Two reasons for buying this car, I need for room in it than our Fiesta could offer, and I've always wanted an E30, especially after selling my E36. So, after hours of trawling the classifieds and looking at utter sheds on wheels, I found this little beauty.
1990 325i Touring, Zinnobar Red, 61k miles from new (with all the docs to prove that!), and some tasty period extras such as Sports seats, ABS and Limited Slip Diff. I knew the paintwork wasn't the best, and in bright sunlight its obvious its had a little paint up front because the bonnet is just a shade out. But, for the money its a very good original car and most importantly 99% rust free - the biggest issue with these. Drives better than our 2 year old Leon, no knocks or rattles anywhere!
Anyway, on with the detail. Borrowed a garage to shelter myself from the cold, so I set to work giving it the Shine On treatment.
Here we are at the start:
Just a little road film really. The guy I bought it from had tried his best to keep it smart, and while I appreciated the thought I winced a little when he told me the polish was in the boot - T-cut Colour Magic, urghhhhhh!
Washed with two bucket method, washmit and Megs Gold Class. Clayed it, Last Touch as lube, started using Sonus Green which did less than nothing. Stepped up to DP grey clay which was pretty effective, and used Sonus Grey in a couple of nasty areas. All along the sills was plastered in tar spots, so I spent a good hour wiping them down first with AG Intensive Tar Remover. Once done washed again, dried with Cobra Super Guzzler, and into the garage.
This time, it looked terrible! Not sure why, but the paint (worst by far on the bonnet) had a patchy stained look, as well as a lot of swirls and scratches.
PTG showed plenty of paint (single stage), and confirmed it had been resprayed. Readings between 215-278 mics across the bonnet. Around the rest of the car, mostly between 90-125mics, the A pillars showing the scariest at 55-70mics! I'll hand polish those bits then.....
Taped the car using 3M 3434, started at the bonnet. Having read about modern BMW paint being rock hard I wasn't sure what to expect from old SS paint, so went through the full motions. Using the rotary with a LC polishing pad, tried Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish - no effect. Stepped up to Advaned Swirl Remover, had a little effect but not enough. Colour was coming back but no great reduction in swirls. Swapped to Menzerna IP PO85RD3.02 on the polishing pad but wasn't much better (PTG was telling me next to no paint was being removed here), went up to a LC Light Cutting pad, and eventually a Megs Cutting Pad. It was bloody hard work!
Worth it though, here is a couple of 50/50 shots of the bonnet:
That done, I moved to the wings and it was apparent to me the paint was softer here. I swapped back to an LC polishing pad, still with the Menz IP, and worked my way around the car.
Here are some before and afters of a few panels.
Front wing:
Front door:
Rear door:
Not 100% perfect in places, but a whole lot better than it was - and for a 17 year old car I'm happy with the shine its now got!
Polishing done (many hours of swearing, pad de-clogging and cups of coffee later), I applied Poorboys EX-P sealant via PC on LC Finishing Pad, left it to cure for 30 minutes and wiped off. Followed that by a layer of Collinite 476s. Not imaginative I know, but I just need it to be protected for now, bling can come later in the good weather!
Paint work done, tape came off. Glass cleaned inside and out with AG Glass Polish. And now time for a new porduct - Chemical Guys New Look Trim Gel. Goes on with a foam applicator pad super thin, this bottle should last ages. Leave it for a few minutes, then wipe over with a M/F cloth. I was staggered at how good all the trim looked. For example:
Treated on the left, old faded bit on the right:
It isn't greasy when done, doesn't smear and doesn't come off on your fingers. But don't spill it on the floor because its slippery as hell. Trust me
All trim done:
And that was it for yesterday. I was wrecked - that represents about 12.5 hours of work (i.e. not including the breaks). I actually did the washing, claying and de-tarring on Tuesday and left it there overnight. Then spent all day yesterday on just the paint. I still have the wheels to properly clean, polish and apply Chemical Guys Wheel Guard (another new product I love!), arches need doing, then stuff like door shuts need some attention, and probably 1/2 a day under the bonnet.
But for now, here are a couple of finished shots taken this morning after I had to nip out.
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WOW ! awesome job when you see it 50/50, bloody well done m8 and welcome to the zone, im off to that link now to try and find something that i can treat my fresh paint with to conserve it 
. Trouble is when you do one thing it makes something else look bad so you do that ad infinitum
