The Life of My 2008 E92 M3

In April of 2010, I decided that not only would I detail my car, but I would wet sand the paint to remove every last trace of orange peel (http://tinyurl.com/24so888). The result would be a mirror-like finish that polishing alone could never accomplish. The entire process took over two hundred hours to complete, but the results speak for themselves.

 

Oddly, I finished all the changes to this car only several months before picking up my next M3. Every change that I’ve made to this car revolves around creating a finished product that would resemble an OEM model.

 

Cosmetic Mods:

 

My own headlight rebuild

6000K Headlights

12000K HID Angel Eyes (camaross305)

EAS Carbon Fiber Mirror Covers

FormulaOne Pinnacle Ceramic Tint 35% (incl. windshield)

H&R Sport Springs

LED Front Turn Signal Bulbs

Macht Schnell 18mm front/15mm rear Spacers

Matte Black Kidney Grilles

Matte Black Window Trim

OEM Euro Bumper

OEM Euro Side Mirror Housings (matte black)

OEM LCI Tail Lights

VentureShield Clear Bra on front bumper, hood, and fenders

Vorsteiner Aero Boot Lid

 

Performance Mods:

 

Active Autowerke Signature X Pipe

Eisenmann Race

Macht Schnell Air Filter

 

Tracking my car's build (February, 2008):

 

 

Bumper removed, headlights baked open, clear reflector housing removed for painting:

 

 

Eisenmann Race Exhaust, H&R springs, and Macht Schnell 15mm/18mm spacers:

 

 

Eisenmann Race painted matte black:

 

 

Eisenmann connecting pipes painted matte black:

 

 

Paint structure illustration:

 

 

Close-up of orange peel ridges/distortion behind Lithium Chloride flame:

 

 

Severe orange peel on driver side door panel:

 

 

Chemical Guys products used during the refinishing:

 

 

 

Equipment used during the refinishing:

 

 

Large and small air sanders:

 

 

Mounted Blu-Ray laser to mark previous measurement positions:

 

 

Paint after decontamination, 0 PPM water drying under the sun:

 

 

Wet sanding the driver side door:

 

 

Driver side door paint measurements before wet sanding:

 

 

Tracking measurement positions on driver side door:

 

 

Driver side door paint measurements after wet sanding:

 

 

Passenger side after wet sanding:

 

 

Passenger side fender and door panel after polishing:

 

 

Lower panel before wet sanding, upper panel after wet sanding:

 

 

Side skirt before wet sanding (camera set to two separate focus positions):

 

 

Rear quarter panel after wet sanding (identical focus positions from side skirt photos):

 

 

 

Driver side arch prepped prior to polishing:

 

 

Driver side rear quarter after wet sanding:

 

 

Driver side rear quarter after polishing:

 

 

Wipers removed, before and after polishing:

 

 

Chemical Guys Vertua-Bond 408 ready to prep the paint prior to sealing and waxing:

 

 

Chemical Guys Jet Seal 109 ready to seal:

 

 

Rear window after polishing and application of Jet Seal 109:

 

 

Gloss restored to the left side of the hood's clear bra after heat gun treatment:

 

 

Dirty floor mats:

 

 

 

Chemical Guys Lightning Fast Stain Extractor ready for use:

 

 

Floor mat agitated with rotary brush and Lightning Fast Stain Extractor:

 

 

Mytee Lite II Hot Water Carpet Extractor:

 

 

Extracting dirty liquids with the Mytee Lite II:

 

 

Floor mat after extraction:

 

 

Body oils on driver side arm rest:

 

 

Leather Master Kit and Chemical Guys Liquid Extreme Shine Dressing:

 

 

Leather Master Vital to protect the driver side door panel's Fox Red leather:

 

 

Chemical Guys Liquid Extreme Shine Dressing applied to the drivers side door panel:

 

 

 

Unilux 3000 Vapor Cleaner:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sterilizing the driver's side cockpit:

 

 

 

Vapor cleaning the driver's seat:

 

 

Interior finished:

 

 

 

 

Vapor cleaning the engine bay:

 

 

Chemical Guys Fade2Black:

 

 

Driver side front wheel removed:

 

 

Chemical Guys Grime Reaper Degreaser applied to the wheel well:

 

 

After application of (1) Chemical Guys Blue Guard, and (2) Chemical Guys Fade2Black:

 

 

 

Chemical Guys Jet Seal 109 curing on the wheel's interior:

 

 

Canon 5D Mark II has arrived:

 

 

Finally free of orange peel:

 

 

 

 

 

 

time to get a life.....nice car not worth the effort.

insane amount of work, but a huge huge improvement it looks very nice

looks better than brand new!!! sickkk..

 

but i wouldn't go that far out..lol

That's some serious dedication to cleanliness. Major props to having the ability to put in so much effort to take care of a car

Is the trunk OEM? From a certain angle it looks kinda like a ducktail porsche used to have.

you are anal.....nice work

Is the trunk OEM? From a certain angle it looks kinda like a ducktail porsche used to have.

Not oem...i think its vorstineer..or something..like the CSL bootlid.

Does it worth the effort and time spent ? It would collect the same dirt in few weeks..

 

Nice car and nice color..

Does it worth the effort and time spent ? It would collect the same dirt in few weeks..

 

Nice car and nice color..

 

Orangepeel is not dirt. It's inperfection in the factory paint job. Pretty much all new BMWs suffer from shitty quality paint these days.

Looks great!

Thinking about sanding does not it not need now new layer of lacquer to protect the paint?

That is an insane amount of work. I'll give you credit, but man, I would never put that much work into it unless it was going on display at Pebble Beach.

wonder what it cost to have him do this?

Thinking about sanding does not it not need now new layer of lacquer to protect the paint?

 

According to his diagram, he took less than 7% of the clearcoat thickness away to make it totally flat for polishing. In that case I would say no, you won't need to spray additional clearcoat.

 

 

I think thats the cleanest car I have ever seen! Looks good, love the M3´s.

Pretty much all new BMWs suffer from shitty quality paint these days.

I was looking at an Alpina car and the dealer told me that the EPA standards they have to comply with meant a lower production quality of paint and clearcoat.

 

Great job.

and then it rained...lol seriously that's a pretty intense and crazy project bro it came out great