Car Detailing

[JayJay]

^^^Agreed, both cars look great. the P-car.

 

[epb]



^^^Are you supposed to wait that long to buff out the wax?

It depends on the wax - paste waxes often need to "cure" a while before you buff them to get the longest-lasting results.

 

[gnatty8]



Originally Posted by Artisan Fan

Had some great weather today. Mid 60s and sunny. Did my usual winter polishing - wash, clay, wash again, polish, two layers of Z-2 pro plus interior detail. The Lexus looks great.I also got some new Kumho Ecsta Platinum LX tires which so far are almost as good a ride as the Michelin MXV4s.
Crazy weather you guys have been having -- snow then, 60+. Ever considered Pilot Sport A/S's? I run them on pretty much everything (even my Grand Am), and am probably going to put them on the M Coupe next Spring.~ H

Originally Posted by Huntsman

Crazy weather you guys have been having -- snow then, 60+.

Ever considered Pilot Sport A/S's? I run them on pretty much everything (even my Grand Am), and am probably going to put them on the M Coupe next Spring.

~ H

I did consider them but they were more money. I also wanted better tread life.

My PS2s have to be replaced every 18,000 miles or so. I am on my third set of tires with just over 36,000 miles on the clock. Expensive f*cking habit. Do the A/S last any longer?

 

[gnatty8]

Is this the Porter Cable you guys are referring to? There are multiple models at Amazon and just want to be sure if I decide to start paying more attention to my car, I do it the right way..

http://www.amazon.com/Porter-Cable-...ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1313512519&sr=1-1

 

[rocks]

Yes it is, btw, if you are looking at a full detailing kit, see link below, these guys are great. They stock lots of quality products and they're popular on the BMW forums. There's also coupons which can further reduce your cost if you wish.....


http://www.detailedimage.com/DI-Packages-C62/

 

[zerostyle]



Is this the Porter Cable you guys are referring to? There are multiple models at Amazon and just want to be sure if I decide to start paying more attention to my car, I do it the right way..

http://www.amazon.com/Porter-Cable-...ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1313512519&sr=1-1

Ya, that's the one. With the end of the summer coming, I would watch for close out sales on these with kits at the various auto cleaning supply stores. $118 isn't bad though.

Looking in my email history, I picked up that model for $125 - 20% discount from Autopia last year = $100 total. Don't forget that you'll also need a backing pad + a few pads to work with.

Keep in mind that it's a LOT of work to do a proper car wash + clay bar + polish + wax. I've only used my porter cable once and have since moved to a new location with no access to a hose. It will pay for itself after only one detailing, of course (professional details are $150+ for all that to be done), but it is a pain.

 

[Huntsman]

Originally Posted by Huntsman

Crazy weather you guys have been having -- snow then, 60+.

Ever considered Pilot Sport A/S's? I run them on pretty much everything (even my Grand Am), and am probably going to put them on the M Coupe next Spring.

~ H

I did consider them but they were more money. I also wanted better tread life.


My PS2s have to be replaced every 18,000 miles or so. I am on my third set of tires with just over 36,000 miles on the clock. Expensive f*cking habit. Do the A/S last any longer?

I want to say we get about 30k out of them, could be wrong. Let me check the logbooks tomorrow and see if we have that info. I will say this, though -- putting the A/S's on the M Coupe made it feel a tad less settled than it did on summers. The A/S's simply are not as sticky. I am thinking about keeping the A/S's on the stock wheels and getting PS2's on M6 reps come rebate time. That will be a big check.

Is this the Porter Cable you guys are referring to? There are multiple models at Amazon and just want to be sure if I decide to start paying more attention to my car, I do it the right way..

http://www.amazon.com/Porter-Cable-...ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1313512519&sr=1-1

Yep. You will want to go to Autogeek and get some Lake Country CCS pads and an arbor for them, though. The LC pads are praised here, and I would say, with reason. I've tried a few combinations of polishes, but Megs 105, then 205, then Machine Glaze is a really good routine, when followed up by wax or sealant. I'm just using P21S wax now, maybe some day I'll defect to a sealant.

First time you detail, it's 8-12 hours easy to wash, clay, wash, 105, 205, glaze, wax. The PC isn't as necessary for the coarse polish (I started with a $40 Black and Decker), but it is awesome for the finer polishes and waxes so long as you watch the buffer sling! After that first time, I've been using the P21S paintwork cleanser and then waxing at 6 mos intervals -- that's a three hour job.

~ H

 

[gnatty8]



I want to say we get about 30k out of them, could be wrong. Let me check the logbooks tomorrow and see if we have that info. I will say this, though -- putting the A/S's on the M Coupe made it feel a tad less settled than it did on summers. The A/S's simply are not as sticky. I am thinking about keeping the A/S's on the stock wheels and getting PS2's on M6 reps come rebate time. That will be a big check.


Yep. You will want to go to Autogeek and get some Lake Country CCS pads and an arbor for them, though. The LC pads are praised here, and I would say, with reason. I've tried a few combinations of polishes, but Megs 105, then 205, then Machine Glaze is a really good routine, when followed up by wax or sealant. I'm just using P21S wax now, maybe some day I'll defect to a sealant.

First time you detail, it's 8-12 hours easy to wash, clay, wash, 105, 205, glaze, wax. The PC isn't as necessary for the coarse polish (I started with a $40 Black and Decker), but it is awesome for the finer polishes and waxes so long as you watch the buffer sling! After that first time, I've been using the P21S paintwork cleanser and then waxing at 6 mos intervals -- that's a three hour job.

~ H

Wow, 30K on PS2 seems miraculous, good for you! In terms of detailing, I really cannot see myself spending a full day doing this, I just don't have the time. I will probably just do a good wash, and follow up with a plain old wax. I guess the perfection that one gets with clay, glaze and and all that is just not something I see a lot of value in for a daily driver. I cannot imagine the level of the first time I put in a 10 hour day detailing my car only to have it rain the next day..

 

[HRoi]



Wow, 30K on PS2 seems miraculous, good for you!

In terms of detailing, I really cannot see myself spending a full day doing this, I just don't have the time. I will probably just do a good wash, and follow up with a plain old wax. I guess the perfection that one gets with clay, glaze and and all that is just not something I see a lot of value in for a daily driver. I cannot imagine the level of the first time I put in a 10 hour day detailing my car only to have it rain the next day..

The never goes away but you get used to it. And a well detailed car still looks pretty damn nice even with water beads all over it

Plus, I always thought DIY detailing was this sick combination of personal OCD and masochism anyway...so it's more the process than the result

But there are some moments that kind of tilt the balance back a little bit...I was driving my 12 year old BMW last weekend and ran into a coworker at a restaurant (who admittedly knows very little about cars). He said "I didn't know you got a new car!".

Makes me feel good even though I'm neither the best nor the most meticulous detailer out there

 

[gnatty8]



The never goes away but you get used to it. And a well detailed car still looks pretty damn nice even with water beads all over it

Plus, I always thought DIY detailing was this sick combination of personal OCD and masochism anyway...so it's more the process than the result

But there are some moments that kind of tilt the balance back a little bit...I was driving my 12 year old BMW last weekend and ran into a coworker at a restaurant (who admittedly knows very little about cars). He said "I didn't know you got a new car!".

Makes me feel good even though I'm neither the best nor the most meticulous detailer out there

Well good to hear. My box of goodies came from Amazon today, so this weekend, I will learn whether or not this was a good investment for me, or watch the B&S Other boards for a good deal on some barely used detailing equipment..

 

[Huntsman]

Quote:

Quote:
My apologies -- I mean 30k on Pilot Sport A/S Plus's.

Quote:
Well, you lose the abosulte awesomenes of that "just detailed" look pretty quick, it's true. But there are lasting effects that return on the next wash/detail spray. But the older the car, the better -- your M3, I'm sure, is very pristine, so it won't be as dramatic as my '07 or the three '01's I did. The '01s were an abso-bloodly-loot transformation. A friend of my father's asked if he could touch the car, it looked so good.

I'm not even sure you'd have to use the coarse 105 on your car, and it's the coarsest polish that takes the most time as you rub it in at lower speeds on the PC. The finer polishes go much faster -- hopefully someone can suggest something more appropriate for you.

~ H

 

[Huntsman]

So, I've detailed four cars now. Three '01s and my '07 BMW. I did the Bimmer first, and it looked the least best of all of them, I assumed because of my then-relative experience and the fact that I'd upgraded my tools and products a little. So, I decided to do the '07 again. 1st pass with Megs 105 is simply not good enough -- have a I reached the limits of DA correction?

 

[HRoi]

In the first photo it seems like a coarse cut compound should be able to get those fine scratches out if you went a bit further...but I've never used meguiar's 105.
It's good to be cautious with that kind of stuff though.

I noticed you guys talking about michelins earlier...I just put some of the new pilot super sports on the Porsche. Fantastic tire, makes the car feel much more planted than the old pirelli corsas. It's supposed to have longer wear characteristics too, and if that's true this is pretty much the perfect tire

 

[Huntsman]

I'm trying to be very cautious! But I am also really disappointed. What is your coarse compound of choice? IIRC, you use Mezerna. Let me know the grade and I'll try some. The 105 is Megs' coarsest. as far as I know.

Oh, and Michelin for the win.

~ H

(ps. clicking the pics makes them spring to fullsize)

 

[HRoi]

i actually use Pinnacle, since their main factory/distn center is about an hour from me, so it's easy to get support/questions answered/quick shipping.

what they always tell me is to use the least abrasive compound that still works, so i actually dont have anything as abrasive as Meg 105. i usually hit scratches with Pinnacle advanced swirl remover or XMT intermediate. it does take awhile sometimes with the Porter but i can usually get most scratches out in a good 10-15 minutes (and if it doesn't i just leave it, but that's pretty rare)