MyE28.com

Spent the weekend doing a comprehensive detail of the M5: interior including carpet shampoo, paint correction, engine bay.







Interior
Rented a spot carpet cleaner from Home Depot - amazing how much dirt comes out from a carpet that seems clean enough. Unbolted the front seats so they could rock back and clean underneath. Comprehensive vacuum. Carpet cleaning extraction machine. Fan dry.
303 Aerospace Protectant on vinyl
Zaino Leather Spray Cleaner
Zaino Leather In A Bottle Treatment and Conditioner

Exterior
Having never worked on single-stage paint correction, I was concerned about getting too aggressive. So I tested a spot out with the cutting compound and it did a nice job clearing away swirls and most scrapes, but I didn't want to push it any further to completely get out the deeper scratches. It was kind of scary how much black paint ends up on the pad - lot's of brushing to keep the pad clean. Even the high-definition compound on a soft blue pad took away some black. But the one-two punch worked well and the paint absolutely pops now. Amazing to see the lasting quality of paint from the pre-clear coat, pre-orange peel days.

Griot's Dual-Action Orbiter Polisher
Meguiar's Ultra-cut Compound 105 on 5" orange pad (4 pads used)
HD Polish on a 5" blue pad (4 pads used)
HD Polish on a 5" black pad (by hand to get rid of holograms)
Isopropyl alcohol 50/50 water wipe down
Blackfire Paint Sealant (two coats)

Engine Bay
Simple Green 50/50 water
Lots and lots of detailing towels
303 Aerospace Protectant

I didn't work at all on the wheels and tires because OEM wheels and new tires (Michelin Pilot Sport A/S/ 3+) are going on next week.

Some more shots...

Looks like a keeper. Very nice.

So....the emoji selection here is dismal. All I'm looking for is a "thumbs up" emoji FFS. No.

Worth the effort. Looks great!

muleskinner wrote:So....the emoji selection here is dismal. All I'm looking for is a "thumbs up" emoji FFS. No.

Beautiful, nice job

Looks fantastic. Once you get the right wheels on you're golden Nice work.

Edit: Replace that coolant overflow bottle when you do the wheels. Dash also looks sharp. How many miles?

ahab wrote:Dash also looks sharp. How many miles?

145k miles. Rodney Middendorf's old car.

Dash does have some small cracks, but that photo angle doesn't show them. I have a cool stitched vinyl dash from @aplineass (Paul Ladue) to install, but not sure when I want to get around to taking apart the dash and such. It's been a busy summer installing a rebuilt Getrag 280 transmission, new exhaust, and getting the AC working.

At some point soon, gulp, timing chain guides are near the top of the to-do list.

Got the reconditioned OEM wheels with new rubber mounted today. (Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+). Now that's more like it.

Looks absolutely wonderful!

jeff

Ric Ocasek had a song for this.

Beautiful! Looks perfect with the stock wheels/tires

What a beauty!!

That's what I'm taking about, beautiful! Just like mine, wheels and all. Excellent.

A little late to the party but that looks amazing! Very nice work! I'm just getting into paint corrections myself and appreciate the level of effort required. You did a fantastic job.