A full paint corrective detail of a 1991 BMW 535i. This vehicle only has 94k miles on it, and is honestly in great shape, however the paint was another story. This vehicle was a painstaking 11 hours on the paint alone. Including the buffing/polishing and sealant/wax. Fortunately the vehicle has a very hard clear coat, which makes it harder for me but also harder to scratch. With that said, there were very few deep scratches to take care of, and a lot more depth to be had. Enough of my babble, on to the pics which are pretty self explanatory.

Process:Menzerna Power Gloss (PG) - minimum of 3 passes per sectionMenzerna Power Finish (PF) - minimum of 3 passes per sectionMenzerna Final Polish II - White pad following the PFOptimum Poli-Seal Sealant Pure carnauba wax

Before Pictures

Driver's Side before - Post wash/clay

Before and After photos, as well as some 50/50 shots

50/50 Photos of the Trunk - After 2 passes of PG, and 3 passes of PF - slight hazing from residue in the flash.

Before/After of the Driver Quarter Panel - 3 passes of PG, 3 passes of PF

50/50 of Driver Quarter Panel

After shot of the Driver Quarter Panel, no more swirls :

Before/After of the Passenger Quarter Panel - 3 passes of PG, 3 passes of PF



Still Passenger Quarter Panel, portion above body line was polished, bottom portion unpolished

-Before the polish-After

Rear Bumper Before/After

Reflection Photos



Finished Photos Outside

Two things.

1) Good work. How many hrs did you spend on that!?2) I'm surprised that nearly 20y/o paint was in good enough shape to be polished like that.

VERY NICE!!!

How are the Menzerna products in comparison to Klasse and Sonus? How long should it be able to keep that shine?

I believe it ended up being about 18 hours on the car itself altogether, about 11 of them just on the polishing. These cars are known for having a very hard clear coat so it resisted alot of damage.

audtatious wrote:VERY NICE!!!

How are the Menzerna products in comparison to Klasse and Sonus? How long should it be able to keep that shine?

Thank you! I'm a Menzerna fan boy, as well as Optimum. A job like that with the work I did should last anywhere from 6-9 months with PROPER maintenance. However, the next time around it won't need all that polishing, just a proper clean up and re-sealant/wax. It'll take a long time to get as swirled as it was when I first got it. However, if it gets driven through a car wash once/twice a week or neglected for months then the job won't hold it's true value

Yeah, that's what I noticed with my Maxima. I would do a big detail on it once a year before the NOPI Nats (buffing with multiple coats of Sonus SF1, SF2, SF3 and a couple layers of Klasse sealer in the mix....Followed by a carnuba wax (Meguiar's Gold Class) and then give it a quick polish and wax at some point within the next 6 months (which would be right after winter)) and if I let it go too long it would start to look a tad hazy.....Not as bad as that BMW tho.

audtatious wrote: How long should it be able to keep that shine?

I guess I took that as meaning, how long will it stay glass looking before getting swirled. That answer to that question all depends on how nice you are to the car and how delicate you are when you wash it. There's a few guys on the s2k forum that have had their s2k's without a polish for more than 5yrs and their paint looks fabulous. To keep your paint looking good longer, check out that post I made, How To: Properly Wash Your car.

I'm OT, but I am not a fan of that Meg's Gold Class liquid wax.

Looneybomber wrote:I guess I took that as meaning, how long will it stay glass looking before getting swirled. That answer to that question all depends on how nice you are to the car and how delicate you are when you wash it. There's a few guys on the s2k forum that have had their s2k's without a polish for more than 5yrs and their paint looks fabulous. To keep your paint looking good longer, check out that post I made, How To: Properly Wash Your car.

I'm OT, but I am not a fan of that Meg's Gold Class liquid wax.

You're absolutely right, I've owned my car for 21k miles and 11 months (bought it brand new with 6 miles on it 11 months ago haha) and it still looks better than when it rolled off the factory floor and she get's dirty a LOT. Zero swirls and people always asking if I just bought it. I've only ever done a light polish on it just to help the gloss of the paint, and the water still doesn't stick to it

These style details can last a LONG time if properly kept up, if not, it could be a matter of weeks before then need another one. I agree, a liquid wax is the least quality finisher you could do after such a good detail. Pure carnauba wax, like Dodo juice, swissvax (both of which I use), that I apply with my bare hands - no applicator - is the best way to top a sealant after a full detail.

I think back to when I used to wash my explorer with a white terry cloth in a bucket with dish soap. I just didn't know any better. It's now 7yrs old with ~71k and it certainly looks it. It needs a lot of help.

Luckily, I learned how to properly wash my car. I've had my S2000 for over 2yrs and about 2 solid years it's spent outside of a garage, but under a covered parking area. It still will get very dirty, but I've only ever had microfiber or sheeps wool on it, along with meticulous washings with proper soap and 2 buckets. It still looks the same as when I bought it, but it could use a light polishing. The day I picked it up, the guy "dusted it off" for me, dry with an ordinary rag. There's light cob-webbing when it's not waxed.

Holy bejesus! That looks great man! Nice job.

Thank you!

LooneyBomber, love those cars. Looks flawless in that picture! The maintenance after the detail determines how long the detail lasts, could be weeks, could be years.