From the Track to the Night Clubs: 2007 BMW 335i Coupe

[SHYNEMAN123]

Re: From the Track to the Night Clubs: 2007 BMW 335i Coupe

Great Work

[the_invisible]

Re: From the Track to the Night Clubs: 2007 BMW 335i Coupe

Thanks Franky.

I just did a couple of test-passes to remove the holograms. I used two pads for the test... one LC orange cutting pad and the LC white polishing pad. the Orange cutting pad is able to remove the holograms extremely quickly, while the white polishing pad took a little longer. However, the result of the polishing pad looked 5%, at best, better than the cutting pad under the sun when compared side-by-side. The cutting pad finishes quite nicely (as usual on harder paints) with M205. Hmmm... decisions...

[SHYNEMAN123]

Re: From the Track to the Night Clubs: 2007 BMW 335i Coupe

Thanks Franky.

I just did a couple of test-passes to remove the holograms. I used two pads for the test... one LC orange cutting pad and the LC white polishing pad. the Orange cutting pad is able to remove the holograms extremely quickly, while the white polishing pad took a little longer. However, the result of the polishing pad looked 5%, at best, better than the cutting pad under the sun when compared side-by-side. The cutting pad finishes quite nicely (as usual on harder paints) with M205. Hmmm... decisions...

I don't get to work on many clear coats, maybe in 20 years when they become Antiques. LOL

[SHYNEMAN123]

Re: From the Track to the Night Clubs: 2007 BMW 335i Coupe

According to Top Gear magazine, BMW has shaved off 10 lbs off the entire car by using slightly thinner paint on the car. Go to an M3 detailing thread on this forum. A guy has some paint thickness reading on the M3 to confirm this fact. Paint jobs on hyper cars such as the Enzo and Koenigsegg are so thin you could see carbon fiber weaves through the paint. Why? Weight reduction. On the fifth year of the first generation MX-5, Mazda shortened the spark plug wires just to shave off a few grams. In contrast, saving 10 pounds just by using slightly less paint is astronomical.

The fenders on this car are made entirely out of plastic The same light weight plastic is also used to make the bumpers and sideskirts.

I did not know that BMW was buying Saturns and re-badging then, That sure would increase profits. LOL

[the_invisible]

Re: From the Track to the Night Clubs: 2007 BMW 335i Coupe

Saturn's gone bust, and GM liquidated its plastic materials to the german rivals.

Anyway, I did the entire car with the polishing pads and M205. The result looks pretty good. I am unable to pull the car out into the sun, but when I tested the trunk with this combo, it revealed that it was capable of removing the holograms completely. I am exhausted, and I am not sure if it's worth it to jewel the paint with a finishing pad prior to sealant.

[Eddie6th]

Re: From the Track to the Night Clubs: 2007 BMW 335i Coupe

Nice work you've done. Good reflections and depth. The time it took you is not bad. About 7 hours.

Sounds like they are cutting costs by reducing 10lbs,which is quite a fair amount of paint.

[the_invisible]

Re: From the Track to the Night Clubs: 2007 BMW 335i Coupe

Thanks, Eddie! So far, paint correction on this car, including wash, clay, M105 and 205, the car took me over 17hours. A professional at Autopia was experiencing the exact ordeal. I don't think I would be able to correct the paint on this car with a foam pad, ever!

Apparently, another guy had the same experience with the "extremely hard" black paint on the 335i:

http://forums.clubrsx.com/showthread.php?t=654125

Here's a quote regarding the hard paint

I initially started out with Optimum Polish II and a Green LC pad @ 1300 RPM's as this usually knocks the defects down with this make/model. Well to my surprise, absolutely nothing. I then tried Menzerna SIP and again nothing. At this point I was thinking to myself, did I forget how to polish a car or is this paint really that hard?

[seth1066]

Re: From the Track to the Night Clubs: 2007 BMW 335i Coupe

Saturn's gone bust, and GM liquidated its plastic materials to the german rivals.

So the Penske deal is off?

[Cole Ziegler]

Re: From the Track to the Night Clubs: 2007 BMW 335i Coupe

talk about reflections! keep up the good work!

[SHYNEMAN123]

Re: From the Track to the Night Clubs: 2007 BMW 335i Coupe

It looks Incredible, Again great work.

As far as Saturn GM will still build them for the nxt 2 years and if rumor is true Nissan will build them after that.

[96Lude]

Re: From the Track to the Night Clubs: 2007 BMW 335i Coupe

I would never think BMW would make a car with plastic panels. I stand corrected. As the expression goes "you learn something new every day."

[KC's]

Re: From the Track to the Night Clubs: 2007 BMW 335i Coupe

mamamia
gorgeously what u brought he to...keep it up

u r definately making all your neighbour envy
moirror finishing

[the_invisible]

Re: From the Track to the Night Clubs: 2007 BMW 335i Coupe

Yeah, they sure are envious at my cars! Having the luxury of free time to detail cars is what makes people envy he he he

Anyway... got the wheel back, with new tires installed. Took some pictures.
Here are the processes:

- Clayed, wash, blah blah blah...
- M105 SOLO Maroon Wool Pad @ 2000rpm (around 4 passes were needed in order to remove the SEVERE swirls)
- Feathersanded RIDS and finished with M105 and SOLO Wool Pad
- Ultimate Compound and a cutting pad with DA at speed 6
- M205 with a polishing pad with DA at speed 6
- M205 with a finishing pad with DA at speed 6
- NXT 2.0 with finishing pad with DA at speed 6
- NXT 2.0 with finessing pad with DA at speed 3
- ****** Pure Wax applied by hand



Unaltered, straight from the camera...






Unfortunately, the gloss and shine is limited by the orange peel. Also, the metallic is hindering the depth of the color.

In all honesty, my daily driver, a solid black Nissan Maxima, has a MUCH more dramatic gloss and depth than this car.

You can check out my Maxima here:

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?p=335278#post335278

[KC's]

Re: From the Track to the Night Clubs: 2007 BMW 335i Coupe

keep it up
i am envying u now

when can u do for me