to dampen it then put 4 blobs of polish and spread evenly on the pad. I find the wax stops the polish dry out as fast, forgot it once and was awkward to buff the polish remainder off. Hope that answers your question, anything else give a shout, the junkman videos on YouTube are a good source of advice

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

---

Thanks Owen - I'm about to embark into machine polishing on the new machine and looking for any and all tidbits that will 1)make my life easier and 2) prevent me fucking up

Get a scrap panel from a breaker and see how you get on with it, scratch it up and try to fix it again.

Buy twice as much tape as you think you will need and maybe invest in a multiple pads ie 2x orange 2x white if budget allows. Detailing world is def the place to go for advice and tips

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Sorry for the lack of updates, work and especially the weather has meant no progress. By luck I had the whole weekend off work so had some time to pay attention to the car.

Saturday gave it a very quick wash in preparation for today's polishing. I also organised the new toolbox

Looks like a normal toolbox

http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...psmj7mbvep.jpg

But full of expensive goodies
http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...pskeqe328w.jpg

Sunday:
As the car was washed on the Saturday is was straight onto the preparation. Had to quickly detar the car, surprised by the amount that turned up since the new year. Find tar cleanse the easiest way to remove tar, coupled with some make up pads truely makes removing tar as easy as spray on and wipe off.

http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4qnop8zt.jpg

Have no pics of the process but started with;
-Green medium cutting pad with CG V34
-orange heavy/med pad with Meg 105
-white med/ light pad with Meg 205
-black finishing pad with CG V38


Only got the bonnet done and only have 2 after pics;

http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...ps25fert1t.jpg

http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...pspwuvvqmr.jpg

Total time spent;
2 hrs preparation including wash and detar
1.5hrs polishing