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Another detail from a little while ago that I’ve just got round to writing up – a paint correction detail on a solid white BMW 635d. The car was only weeks old when it arrived with us, so the marring was generally quite light with the odd deeper mark but the owner was interested in getting the best possible finish for his new car so he could enjoy the looks at their best.
On arrival after washing one thing that became immediately apparent on this car was the level of tar deposits on the car – you can remove these by claying if you spend a lot of time, but it will ruin your clay bar quicker than is necessary... The tar spots before:
We used Autosmart Tardois to remove the tar, sprayed on and allowed the tar to run, and then rinse off....
Some more stubborn sections were retreated and very lightly agitated with a microfibre before rinsing again to give the following tar free finish...
The car was now clayed, and then dried off ready for the machine polishing stages.
In the before shots, we can see that the new paintwork was looking in pretty good condition as it stood – light marring here and there, but no large amounts of swirls!
Starting with the bonnet, there was a very light hazing in the finish that made it look a little cloudy, and also a small evidence of machine hologramming suggesting the paintwork had been polished previously...
There was also a region of much deeper marks...
Under the strip light, it looked like the paintwork had been attacked with a scouring pad...
This region of deeper marring required two sets of 3M Fast Cut Plus on a 3M green compounding pad (3”) to remove... The FC+ was worked at 2000rpm with moderate to heavy pressure to remove the marks, working the product until the residue goes clear. After correction, and refining using Meguiars #205 Ultra Finishing polish, the marks are now seriously reduced...
After testing, it was found that although the hologramming was removed easily with Meguiars #205 on a 3M blue finishing pad, the finish overall benefitted from the use of Menzerna Intensive Polish which better removed the hazing effect and delivered a sharper overall look to the finish. So we opted for Menzerna PO85RD3.02 Intensive Polish on a white Hexlogic polishing pad, followed by Meguiars #205 Ultra Finishing Polish on a blue 3M finishing pad for correction and refining on this car.
The bonnet after the correction and refining:
Driver’s side before:
Nothing severe – just the cloudiness and some evidence of machine hologramming on places too, especially the front wing which suggests there may have been some light polishing work carried out on the front corner of the car at some point.
Afters on this side...
Before shots on the passenger side...
Deeper mark (showing slightly grey, like there was a bit of paint transfer as well) shown here, in the strip light:
Removed with Fast Cut Plus:
More deeper marks that needed individual attention...
Treated with Fast Cut and dramatically improved, but after 15um of paint removed from multiple hits, it was decided that this vast improvement would be the limit of what was safely achievable while still allowing the potential for future polishing should it be needed...
General afters on this side...
After machine polishing the paintwork was protected using Meguiars #16 wax for durability. Tyres dressed with Espuma RD-50 and the wheels protected with FK1000P. Arches dressed with Silk Shine on this detail unless carpeted. Glass cleaned with Stoner Invisible Glass.
After shots...
Exhaust, painted on this car, came up very well with Jeffs Prime Strong...
Some beading from the wax used
On arrival after washing one thing that became immediately apparent on this car was the level of tar deposits on the car – you can remove these by claying if you spend a lot of time, but it will ruin your clay bar quicker than is necessary... The tar spots before:
We used Autosmart Tardois to remove the tar, sprayed on and allowed the tar to run, and then rinse off....
Some more stubborn sections were retreated and very lightly agitated with a microfibre before rinsing again to give the following tar free finish...
The car was now clayed, and then dried off ready for the machine polishing stages.
In the before shots, we can see that the new paintwork was looking in pretty good condition as it stood – light marring here and there, but no large amounts of swirls!
Starting with the bonnet, there was a very light hazing in the finish that made it look a little cloudy, and also a small evidence of machine hologramming suggesting the paintwork had been polished previously...
There was also a region of much deeper marks...
Under the strip light, it looked like the paintwork had been attacked with a scouring pad...
This region of deeper marring required two sets of 3M Fast Cut Plus on a 3M green compounding pad (3”) to remove... The FC+ was worked at 2000rpm with moderate to heavy pressure to remove the marks, working the product until the residue goes clear. After correction, and refining using Meguiars #205 Ultra Finishing polish, the marks are now seriously reduced...
After testing, it was found that although the hologramming was removed easily with Meguiars #205 on a 3M blue finishing pad, the finish overall benefitted from the use of Menzerna Intensive Polish which better removed the hazing effect and delivered a sharper overall look to the finish. So we opted for Menzerna PO85RD3.02 Intensive Polish on a white Hexlogic polishing pad, followed by Meguiars #205 Ultra Finishing Polish on a blue 3M finishing pad for correction and refining on this car.
The bonnet after the correction and refining:
Driver’s side before:
Nothing severe – just the cloudiness and some evidence of machine hologramming on places too, especially the front wing which suggests there may have been some light polishing work carried out on the front corner of the car at some point.
Afters on this side...
Before shots on the passenger side...
Deeper mark (showing slightly grey, like there was a bit of paint transfer as well) shown here, in the strip light:
Removed with Fast Cut Plus:
More deeper marks that needed individual attention...
Treated with Fast Cut and dramatically improved, but after 15um of paint removed from multiple hits, it was decided that this vast improvement would be the limit of what was safely achievable while still allowing the potential for future polishing should it be needed...
General afters on this side...
After machine polishing the paintwork was protected using Meguiars #16 wax for durability. Tyres dressed with Espuma RD-50 and the wheels protected with FK1000P. Arches dressed with Silk Shine on this detail unless carpeted. Glass cleaned with Stoner Invisible Glass.
After shots...
Exhaust, painted on this car, came up very well with Jeffs Prime Strong...
Some beading from the wax used
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