Newly detailed blue beauty...the steps to perfection - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

atomic80 · 4th July 2004, 08:36

With the Pacific Raceway Historics coming up on July 4th, I set out to detail my M5. This would be a series of steps in giving the beast a thorough cleaning job. Many of my supplies were bought from Griot's Garage here in Washington. Others were purchased over the years from different sources.

It took me a total of three days with several phases done over a short period of time.

To start out with, this was just a small sample of the many supplies that I used:

Day One

I started out by washing the M5 using the P21s car shampoo with a sheepskin wash mitt and a green finger mitt (for the wheels and exhaust)

Afterwards I removed the nozzle and used a gentle stream of water to get most of the water off. I used a micro fiber drying towel to get the rest of the water off. I cleaned everything including the wheels.

Day Two

I started out by checking to make sure that there were no residual dust left over. I would use a California Dust Mop to get the dust off.

I also used Zaino's Clay bar

with some Speed Shine.

to get all of the contamination off until the finish was super smooth. I applied plenty of speed shine to ensure a wet finish while lightly applying the clay bar across the surface. This also works great to get the black soot from the exhaust fumes off the rear bumper too.

I used some 3M General Adhesive Remover to get most of the black soot off the exhaust tips. This also worked great in getting the REALLY stubborn stuff off the bottom of the rear bumper too. I made sure to clean up all of the residual so there would be no long term damages. I did this as a precaution even though it's supposed to be clearcoat safe.

After everything was all cleared away. I started things off by using the painter's blue masking tape (14 day delicate strength from Home Depot) on every trim piece and on the edges of the clear bra since wax/polish residue tends to build up there quite often. I also covered all of the window edges to ensure that nothing gets in the cracks. Wax/polish can cause the door edge sealings to start rubbing causing squeaking/creaking noises!

This is what my M5 looked like when I was done taping it up.

I was now ready to use the Porter Orbital. I used this incredible machine for only the polishing steps.

I used three separate orange pads for each polish/glaze.

First I applied a coat of Meguiar's Cleaning Wax which would remove any oxidation and lightly polishing the paint surface.

I then used a detailing micro fiber towel to buff off the polish. (I used a clean one for each coating too)

I considered skipping straight ahead to the glazing stage but I knew that my car had PLENTY of swirl marks so I went ahead and applied a coating of Meguiar's Swirl Remover too.

And then for the last polishing step, I used Meguiar's Show Car Glaze which gives the paint finish the truly deep wet shine!

And for the final step, I applied the Pinnacle Souveran carnuba wax paste by hand. I have used many different types of waxes over the years but this one is my favorite by far! It's easy to apply but the best part is that it's also easy to remove too! It takes just one swipe of the towel for it to come off! It gives the finish a 3D appearance and enhancing the already beautiful blue finish a truly "jewel" like look even more radiant. Having both the wax and the glaze in combination makes for a truly stunning finish!

After I was all done with this step. I removed all of the masking tape and made one final run through with a clean towel making sure to get all of the "lines" left by the wax/polish residue.

All this took me 3 hours and I was done for the day.

Day Three

I took this time to use the tiny cotton swabs.

With the speed shine to clean out every nook and cranny throughout the car. I cleaned the engine bay, the trunk, the door edges, etc. I used the white micro fiber towel for the larger areas.

For the leather surfaces I used Zaino "Leather in a bottle" with a terry cloth. This is my favorite because it has the best leather smell and preserves the leather quite well.

For the rest of the car, I used some interior cleaner which does a good job of cleaning the dashboard, the door trim, and any non-leather surfaces without leaving a shiny finish.

Finally, I vaccumed every square inch of the interior areas. Now I was all finished!

The results speaks for itself.