Mark 178 Report post Posted April 5, 2009 (edited) UPDATE: Interior pics and Black Kidney grilles mod on page 2 I finally had a chance today to give the E30 a proper detail. I had been itching to do this since the day I got it home, but today conditions were perfect. Overcast, cool temperature, girlfriend pre-occupied with Uni assignment, no other plans on my part. So here's how it went down. STEP 1: First order of business: Debadge. The "M" badge was dorky and I've flamed so many people about having one on their car inappropriately so it had to go! I also wasn't a fan of the painted 325i badge, so that went south as well. Wax and grease remover from Supercheap and some dental floss did the trick. The badges left some marks, but the next step took care of that. You can also see how filthy the car is in this shot. I should be ashamed. STEP 2: Wash and clay bar! As soon as the water hit I knew the car hadn't been waxed for a long time as the water stuck to the paint like glue. So, a quick wash was all that was needed and on to the claying. For those of you still sceptical about the importance of clay, check these pics out: After claying half the bootlid... with a piece of clean clay for comparison. And after claying the bottom of the passenger door. You'd never get that sort of crap off with an All-in-one wash and wax and a sponge... A clay bar can cost over $50 from Repco or Supercheap. (I use the Meguiar's one which is about $38 at Supercheap). So, the last thing you want to do is drop the thing, rendering it useless. Lay down a towel when claying vertical surfaces because you WILL drop it. The stuff in the Mr Muscle bottle is just water and car soap for lubrication. After claying and a quick rinse and dry: This is after clay only, nothing else... pretty impressive. STEP 3: Polish. No pics here because my arm was working overtime. I just used a mild Polyglaze polish, because there is very minimal swirling in the clearcoat. STEP 4: Wax. I decided to take my own advice and apply the wax by hand, literally. Seriously, it's far better than using a cloth because you use less wax and the extra control you have over where the wax goes means you don't need to mask up the trim. The amount on my fingers was enough to do 1/6th of the bonnet. You don't need much. It makes buffing easier too. Compulsory reflection shot: STEP 5: A quick once over with the Instant Detailer that came with the clay bar and ta-da. Shiny E30. This whole process took 5 hours. 30 minutes for the wash, 2 hours for the clay. 1  hour for polish. 1 hour and 20 minutes for the wax. And 10 minutes to down 2 beers at the end of it! Edited April 11, 2009 by _Mark_ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bravo 35 Report post Posted April 5, 2009 (edited) Wow. Reminds me of myself a year or two ago. now I'm too busy or too lazy or a combination of the two, and all I do is wash the car and promise myself if it gets too bad I'll just have it repainted. Good effort! I'll pay you to do mine. Seriously. Unfortunately I think travel costs would make it uneconomical lol. Edited April 5, 2009 by bravo Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bmw_guy 0 Report post Posted April 5, 2009 looks mint! wish i had time to do that Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tire 10 Report post Posted April 5, 2009 Looks well shiney, and its not even in the sun! Wouldn't it be great if there was a better place to get clay? I hate paying such a large amount for such a small amount of clay and some bs spray which is just pre-diluted car wash. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
3 SERIES 93 Report post Posted April 5, 2009 Daaaaam! That came up real nice. Looking good Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jordyboy2 0 Report post Posted April 5, 2009 Looks awesome dude Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mark 178 Report post Posted April 5, 2009 Wouldn't it be great if there was a better place to get clay? I hate paying such a large amount for such a small amount of clay and some bs spray which is just pre-diluted car wash.I used half a bar for the whole car. So, you'd get two cars the size of an E30 from one bar. Which equals $19 a car. Not too bad considering you only need to clay once a year. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
e30plz 1 Report post Posted April 5, 2009 Woah, Good job! Looks brand new haha. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
byza213 1 Report post Posted April 5, 2009 nice work man gota love the detailing Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
greenday-rulz21 6 Report post Posted April 5, 2009 I don't know how you do it man! Its absolutely stunning! I tried so hard when I was doing mine, but it didn't come up as well as yours. Great job. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Forrest 35 Report post Posted April 5, 2009 Inspired me to clay, polish and wax mine asap. Looking beautiful man. A credit to you. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Driftit 2078 Report post Posted April 5, 2009 I wish I wasn't so lazy. Like Bravo, I am more likely to repaint the car. Haha. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Forrest 35 Report post Posted April 5, 2009 Also: if you want your black front grilles to stand out, use that sh*t tyre shine on them from superheap, the 'export' stuff like $5 a can...works amazing, is full of silcone so stays shiny for ages and gets rid of the dull look. Heard from a knowledgable source... e.g Huff3r Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Simon* Report post Posted April 5, 2009 Gannetboy you're amazing Nice work Five hours though? Jesus H Christ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1rotty 40 Report post Posted April 5, 2009 10 mins to down 2 beers after 5 hrs hard labour-Mark, you disappoint me. You'll need to do better than that if we catch up in ChCh in a few weeks Excellent job on the car-looks great. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
deane30 30 Report post Posted April 5, 2009 Looks sweet Mark. I've bought everything I need to give my car a detail over the Easter holidays. I'll finally have some time off and space. I'll be following your instructions from previous posts Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jeddy 0 Report post Posted April 5, 2009 Beautiful, given me a project for 1st week of hols: Mark style detail of the 30. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yuen 16 Report post Posted April 5, 2009 Gannetboy you're amazing Nice work Five hours though? Jesus H Christ No no... ONLY 5 hours Mark? Not working hard enough mate! But seriously. Good work! You always take care of your cars. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jamez 2147483647 Report post Posted April 5, 2009 (edited) good effort, this will come in handy when I get my Manual Tech 2 325i on Tuesday thats if i end up buying it Edited April 5, 2009 by Jamez Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mark 178 Report post Posted April 5, 2009 No no... ONLY 5 hours Mark? Not working hard enough mate! Back that truck up Yuen, this was 5 hours working on the bodywork only! Just the metal bits. Still yet to do the inside, the trim, the wheels and wheel arches etc.... it'll be getting up to a respectable 10 hours after next weekend! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CamB 48 Report post Posted April 5, 2009 (edited) Looks great! What will you use on the trim? Edited April 5, 2009 by CamB Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
|ncary 0 Report post Posted April 5, 2009 Hell that's nice, just about bought a clay bar yesterday... Does it get off bits of tar?? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JiB 0 Report post Posted April 5, 2009 Wow, that came out quite well!. Man, I can't even remember the last time I detailed a car. Btw, I was taught to give the clay a small fold in the middle so it sits nicely inbetween your fingers - less chance of dropping it if you're gumby like me, and you don't get crampy fingers Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mark 178 Report post Posted April 5, 2009 (edited) Incary, I'd use a heap of bug and tar remover on it first, then use the clay bar afterwards. You can see in one of the pics that I got quite a bit of tar off bottoms of the doors with the clay, but if you have heaps you'll soil the clay pretty quickly. Edited April 5, 2009 by _Mark_ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
|ncary 0 Report post Posted April 5, 2009 Nice, thanks, glad I didn't blow 40 bucks on that bar yesterday then ahaa. Will get the tar first. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
