Case Study: BMW 635d Enhancement

Here is a case study of an Enhancement recently undertaken on a BMW 635d. On the morning of my arrival the customer informed me that it had gone without any proper polishing for a long time, and had made frequent visits to the roadside car wash; oh dear!

The first thing to do on any service is to talk to the customer (they can reveal many clues about the vehicle, and of course their expectations) and follow to inspect the car's condition. You can see by the below pictures that the vehicle lacked gloss, in fact it almost looked Charcoal in colour rather than Black. A quick look at the paint under my Scangrip Sunmatch 2 inspection light revealed all manner of wash marring, scratches and blurring.

Before contemplating polishing, a thorough decontamination must first occur. This will include the usual pre-wash, cleaning of wheels, little brushes in doorshuts, snow foam, two bucket wash method, iron and tar removal, and clay barring amoungst others!

Now almost ready to machine polish, a final paintwork inspection is done before taking paintwork depth measurements to indentify if a) there are any thin areas to be cautious of and b) indentify any resprayed areas which are generally thicker than the rest of the paint. Handy tip: the word "polish" comes from the Latin word "polire" which means "to make smooth".

A single stage machine polish is carried out with machines suitable for the various contours and curves of the vehicle. Isopropanol is used to wipe away any residues to reveal the true extent of the polishing work. The aim is to make use of precious time in one day to remove defects to a 70% correction rate, and bring out a deep gloss. To achieve as close to a 90-100% correction rate it requires days, not hours, of various grade polishing processes and it is imperative to be carried out indoors. The Enhancement is the perfect "detail on your driveway" for those on a budget and can't be without the car for more than one day.

You can see by the pictures that a dramatic difference is made, and once standing back to look at the car it is clear to see a marked improvement over the beginning picture. The paintwork is then protected with a Ceramic based detailing spray sealant to give around 3 months protection, with all other areas of the exterior addressed appropriately. An interior clean is completed to finish the job. We now have one car that is the best part of a decade old, looking shinier than most 3 year old cars on the road!