This detail was booked months in advance and the owner was certain about what kind of detail he wanted and wanted the best possible detail available with all the added extras. With that out the way the big questions was what car did he want? Spending months searching and waiting for the right car to come up this little gem came up and he was quick to decide it was exactly what he was after.
Due to being so busy he had to wait a few weeks before I could get the car in and having a budding interest in detailing he was keen to spend some time focussing on areas such as the interior, wheels and getting the exhaust tips looking a little more appealing. Upon arrival the car was showing signs of use and was certainly going to benefit from some Detail Driven TLC.
An early start before it even got light my first priority was the wheels and arches. Using a variety of heavy wheel cleaners, APC, TFR remover and a hot pressure washer and brushes I spent several hours removing the build up of dirt, road grime, tar and fallout from the wheels and arches. The owner had spent some time himself on the wheels but struggled to remove the build up of tar that was sitting behind the wheel spokes and in the gulley that ran around the outer edge of the wheels. Moving onto the arches, APC and brushes and a hot pressure washer were used to remove years of dirt build up that was gathered in the depths of the arches.
After persevering with the wheels it was time to move to the exterior. This began with an exterior snow foam, APC'ing the door shuts and engine bay and going round all the nooks and crannies with a hog hair brush. Washed down I moved onto washing the exterior via a two bucket method using a Microfibre Madness wash mitt. Washed and Deep cleaned it was time to decontaminate, the first step was to remove iron fallout with Car Pro Iron X, Left to dwell it was rinsed down then Autosmart Tardis was applied to remove all traces of tar from the exterior. Once TFR removed I moved onto claying the paintwork and glass using the wonderful Carbon Collective Clay Mitt, a much quicker more efficient way of claying the paintwork.
As I began drying so came the rain, so I quickly moved the car inside to finish drying the car down in preparation for paint inspection. Once dried all plastic and rubber trims were taped up to prevent any staining during polishing aswell as any delicate parts to ensure they were not damaged by the polishing stages. Once taped up readings where taken from all panels to ensure paint depths were at safe levels for polishing. With average readings of 125 to 145 I was satisfied there were no dodgey repairs or thin panels I began the first stage of correction. After hours of correcting removing Etching, Bird Poo stains and a few RDS along with the swirls using the Rupes UHS system the correction stages were completed late into the night and it was time to call it a day. Even though the paint was looking overall much better I wasn’t quite finished, I pulled out the Meguairs 205 along with a fine finishing pad and spent hours refining all my hard work removing the imperfections and swirls. Once refined it was time to do a final wipe down to remove all traces of polishing oils and compound in preparation for Carbon Collective Platinum Paint coatings.
The owner opted for a durable, hard and chemical resistant coating which allows for easy and safe maintenance and requires little maintaining. Due to the hardness requirement I recommended Carbon Collective Platinum paint, with a 7H reading on the hardness scale it was perfect for the Job. Two coats applied along with Platinum Glass and Platinum Wheels this 520D Is now ready for whatever winter can throw at it.
Moving onto the exterior finishing touches I layered up the coats of Carbon Colective Sateen on the tyres, used a variety of metal polishes and techniques the exhaust tips were restored and then sealed with Carbon Collective Platinum Wheels.
Finally onto the inside, first the obvious hoover to remove all loose dirt, hair and dust in preparation for wipe down and deep leather clean. Once all loose dirt was removed I used APC to remove any stains from the carpet and then moved onto cleaning the leather with DR Leather and Swissvax leather brush. Years of dirt and staining were extracted and that horrible shiny finish was removed and a satin finish resotred along with the lovely fresh leather smell. All leather surfaces were then dressed with G-Techniq L1 and Carpet/Cloth surfaces dressed with Carbon Colective Repel.
Exhausted and extremely satisfied this 520D was now looking better than it ever had and the smile on the owners face said it all, another satisfied customer and another budding detailers enthusiasm restored!
