Let the turd polishing commence!!

The place to pick up tips on bringing that showroom shine back to your E30.

Moderator: martauto

Morat
E30 Zone Team Member
E30 Zone Team Member
Posts: 8943
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: The Peoples Republic of Yorkshire

Post Thu Apr 05, 2007 10:43 am

Well, here we are. A sunny day off work, car parked in the shade. No more excuses!
I'm just about to go get deeply sad with an array of polishes and waxes that I have bought over the last month to keep my nagging conscience at bay. But now its time to POLISH THAT TURD!!!

Action pics as it happens! Whats better than watching paint dry? Watching some other bastard polish it!
You lucky people :)

before!

Image
E30 Touring 0.35 cD - more slippery than prison soap :)

Image
Praise the Lard... and pass the dripping!
Ziggy
E30 Zone Team Member
E30 Zone Team Member
Posts: 11534
Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: floating round my tin can...

Post Thu Apr 05, 2007 10:45 am

Previously, on Moratspolishingthread...
E30 in need of wiring loom smoke since April '11...
320Touring
E30 Zone Team Member
E30 Zone Team Member
Posts: 12316
Joined: Fri Feb 11, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: Glasgow (Scotland)

Post Thu Apr 05, 2007 10:50 am

Day 16 in Dabigbrotherhousestreet, and morat is polishing his car,

unbeknown to him, jade goodie is molesting a chicken in his glovebox...

good luck sir!
The big Unit Parts Clear out Make me an offer on parts!
http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... 81#2766881
Morat
E30 Zone Team Member
E30 Zone Team Member
Posts: 8943
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: The Peoples Republic of Yorkshire

Post Thu Apr 05, 2007 1:24 pm

damn, this is harder than I thought!
Gotta say, that meguiars clay is amazing stuff. The good part is that it makes it really really smooth. That bad part is that once you've done one bit you just have to do the rest because you can feel the microfibre snag on the bits that you haven't clayed.
:cry:

I've kinda compromised with using clay for really nasty bits and Meguiars step 1 for the rest. Then going over the bits that still feel rough with some clay. Then using step 1 to sort of blend it in. Then finding another rough bit and using clay. This is going to take forever!

I got a bit carried away on the drivers side of the bonnet and went all the way to stage 3 to see how it looks. It looked great so I've got to do the whole car now - no backing out :(

Here's what the housemate managed to achieve before lunch instead of sitting on his arse in the sauna trying not to kill Jade :)

Image

That picture is flattering because the sun has really come out now. The bonnet is waxed but has loverly swirl marks if you look at the wrong angle. The side has been clayed down to what I call the "Dips line" (check out his two-tone tourer) and roof has been done with stage 2, then I didn't like it so I went back to stage 1.

Just the sides, the back, the wheels and the glass to go then!
E30 Touring 0.35 cD - more slippery than prison soap :)

Image
Praise the Lard... and pass the dripping!
Morat
E30 Zone Team Member
E30 Zone Team Member
Posts: 8943
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: The Peoples Republic of Yorkshire

Post Thu Apr 05, 2007 1:55 pm

btw, here's a LINK to the full sized image of the right wing before I started - shows how grotty the whole car really was when viewed at full size.
I'll do an after shot when I get round to that bit :)

h
E30 Touring 0.35 cD - more slippery than prison soap :)

Image
Praise the Lard... and pass the dripping!
Morat
E30 Zone Team Member
E30 Zone Team Member
Posts: 8943
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: The Peoples Republic of Yorkshire

Post Thu Apr 05, 2007 7:17 pm

Done!
and I'm knackered :)

Car looks very white. Sadly all the rusty bits do really show up now, but on the other hand the clay has taken so much crap off that the paint looks miles better overall. The only answer is to get the rusty bits sorted out then....

Here's the wing after sponge washing, clay, step 1 cleaning, step 2 polishing and step 3 wax. CLICKY

Can't do much for the chips with polish but I have to say I'm amazed at how clean the rest of the paint has come up. BMW certainly did some serious painting on our cars!

If anyone else is thinking of doing this over the weeked - go for it. But leave a whole day aside!
E30 Touring 0.35 cD - more slippery than prison soap :)

Image
Praise the Lard... and pass the dripping!
c76jon
E30 Zone Camper
E30 Zone Camper
Posts: 1130
Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:00 pm
Location: coventry

Post Thu Apr 05, 2007 7:54 pm

with a good bucket of water with car wash as lubricant with the right method you should clay the whole car in 30-45 mins tops

looking good

jon
Image
sam325is
E30 Zone Addict
E30 Zone Addict
Posts: 2002
Joined: Thu Jul 06, 2006 11:00 pm
Location: Cheltenham

Post Thu Apr 05, 2007 11:45 pm

30-45 mins :eek: i just finished and it took me about 2-3 hours :o: