My daily driver -- 1998 BMW 328i

[ethereal45]

I've been meaning to clean this car up for about 6 months now, ever since I stumbled into the world of detailing. I've learned a lot, and I think I finally put it all into practice with a paint restoration on my person pride and joy, a 1998 328i. I didn't get any before pictures because I had just washed it and it really didn't look to terrible. However, the paint really came alive during everything I did to it.

Process:

1) Wash with Gold Class, two bucket method, grit guards in each bucket.
2) Clay with Mothers clay (sorry, it was a gift!) and Last Touch 1:1 as lubricant. (LT is miles ahead of mother's spray detailer as a lube)
3) Ultimate Compound with Lake Country Cyan Hydro-Tech cutting pad on Griots 6" DA Polisher, speed 5
4) IPA wipedown to remove the dusting I was experiencing with UC
5) Ultimate Polish with Lake Country Tangerine Hydro-Tech polishing pad on Griots DA, speed 4
6) Wax with Ultimate Wax paste applied with a credit card onto a Lake Country crimson Hydro-Tech finishing pad

Trim cleaned with APC+ 4:1 (sprayed onto a MF cloth first, then rubbed against trim) then dressed with All Season Dressing
Tires dressed with Endurance gel applied via large blue foam applicator from ADS.


I'll get more pictures up when the lighting improves, but I did snap a pic of the hood because I was so excited at the result and wanted to share it right away:

[Shawn T.]

Re: My daily driver -- 1998 BMW 328i

Looks real nice!

[ethereal45]

Re: My daily driver -- 1998 BMW 328i

It was getting dark by time I finished so I couldn't get any good pictures. My silver paint has never been so glossy and reflective. It was a ton of work, but the car looks great.

[Marc08EX]

Re: My daily driver -- 1998 BMW 328i

I think you did a fantastic job making that silver paint look wet! I can't wait to see the sun pics.

So I'm assuming you like UW now?

[ethereal45]

Re: My daily driver -- 1998 BMW 328i

Yeah I had in mind your suggestions of going with NXT on silver, but I was chatting with Kevin Brown on and he told me to go with UW -- it was basically a coin flip. I hadn't tried it yet so I gave it a go. Honestly I don't say I could tell a difference between before and after, the paint was already looking very good after Ultimate Polish so I think it really just layed down easily right on top of it.

I can't say I was crazy about the application though, it was so difficult to see where I had already laid down wax because it goes on incredibly thin via DA and combined with the dull light in my garage and the light colored paint I was essentially just guessing. I know I had plenty of wax on the pad, because I buttered the pad up with a credit card several times with pretty good amounts. I think I may go through tomorrow and reapply a second coat just to make sure I got everything covered. Silver is just a hard color to apply wax to, especially something like UW that goes on so clear and thin.

I'm really thrilled with how the car looks, I've never seen silver paint look so glossy before in person -- and to think, I was using the consumer line products. The results may have been even better with 105/205! Considering UC is $8.97 and UP is $6.97 on Amazon (with free shipping), this really is unbeatable product performance. As someone who is a hobbyist detailer and doesn't have thousands of dollars to spend on products, it's great to have such solid performers at such a low price.

[Joenok]

Re: My daily driver -- 1998 BMW 328i

Looks great. I have used UW on pretty much all details since it came out!
I agree, it can be hard to see what areas you have covered, quick tip:
Use a LED headlamp while applying -Much easier to see where you have been

[wifpd4]

Re: My daily driver -- 1998 BMW 328i

Looks great. I have used UW on pretty much all details since it came out!
I agree, it can be hard to see what areas you have covered, quick tip:
Use a LED headlamp while applying -Much easier to see where you have been

Good bit of advice, thanks. I've often wondered if a blacklight would help too? If it did, would need to be pretty bright for detailing work.

[Bjkearns]

Re: My daily driver -- 1998 BMW 328i

I wan mo pics of e36...

[ethereal45]

Re: My daily driver -- 1998 BMW 328i

Update: Topped with M16. The paint looks incredible, I'm thrilled with the results. The m16 really sent it over the edge in terms of clarity, the paint just looks like liquid glass now.

Still working on the interior, then I'll pull it out into the sun and take some real pictures.

[greg0303]

Re: My daily driver -- 1998 BMW 328i

Great results !!!

Looking forward to see more pics.

[ethereal45]

Re: My daily driver -- 1998 BMW 328i

Thanks greg -- and thanks for all of your advice about products and pads. The hydro-tech pads are very nice, I was getting insane working times with ultimate compound and ultimate polish. It seemed like they stayed wet as long as I wanted. The paint on this car is very hard, it took some serious work with the cyan pad and UC to get the swirls out. My hood was scratched up terribly, and now it looks great! I love the look of this car, you'd never know it's 14 years old. BMW really hit it out of the park with the E36, especially compared to what the other car makers were putting out around this time.