2005 Carbon Black M3: Fall Detail

A big thanks to Phil at DD, Ivan at LUSTR, Kevin Brown, Greg at DI, the folks at AutoGeek and everyone else on this and other forums for helping me out with my endless questions. I'm a weekend warrior and have only been into this for about a year so the help is much appreciated.

History:
This is my personal ride (2005 Carbon Black M3). No major swirls or spider-webbing just the usual random scratches, a PITA out-gassing issue and a handfull of RIDS, which seemed to be on every other panel . The goal was the paint correction and laying down the initial coat of 845. I still need to apply a couple more coats of 845 (Midwest winter coming), treat the exterior trim with Black Wow, etc.. Overall it was a successful weekend.

PROCESS:

Wash:
Meg's Gold Class Shampoo (2 bucket method)
Flood rinse
Leaf Blower Dry

Clay:
Sonus Green with ONR clay lube

Polisher:
PC7424 (4" and 5.5" pads)

Polishes:
M105 or Menz PO83 as needed - LC Orange Pad
Menz P106FA on all panels (single pass) - LC White Pad
Menz PO87MC on all panels (single pass) - Uber Black Pad (this was my attempt to "jewel" the finish. Never tried this before and I'm not sure if I "officially" achieved a jeweled finish, but I really liked the end result after a uniform pass with PO87MC on a non-cutting pad).

Final Surface Prep:
Menzerna Final Inspection (MFI) on all panels. This was my first time using MFI and it took some getting used to, but once I had my technique down I absolutely loved it. After a final wipe down with MFI the finish was beyond ready for my LSP, extremely clean and unbelievably squeaky (much more than IPA IMO). A little MFI goes a long way and I am sold.

LSP:
Collinite 845 - Uber Black Pad (speed 2.5-3)
Applied twice back-to-back just to ensure full coverage. I'll be adding additional coats with the proper 24 cure time within the next couple weeks. I bounced back and forth on my LSP for the Midwest winter (FMJ, JS109, FK1000P, UPGP, etc.). After a ton of research and all was said and done I opted for 845, hope I made the right choice.

Other:
Tires are dressed with Optimum Opt-Bond Tire Gel.
Wheels hit with FK425 (just for the pix ).


The Lineup:


Clay:
The majority of the panels had minimal contamination, but the lower panels behind the wheels were a different story as expected (don't ask me why the Sonus Green looks yellow in the picture because I have no idea).


Dust:
M105 and Menz PO83Q do the job, but they do leave a nice amount of dust behind. I "kind of" used the KB method (4" orange pad, a little extra product & pressure) to cleanup the RIDS so that might explain some of the heavy dusting, but worth it on all accounts. It worked like magic.




A Couple Pre/Post Correction Shots:

Out Gas Issue:
3 months ago I made a mistake trying to apply a chip repair to my hood. The mistake: Within 7 days of applying a new coat of sealant and wax I taped off an area on my hood and then hit it with IPA . This ended up causing an "out-gassing" outline (see 1st picture). I tried to clean it up with M105 a couple days later, but nothing, it was still there. Given my ride is parked in an underground garage and sits in high humidity 23 hours a day I guess it just took some time to "air" out. 3 months later it took just one pass with M105 on a 4" pad and the eye sore was finally gone. Kevin Brown was a huge help on the techinque and Ivan helped me out with a paint reading to make sure I still had enough clear to work with, so props to KB and Ivan.

Out-Gas Damage:


Out-Gas Damage Corrected:


Repaint Issue:
After a fender bender (it happened while my ride was in a driveway, long story and this post is already becoming a novel) the left door was repainted in the spring. The repair shop didn't clean everything up properly, but a single pass with Menz PO83 cleaned it right up.

Repair Damage Issue:


Repair Damage Issue Corrected:



Random RIDS:
Bootlid RIDS:


Bootlid RIDS Corrected:



The Final Results:
It was windy as heck outside so some polish dust made it's way into a few shots and sorry for my ugly mug showing up on one of the pix .

Overall Outside:


Roof (inside):


Roof (outside):


Hood (outside) I:


Hood (outside) II:


Bootlid (inside):


Bootlid (outside):


Right Door (inside):


Right Door (outside):


Left Door (inside):


Left Door (outside):


Final Overalls:

good work, how long did it take you?

Originally Posted by xJustin

good work, how long did it take you?

Thx.

Overall it took about 12-14 hours.

Wash: ~45 minutes
Clay: ~45 minutes
Polish: ~ 9 hours
Final Prep: ~ 30 minutes
Wax: ~ 1 hour

Plus a couple hours for miscellaneous things (I taped-off a few things, removed/reinstalled the front and rear plates, removed/reinstalled 4 of the 6 side moldings, etc..).

Very nice

12-14 hours... Looks awesome though

Very nice work and a thorough write up as well! Glad we could help you out and please keep up the good work!

Greg @ DI