DEEPGREEN detailed - 2008 Black Sapphire 335i vert

[deepgreen]

The subject of this post is just a poke at razahyde - I'm strictly an amateur, not promoting a detailing business at all. I do love posts with lots of pics; I'm obsessive about detail and like to see what people show me (and what they try to hide!)

After my last detail attempt (http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1106425) on my 95 M3, I took on the new ride, my 2008 Black Sapphire 335i convertible (Saddle Brown interior) to try to deal with some light dealer-installed swirls. Even though I told them not to when I bought the car, they used cleaner wax on the car before I took delivery and then proudly presented the swirled car to me as though it were something I should be pleased about.

Products used:

Wash: Meguiar's Gold wash, microfiber mitt, gritguard rinse bucket, Gilmour foamgun. Several washes were used.

Clay: Meguiar's white clay kit with QD. I really like this clay, could take or leave the rest of the kit but you can't get the clay without it apparently.

Paint correction: I tried the PC 7424 with both Menzerna Nano/grey pad and 3M Ultrafina / blue pad, on an area of the left rear decklid. Neither touched the swirls, so I didn't mask, nor did I use them on the whole car. I ended up doing no paint correction.

Wheel wax: Wheel Wax brand wheelwax. This stuff smells and feels like coconut pudding.

Zaino Z5pro/ZFX accelerator, and Z6 spray-gloss on the finish
Z-9 and Z-10 on the interior.
Zaino tire shine, don't recall the number off hand

The take home from this post is that Z5 totally filled and cancelled some swirl marks that the PC/Nano couldn't touch. That's awesome. I had used Z2pro on the prior car and loved the way it went on and off as well as the gloss, but it has no swirl filling capability.

Z5 is harder to put on and off than Z2 - a little sticky, even - but just makes a magnificent, mile-deep gloss while totally hiding swirls even on this black paint. I would not have believed that any product could do this and would recommend Zaino Z5 for any car. Also, it's purple and smells like grape bubble gum. I also used Z5 on the wood interior trim with awesome results. The swirl marks left by the dealer on the wood finish vanished.

I don't get paid for this but Zaino products are awesome. The leather cleaner is gentle and lifts grime effectively; the Z10 leather in a bottle is great for darkening black vinyl too; and the tire shine cleans and glosses the tires without eating away the sidewall, without slinging, and without adding silicones. (Silicones are terrible things. Keep them away from your finish if you care whether your LSP bonds - silicones interfere with bonding for years after they touch the surface of your paint.) Again, no affiliation here - just a happy customer who wouldn't have believed in these products if someone had told me about them - but if you're interested, head over to zainostore.com and check 'em out.

OK, on to the pics. I processed the before pics to show swirl marks, in full sun - and I tried to process the after pics the same way, with full sun and similar angles. The Z5 essentially eliminated the swirl marks; it's not Photoshop trickery. Car actually looks better in person.

BEFORE pics:

Front bumper, with dead bugs. I drive through an agricultural zone to get to work:
http://homepage.mac.com/d_halgren/detail/335i/dead-bugs.jpg

Here's one still wet from the first wash, just sort of a dull black car:
http://homepage.mac.com/d_halgren/detail/335i/wash1.jpg

And here's one all foamed up:
http://homepage.mac.com/d_halgren/detail/335i/foam.jpg

Dirty wheel:
http://homepage.mac.com/d_halgren/detail/335i/wheel-dirty.jpg

Rear bumper, with swirls visible:
http://homepage.mac.com/d_halgren/detail/335i/bumper-before.jpg

And now, a compare and contrast, before and after on a swirled area:

Before:http://homepage.mac.com/d_halgren/detail/335i/shoulder-before.jpg
After wash, clay, and 1 coat of Z5:
http://homepage.mac.com/d_halgren/detail/335i/shoulder-after.jpg

Not bad, eh?

Here's some wheel photos. The first one shows a clean wheel with no wax on it. The second shows the process of applying Wheel Wax. The third is a waxed wheel with Zaino tireshine. I think the wheel wax slightly dulls the metalflake but if it makes it easier to get brakedust off it will be worth it.

No wax:
http://homepage.mac.com/d_halgren/detail/335i/wheel-nowax.jpg
Wax on:
http://homepage.mac.com/d_halgren/detail/335i/wheelwax1.jpg
After waxing:
http://homepage.mac.com/d_halgren/detail/335i/wheel-waxed.jpg

And now some pretty AFTER shots:

http://homepage.mac.com/d_halgren/detail/335i/top-clean.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/d_halgren/detail/335i/interior.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/d_halgren/detail/335i/front-clean.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/d_halgren/detail/335i/rear-clean.jpg

And to wrap up: no, this isn't a mirror. It's my hood. The white specks are dead pixels in the camera:

http://homepage.mac.com/d_halgren/detail/335i/hood-mirror.jpg

In conclusion, go Zaino! I bought the t-shirt! I have heard of people getting 6 months out of Z5, and my car is garaged almost 100% of the time, so we will see how we do. If it lasts that long I will be a lifetime customer.

[eurotunerwerks]

looks good but i think that you completely understand that you used a filler. IMO, get some SIP or some M105 and a orange or yellow pad and take those swirls out so that your paint is perfect. such a beautiful car! great job though!

[deepgreen]

You know, I have some SIP, and I was supposed to get 2 orange pads with it from Autogeek, but they only sent 1 pad. They promised to send the 2nd one but never did - I pretty well shredded the first one on the other car. Yesterday was detailing day so it was time to bite the bullet and just do it. I was surprised at how well the Z5 filled. It also darkened the car considerably - it had looked sort of dusty gray before. Now it's BLACK.

Masking and doing a two-step is a long process for me, I'm not good enough to get it all done in a day. If I eventually get the paint corrected I will probably let someone else do it!

My war-torn pads:

http://homepage.mac.com/d_halgren/detail/335i/pads.jpg

The Z5 going on - the thinner you can put it on, the further it goes. This is rather thick, done with a hand applicator on the hood:

http://homepage.mac.com/d_halgren/detail/335i/z5.jpg

Mr Zaino is adamant about using a terry applicator and only $50-$100 terry bathsheets to take it off, but I prefer taking it off with a nice microfiber - less lint. You do need to apply a little pressure to get the nap of the MF to work the stuff off, so do not use a cheap or dirty microfiber or you will surely mar the finish.

[eurotunerwerks]

contact Matt from autogeek about that pad. I am 100% that he will take care of the problem.

[zaxjax]

Where'd they pics go?

[TSC17]

Nice looking ride you've got there. As has been said in another forum: "black isn't a color, it's a part-time job!".

When I bought my last car, I wouldn't let the dealer even remove the plastic from the paint. I'm not a fan of the dealer-installed swirls either!

[Matt@Autogeek]

Beautiful car! Not sure what happened with that pad situation, but PM me your order number and I'll get your replacement out ASAP.

[T444E]

What is all the white stuff all over the front in the before pics? My E34 has that all over the hood and front bumper and I have no idea what it is but it looks like it's under the clear.

[deepgreen]

Thanks, Matt. And TSC, you're right, black is a full time job!

Garrett, those are dead bugs, like it says. If you leave them on, the organic acids in their bodies can etch the surface of the clear. Unless you mean the soap picture, in which the white stuff is soap suds from the foam gun :D

Was driving home tonight, a big jacked up Ford truck wouldn't let me by, you know the type, has to be sitting 3 feet in front of you on the highway, no matter whether you're doing 58 or 85. Threw a giant rock onto my windshield while I was trying to get around him. It made that really loud "SPAT" sound and now I have two nice big chips out of my windshield. Ah well, at least I got some pics of the car first.

[deepgreen]

Just if anyone was wondering, Autogeek made good on the missing pad, and quickly. They're a great company.

[eurotunerwerks]

Just if anyone was wondering, Autogeek made good on the missing pad, and quickly. They're a great company.

Figured they would. Matt is GREAT about things. score another for autogeek.