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butters

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  • Posts

    156
  • Joined

  • Last visited

About butters

  • Birthday 12/29/1987

Profile Information

  • Location
    Suburban Philly
  • Gender
    Male

Converted

  • Location
    Suburban Philly
  • Interests
    Cars
  • Occupation
    Engineer
  • Vehicle Year
    '12, '91
  • Vehicle Make
    BMW
  • Vehicle Model
    328i, 318i
  • Real Name
    Stephen
  1. I use All Free & Clear, but it's a matter of time before I switch to microfiber revitalizer.
  2. +1 I work in an industrial environment and use ear plugs daily, and my hearing is monitored as part of my employer's health & safety protocols. I bring plugs home and use them for pressure washing and foaming, and then keep them around my neck. I'll put them back in for using my sidekick (blowing out cracks can be CRAZY loud!), any polishing, and even vacuuming the interior. Protection aside, it really reduces overall fatigue, greatly improving general comfort.
  3. Lol! I used to work in the detail center at a BMW dealership, many lessons learned on what not to do... but anyway we used Easy Off for painted pinstripes and shocking though it may be, it does work. Really nasty stuff so use great care.
  4. Thanks for the insight, I was actually thinking of emailing Larry too but I figure the recommendation would be to re-paint. I'm going to seek input from my body shop and give it a try with DIY. It has been 5 years since the repair so it has at least held up and not peeled, maybe it's salvageable. I just want to get it to the point of being worthy of my Adam's arsenal, which it currently is not.
  5. Yea I think this is the way to go, just a matter of properly gearing up. With the car being almost 12 years old I can accept a detectable color difference, but I gotta have that gloss!
  6. Great job on your car, that looks awesome. I'll have to look around and make sure I have the tools required to remove 3000 grit sanding marks.
  7. Thanks Adam, and great to have your response! While I wouldn't say I stole it, I got a very good price for a car I've had an exceedingly difficult time finding (RWD manual sedan). I went into it knowing that this might require body shop work to be perfect. Attached is another photo with my markup around the offending surface for clarification. The bumper and trunk appear original and in a condition I can work with using my 7424xp, but this repainted area definitely needs sanding at minimum. The color match might be a little better in person, but it's not great in its current state. The metallic makes it look worse with the different angles of the various panels reflecting slightly differently. I suppose I can give wet sanding a shot myself before going to the pros, I'll have to brush up on those tutorial videos... it's possible with a lowly porter cable?
  8. Long story short I lost my beloved daily driver 3 series last week when I got rear-ended by an FJ Cruiser, and smashed into a Suburban. Everyone was okay and insurance worked out fine. In my view the car was a unicorn of options, and this time around I decided to forego a monthly payment and get a 3 series I could pay for with the cash rather than rush out and end up in an expensive car that isn't as much a unicorn. I wound up in a 2006 330i, the last of the top-line 3-series with no turbo, and I have to say I really love it. The car has over 100k miles but feels great. Has the options I want, and crucially rear-drive with 3 pedals. Previous 9-year owner kept up with maintenance and was diligent with records. Dark gray exterior gives me a break from black metallic, and black interior likewise lower maintenance. However, there's an issue with the paint. It's all there and straight, no accidents. But the previous owner told me that he scraped the driver's side inside a tight parking structure so there was some repainted area. I'm not a body expert but I don't sense much filler by knocking around. The color might be close enough, but it's terribly hazy and dull so I honestly don't know. Anyone ever dealt with this before? My thinking is that the body shop painted only the driver's rear door and quarter panel, and only blended slightly up the C-pillar. I suppose it's a good thing they didn't blend into the driver's door or bumper. Then they just didn't wet sand it enough. Hopefully it doesn't need more prep and paint. Should I bring it to a body guy, or a detail shop that will wet sand? I know a body guy I may as well have look at it, but need to wait until I can leave work early. I don't have experience with any detailers I'd trust, after all I'm on this site. I don't know how this image will upload, but maybe you can kind of see what I mean with the reflection in the front door vs rear, bumper vs quarter panel area.
  9. I would venture to guess that after 2 years the coating will erode to the point of becoming spotty and noticeably less effective, at which point you would polish (or compound?) the vehicle to get back to naked paint and go from there with another application. I have another coating question: Dan, you recommended Boost every 4-6 months. I haven't worked with coated paint but will be coating my car before summer, and I'm wondering how the paint will feel during that 4-6 month timeframe. I'm used to the paint sealant regimen, topping with guard & gloss monthly or so, with detail spray after each wash between that. I can't help but think that I'll want to keep using at least detail spray to maintain that slick feeling and as a drying aid. Maybe the slickness will be retained much better after each wash versus the behavior of the acrylic sealants. But with detail spray, am I defeating the excellent properties of the ceramic? Or is there at least still that shell of hardness and chemical resistance, "under" the detail spray? I figure even if the hydrophobic properties of the coating are masked by DS, the DS will evaporate pretty quickly and then the Boost kicks in as the outermost layer. Or at least this is what I'll tell myself
  10. Since getting a sidekick, I rarely used my GWDT. Typically I use one waterless wash towel, and maybe a plush towel for final buffing. I basically reserve the great white for when I'm doing more than 1 car at the same time.
  11. I just pull the car away from the garage to get one circumferential "wipe" with the brake pads before pulling into the garage after a wash. This greatly reduces the initial dust-out during the first drive.
  12. I'll have to swap the sprayer that came with my rubber cleaner onto my often-used detail spray bottle to try this out, looks and sounds like a solid improvement. Any tips on how to tell if the setting is mist or stream, aside from testing with a squirt? I suppose after the first go at it, I'll mark the adjuster somehow.
  13. I just got one with my rubber cleaner, interesting. I noticed that the two spray settings are marked the same, I wonder if there is no longer differentiation between spray vs. stream.
  14. Sorry about the damage, I'm sure we can all feel your pain. Regarding your question about factory touchup, I can't say for sure whether it would work BUT it might be worth a shot. The Langka blob eliminator levels off that OEM touchup by gradually removing it as it's rubbed across the spot, so you could play with it and not risk any bad results since it becomes reversible. I've tried it with very fine scratches and it pulled all the touchup out - bummer, but goes to show how effective it can be. Good luck!
  15. You're missing out! Buy it by the gallon and it isn't so expensive. Also, ditch the shop vac blower. I was doing that before I got a sidekick, but stopped once I realized that all the nasty abrasive dirt and dust that you suck into the hose is potentially blown all over the car. I use detail spray every wash, G&G every 4-6 weeks. I got the Paint Coating kit as a gift and now I'm wondering if Ceramic Boost will replace G&G in my regimen after I use it...
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