5Series.net - Forums - BMW E91 320d 2005

The car:
This weekend's hard case (literally) was my colleague's BMW E91 320d -05 jet black (plain black, not a metallic color).

Clearcoat:
The clearcoat was very hard. I think it was harder than in a jet black -08 530xd, which I polished last summer.

Pads and polishes:
So, this 3er was arduous. After a wash and claying it took a long time before I found the right combos for the work. Sure there was the ordinary swirls and random deep scratches, but also lots of deep horizontal scratches from automatic car washes. I did my best in this time that I had for this, but lots of deeper scratches still remained.

During the search for the right combinations, I realized that when I took the first pass with Menzerna POS100 + Lake Country yellow, the result was so swirlious (is that a word?), that the second pass needed at least a PO85RD 3.02 + LC CCS orange. And it still needed a third pass to finalize it properly. I guess it was the POS100 that left the swirls, because I tried it with an orange too and it still left swirls.

I hadn't time and effort to do a three stage polish, so I found out that the PO85RD 3.02 + orange pad with a rotary was a good way to get reasonable results at the first run, and then finalize it with the same combo :o but driven with a DA. I knew it before that 3.02 can give a very nice finish when polished all the way down with slow rpms and zero pressure. Smoother combinations didn't do anything.

LSPs and others:
I decided to use Poorboy's World Blackhole to give some more looks and follow it with a trusted FK1000P.

So, the black is as rewarding as always, but this took some elbow grease. It think it's time to move on to woolpads... :rolleyes:

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The process:

1) Pre-wash
- Turtle Wax Super Detergent Spray wash
- Bilt-Hamber Autofoam

2) Wash
- Bilt-Hamber Autofoam (by foam lance)
- Turtle Wax Big Orange (in a bucket)

3) Claying
- Zaino Z-18
- Bilt-Hamber Autofoam as a lubricant

4) Polishing
- Menzerna PO85RD 3.02 + Lake Country CCS orange light cutting pad + FLEX PE14-2
- Menzerna PO85RD 3.02 + Lake Country CCS orange light cutting pad + FLEX XC 3401 VRG

5) LSPs
- Poorboy's World Blackhole + Lake Country CCS blue final finishing pad + FLEX XC 3401 VRG
- Finish Kare 1000P

6) Others
Tyres:
- Meguiar's Gold Class Endurance Tyre Gel

Black plastics and rubbers:
- AutoGlym Bumper Care

Windows:
- AutoGlym Fast Glass

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Before + washing

https://i469.photobucket.com/albums/...6/DSC07669.jpg

https://i469.photobucket.com/albums/...6/DSC07672.jpg

Turtle Wax Super Detergent spray is actually pretty good:
https://i469.photobucket.com/albums/...6/DSC07673.jpg

https://i469.photobucket.com/albums/...6/DSC07676.jpg

https://i469.photobucket.com/albums/...6/DSC07682.jpg

https://i469.photobucket.com/albums/...6/DSC07683.jpg

https://i469.photobucket.com/albums/...6/DSC07685.jpg

https://i469.photobucket.com/albums/...6/DSC07687.jpg

https://i469.photobucket.com/albums/...6/DSC07688.jpg

https://i469.photobucket.com/albums/...6/DSC07689.jpg

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