Marc@AutoLavish
Club Sponsor
This '08 135i had amazing appeal even before we were contacted to work on it. Having been to meets like Cars and Coffee, as well as some other local events, it attracted attention due to its pure black finish, blood red interior, and tasteful modification. The challenge the owner presented to us was to make it even more over the top. Little did he know that what most people would call “clean” and “amazing” is far from it to a detailer. The vehicle suffered severely from improper hand-washing techniques (although it was kept "clean"), some automatic “swirl-o-matic” car washes through-out the winter months, and a failed expedition with a rotary buffer. Unlike most paint finishes, the "Jet Black" BMW has used since 2001 is very susceptible to any abrasion because of its softness. The swirl-o-matic and improper hand washing had taken its toll on the paint resulting in deep, severe, and abundant scratches that would be a challenge to remove even with this being one of the softer OEM paints. Someone, let's just say it was Rambo himself, had taken a rotary buffer to the paint at least once, and the evidence of trails was also abundant throughout the finish. To top off the horrible condition and past abuse this BMW has been though, the owner wanted as close to perfection as possible with the generous budget he had available. He was expecting a nice turn around, but little did he know his vehicle would look better than he has even seen it, including when he first picked it up from the dealer.
The vehicle was inspected prior and we determined we would need upwards of 10 hours to correct the finish. The owner dropped off the vehicle at our shop on Friday PM, and said to keep it as long as it we needed it. This ended up being very much needed.
Build-up in / around the key hole...
Early on Saturday, I arrived and Jacob and I commenced on the interior. The owner wears dress pants every day for work, and some of the black dye was being transferred to the red leather seats under the extreme G’s from on and off ramps of M-59, I-75, and the likes. Other than that, the interior was fairly clean and in great condition. We had provided the owner a sample of 1Z Cockpit Premium late last year at a local car event, and we found the same sample bottle almost empty, but the hard surfaces in pretty nice condition.
The interior started by vacuuming the loose dust and dirt from all surfaces first, including the carpet. The seats are deeply bolstered and required some force to spread apart the segments to be able to clean out the seams. It took both of us to do this. The vacuum wore a soft brush attachment. This got rid of 99% of all the loose stuff trapped in the seats. Next, Leather Master’s cleaners were applied. We always believe in using the softest chemicals to get the job done, and a double application of Leather Master Soft Cleaner was used on the passanger seat which cleaned up the finish very well. The driver’s side seat showed much more wear as well as build up (resulting in the shine given), and the bolster still had additional dye transfer to deal with. I stepped it up to the Strong Cleaner, and in spots used Super Remover / Cleaner with soft sponges and delicate agitation, wiping off all previous product before applying the next one. After the Super Remover / Cleaner, all dye was removed, and the finish looked simply perfect.
Passenger Seat after being cleaned with two applications of Soft Cleaner, Driver's side yet to be worked on, it's clear which side looks fresh and new versus aged and dingy:
Again, driver's bolster with some dye transfer and dry-cracking before:
After Leather Master's Strong Cleaner:
Cleaning finished, we applied Leather Master Vital followed by Leather Protection Crème waiting an hour between coats. The seats now look even, matte, and felt brand new. The Protection Crème is similar to a sealant for the leather as it adds a breathable layer of protection to better guard against future wear. The result will help keep the owner’s black dye from staining the leather's coating so easily in the coming months.
The rest of the interior was wiped with 1Z Cockpit Premium, glass was cleaned with Meg’s Glass Cleaner, trim was polished with Klasse AIO.
While I worked on the seats, Jacob began to tackle the door jambs. Rather clean to start out with, he still gave them the FK1 #1119 treatment. Next, he polished all the flat areas with Klasse AIO, followed by Meg’s Ultimate Quick Spray Wax buffed clear to a slick and glossy finish.
Next was the engine bay. Also fairly clean to begin with, we applied FK1 #1119 to the backside of the hood and hood catch to loosen grime / grease. Jacob removed the windshield washer nozzles in anticipation of polishing, and the engine was doused in degreaser, agitated lightly, and then pressure washed off. This was repeated at least twice everywhere, with more attention to areas that needed it. Once clean, we blew the engine dry and applied water based dressing for a beautiful silky even finish that would quickly dry (and therefor not attract dust)
After
These are factory BMW wheels made by Breyton in a pressure cast process. The many spokes are light and thin, and give a unique design, but Oh what a challenge to clean! We went over each wheel at least 3 times. Then they were gone over again with tar remover, and washed once more. Go figure; when moving the car around for polishing, we spotted areas that still were not up to our standards, so during the final wash we hit them up once more. Diablo Wheel Gel was used with various brushes to clean as much as possible. But nothing would replace the need to go over each millimeter of the wheel with a microfiber towel by hand, using fingers to get behind and around each spoke and the lips. Once clean, Jacob applied wheel sealant liberally to help keep the notorious BMW brake dust from grabbing onto the wheels so easily. Future cleanups hopefully won't take nearly as long or as much work. The owner has also contracted us to give him dedicated one on one coaching on how to maintain this car, so we'll be able to see how much the wheel sealant helped very soon.
Enzo (on right) & Guadalupe (AKA The Queen) do not approve:
Reason for needing all the additional cleaning (look at the inside of the lip...)
Coming along but still not there yet...
The vehicle was inspected prior and we determined we would need upwards of 10 hours to correct the finish. The owner dropped off the vehicle at our shop on Friday PM, and said to keep it as long as it we needed it. This ended up being very much needed.
Build-up in / around the key hole...
Early on Saturday, I arrived and Jacob and I commenced on the interior. The owner wears dress pants every day for work, and some of the black dye was being transferred to the red leather seats under the extreme G’s from on and off ramps of M-59, I-75, and the likes. Other than that, the interior was fairly clean and in great condition. We had provided the owner a sample of 1Z Cockpit Premium late last year at a local car event, and we found the same sample bottle almost empty, but the hard surfaces in pretty nice condition.
The interior started by vacuuming the loose dust and dirt from all surfaces first, including the carpet. The seats are deeply bolstered and required some force to spread apart the segments to be able to clean out the seams. It took both of us to do this. The vacuum wore a soft brush attachment. This got rid of 99% of all the loose stuff trapped in the seats. Next, Leather Master’s cleaners were applied. We always believe in using the softest chemicals to get the job done, and a double application of Leather Master Soft Cleaner was used on the passanger seat which cleaned up the finish very well. The driver’s side seat showed much more wear as well as build up (resulting in the shine given), and the bolster still had additional dye transfer to deal with. I stepped it up to the Strong Cleaner, and in spots used Super Remover / Cleaner with soft sponges and delicate agitation, wiping off all previous product before applying the next one. After the Super Remover / Cleaner, all dye was removed, and the finish looked simply perfect.
Passenger Seat after being cleaned with two applications of Soft Cleaner, Driver's side yet to be worked on, it's clear which side looks fresh and new versus aged and dingy:
Again, driver's bolster with some dye transfer and dry-cracking before:
After Leather Master's Strong Cleaner:
Cleaning finished, we applied Leather Master Vital followed by Leather Protection Crème waiting an hour between coats. The seats now look even, matte, and felt brand new. The Protection Crème is similar to a sealant for the leather as it adds a breathable layer of protection to better guard against future wear. The result will help keep the owner’s black dye from staining the leather's coating so easily in the coming months.
The rest of the interior was wiped with 1Z Cockpit Premium, glass was cleaned with Meg’s Glass Cleaner, trim was polished with Klasse AIO.
While I worked on the seats, Jacob began to tackle the door jambs. Rather clean to start out with, he still gave them the FK1 #1119 treatment. Next, he polished all the flat areas with Klasse AIO, followed by Meg’s Ultimate Quick Spray Wax buffed clear to a slick and glossy finish.
Next was the engine bay. Also fairly clean to begin with, we applied FK1 #1119 to the backside of the hood and hood catch to loosen grime / grease. Jacob removed the windshield washer nozzles in anticipation of polishing, and the engine was doused in degreaser, agitated lightly, and then pressure washed off. This was repeated at least twice everywhere, with more attention to areas that needed it. Once clean, we blew the engine dry and applied water based dressing for a beautiful silky even finish that would quickly dry (and therefor not attract dust)
After
These are factory BMW wheels made by Breyton in a pressure cast process. The many spokes are light and thin, and give a unique design, but Oh what a challenge to clean! We went over each wheel at least 3 times. Then they were gone over again with tar remover, and washed once more. Go figure; when moving the car around for polishing, we spotted areas that still were not up to our standards, so during the final wash we hit them up once more. Diablo Wheel Gel was used with various brushes to clean as much as possible. But nothing would replace the need to go over each millimeter of the wheel with a microfiber towel by hand, using fingers to get behind and around each spoke and the lips. Once clean, Jacob applied wheel sealant liberally to help keep the notorious BMW brake dust from grabbing onto the wheels so easily. Future cleanups hopefully won't take nearly as long or as much work. The owner has also contracted us to give him dedicated one on one coaching on how to maintain this car, so we'll be able to see how much the wheel sealant helped very soon.
Enzo (on right) & Guadalupe (AKA The Queen) do not approve:
Reason for needing all the additional cleaning (look at the inside of the lip...)
Coming along but still not there yet...
