Car number three for eM Detailing’s Florida excursion was this 1989 Ferrari Mondial Coupe. The owner was most interested in getting the interior leather a thorough clean and condition. Since we weren’t sure on the condition of the exterior paint ( and there were some very thin spots) we settled on a single stage correction and Opti Coat Pro for exterior shine and protection.
More from Florida Detail Fest, another E39 M5. This Titanium Silver M5 was in for a pin stripe removal, dual stage paint correction, Opti Coat Pro topped with Gloss Coat, Glass Coat Pro, Wheel and Caliper Coating, and Interior Clean and Condition. Needless to say there was a lot of work and I hardly got any pictures of the process.
Lets start with some interior leather cleaning. Initially it looked like the leather had abraded on the door handle.
But after gently cleaning away years of use, the leather appeared as good as new!
Here is what most of the time was spent on: A dealer installed pinstripe in the M colors. The stripes had faded and the owner had no interest in keeping them around, let alone locking them in under the ceramic coating to be applied (Opti Coat Pro). The stripes were gently sanded away with a 2000 grit wet sandpaper.
This went all fine and well until we got the the passenger rear quarter panel. It was determined that at some point when they repainted the trunk lid, they had blended clear coat over the pinstripe! This meant that we now had to carefully sand through the additional clear coat which measured between 40 and 50 microns, just to reach the pinstripe. Not willing to step up to a more coarse sandpaper, careful sanding and constant paint thickness measurement ensued. After much sanding, finally that last bit of pinstripe was gone as well. Continue reading “2003 Titanium Silver E39 M5 – Paint Correction + Opti Coat Pro + Gloss Coat”
eM Detailing was in Florida to work on M5board member GSFent’s car. This 570hp supercharged M5 came in Jet Black, a very soft and difficult color to work with. Over the course of the car’s life the soft black paint had acquired many swirls and light scratches. At some point a “detailer” with a rotary polisher left some unsightly holograms in the paint as well. There was also a film buildup of hard water and a little bit of etching from bugs (click any picture to enlarge).
As usual, we started with decontaminating the exterior with a thorough wash and iron removal step, as well as clay bar where needed. Before starting on the paint correction, the interior got a thorough wipe down and vacuum and we focused on cleaning the leather and stitching on the M-Sport steering wheel. All leather was then conditioned and various stains were removed from the carpet.
Some overspray from a leather dye job.
Did you know there can be as many as 700 different germs per square inch of steering wheel? That is 9 times more than a public toilet! As we cleaned the steering wheel and the M-Sport Stitching the wheel was restored to its original matte lustre.
Few coffee spots here and there, no match!
Unfortunately there was a lot to be done, and not a lot of pictures were taken. Here are just a few shots showing the difference.
Contrast between door (unpolished) and quarter panel.
After paint correction the entire car was coated in Opti-Coat Pro, which was then topped in Gloss Coat for even more shine and slickness. The wheels were cleaned and Opti-Coated as well.
Opti Coat Pro is a ceramic coating applied after paint correction that provides wax like properties of water beading and UV protection, permanently. Opti Coat Pro does not strip off and cannot be removed other than through heavy compounding. We topped the Opti Coat Pro with Gloss Coat, which provides even more shine and slickness for up to two years. No need to wax again, ever! Below is a video of this car repelling water with Opti Coat Pro alone, once we added gloss coat, repellency went up, like this silver M5’s video(scroll down).
