Labor Day Weekend Labor; 2017 BMW X3

[BRZN]

I had the opportunity this past weekend to do a full detail on a previous customers new, to her, 2017 BMW X3 in Alpine White. I'd detailed her 2007 Acura MDX several years ago. Since then she's graduated college with a degree in Athletic Training, I believe, and bought this that need a little love.

 

She'd been looking for one of these for several months and finally located one at a dealership in NJ at a price she was willing to pay. The vehicle had been a rental with 15,000 miles on it, she's now put on another 5,000+ on it before turning it over to me for the weekend.

 

I picked the SUV up Thursday afternoon and brought it back to my place where the work would be done. It was raining Thursday, raining hard. We got over 5" of rain that day.

Yup, I started in the rain. Put on a hat, my Bean Boots and a gore tex jacket and sucked it up. Broke out the pressure washer and using Adam's new Pressure Washer Swivel Extension Wand cleaned all the debris from the felt lined inner fenders and took care of the wheels and tires. The 20* bend and shorter length is nice to really get up in where I wanted. Eco All Purpose Cleaner on the fender liners, Wheel Cleaner on the wheels and scrubbed the gunk that was on the tires twice with Tire and Rubber Cleaner to get them thoroughly cleaned.

 

The rain stopped overnight and the rest of the weekend looked like it was going to be great weather.

 

At first light Saturday morning I was outside. Didn't want to bother the neighbors with the pressure washer yet, so I did a few of the more quiet activities first

 

 Chrome exhaust tips polished with Metal Polish #1 using a piece of 0000 Steal Wool

Before:

 

After:

 

I removed the rubber floor mats and cleaned them

 

I vacuumed the interior, and here's where things started to get weird. I was finding shattered pieced of tempered glass in the carpet, along the gas pedal on the hump side, under the front passenger's seat,  between that seats bottom and back, and in the outside seat rail track of that seat.

 

A quick look at all the vehicles glass...

All windows have the BMW logo in them

 

except the front passenger's side door glass

 

The B-pillar on that door

It appears this vehicle had been broken into at some point. I contacted the owner. She said before she purchased it she saw the vehicle had a clean Car Fax, and that she had noticed all the glass shards sometime after she's gotten it home. She contacted the dealer she'd bought it from and was told they knew nothing about it.

 

Engine and engine bay tidied up

Eco All Purpose Cleaner a Fender Brush and Trim & Lug Nut Brush. I dried it with the 4hp setting of my Master Blaster Revolution, shut the hood and let her run for five minutes to dry the rest of the water off. While it was running I sprayed Odor Neutralizer inside the vehicle and into the recirculating intake with the fan on high to take care of any odors.

 

It was now late enough in the morning to get the pressure washer back out again. Adam's Snub Nose Pressure Washer Attachment and my Foam Cannon filled with 2oz of Strip Wash and warm water.

I let that dwell for a few minutes then proceeded to give her a two bucket wash with another 2oz of Strip Wash in my wash bucket and used the Red Microfiber mitt. Rinsed her down well and hit everything below the glass, including the C-pillars with Iron Remover to decontaminate.

 

 

Thoroughly rinsed the Iron Remover off the vehicle and clayed using the Clay Mitt and Detail Spray as the lubricant. Black specks all over the SUV. Worse on the rear panel and right quarter panel, but everywhere on the vehicle. The clay mitt wasn't getting it off.

My guess? The window glass was replaced at a Body Shop and the vehicle was sitting uncovered too close to the paint booth and over-spray made its way to the BMW. There were black paint specks even in the jamb of the rear hatch. They must have had the hatch open when the over-spray made its way onto the Alpine White.

Adam's Visco Elastic Clay was able to remove the over-spray, but it was a lot of work and about three hours of time I wasn't expecting! One last rinse from my Reverse Osmosis Spot Free system, and a quick blow dry with my Master Blaster Revolution, this time on the full 8hp setting..

Before:

 

After:

My right shoulder felt numb when I finished for the day from all the rubbing and pressure I had to exert to remove all of this.

 

Before the day ended, the paint was thoroughly cleaned and decontaminated and I began polishing. I was able to finish the front and rear bumpers, and most everywhere else I had to use my Swirl Killer 12mm mini and Nano ibird. Lots of curves, contours and angles required the smaller machines. Heavy Correcting Compound and a Blue Microfiber Pad, that's it on this one. This vehicle is washed at drive through car washes. Most of the marks in the paint are straight line marks from the car wash brushes. The combo I used got 75% of them out and left the paint with a nice high luster.

My GTO was pulled out onto the driveway for the next two nights and the BMW was put in the garage.

 

First thing Sunday morning I put the plugs into the front bumper she'd provided me. NJ runs a front plate while PA doesn't. She didn't like the holes. Can't say I blame her.

 

In & Out Spray to all the black Honey Comb up front too.

 

Completely Polished, including the headlights.

Also used my Swirl killer 15mm LT machine on the larger flatter panels, again Heavy Correcting Compound and a Blue Microfiber Pad.

 

Paint protected with H2O Guard & Gloss, wheels protected with Ceramic Boost, tires dressed with Tire Shine, Glass Sealant on the windshield. I even hit the little rubber splash guard in front of the rear tires with VRT.

My method for using the Guard & Gloss was one I watched Adam do at Corvettes at Carlisle the previous weekend. I'd never thought of it before. Go one panel at a time, spray the one panel with water from a water bottle, then spray the Guard & Gloss on that wet panel. Use a wet microfiber towel to even it out/level it off and a second to buff the panel dry, then onto the next. In the past I'd been pulling polished vehicles back out onto the driveway and wetting them with the hose again. Adam's method I was able to do while still in the garage.

Sunday was done...

 

Monday morning had three hours spent on the interior. Interior Detailer mostly, Leather & Interior cleaner on the soiled Steering Wheel

In & Out Spray in the vents, inside of the windshield and back glass got Brilliant Glaze, all other glass was wiped clean with Adam's Glass Cleaner. My McCulloch 1385 Steamer was needed to get the crud from inside the cup holders, the tracks in the floor of the cargo area, and a few spots on the drivers compartment floor. The interior came as nice as the outside, I thought.

[Thorsager]

Nice work and great write up!

[67's]

Floor mats even look clean, what did you use on them?

[BRZN]

Rubber Mat & Liner Cleaner, basically Tire & Rubber cleaner with a different color and scent. Once dry I'll then wipe them off with the Edgeless Utility Towel I'd used on the interior of the vehicle with Interior Detailer to even out the mats appearance.

 

Don't spray the Interior Detailer directly onto the mats, they'll get slippery and unsafe.

Edited September 4, 2018 by BRZN

[Bscott94]

That looks great! I would bet you'd never get all the broken glass out. Before I got my car, it was totaled after being rearended and I still find pieces of glass on the back seat, in the trunk, and in the headliner. The guy that repaired the car was kind of an idiot though so maybe if he would've done it correctly, all of the broken glass would've been removed. 

[BRZN]

There's still, at least, one very small piece stuck in the outside seat track below the spiral rod the seat moves on. I absolutely couldn't get at it, I could hear it grinding every time I moved the seat forward and back. It'll eventually grind its way to dust.

[GXPaycheck]

Next time try using a the microfiber sponge applicator instead of the towels with the H2O G&G. A lot easier to handle. 

[BRZN]

Good idea Brian!

[67's]

3 hours ago, BRZN said:

Rubber Mat & Liner Cleaner, basically Tire & Rubber cleaner with a different color and scent. Once dry I'll then wipe them off with the Edgeless Utility Towel I'd used on the interior of the vehicle with Interior Detailer to even out the mats appearance.

 

Don't spray the Interior Detailer directly onto the mats, they'll get slippery and unsafe.

Thanks for the tip, where can you get the Mat cleaner? I know there has been some discussion that only certain dealers have it.

Edited September 4, 2018 by 67's

[wildcatz80]

3 hours ago, 67's said:

Thanks for the tip, where can you get the Mat cleaner? I know there has been some discussion that only certain dealers have it.

Hi Tom, 

You can get some from Detail Giant an authorized dealer of Adams Polishes.  Sales@detailgiant.com email him. He's located in NY fast shipping.. Instagram is @detailgiant don't have Instagram click on top right of forum page to take you to Instagram type detailgaint in search and it will take you to IG page. Rubber Mat & Liner is great I have some. Once cleaned it gives a matte finish to rubber mats.

Edited September 4, 2018 by wildcatz80

[BRZN]

☺️

[tlbullet]

Nicely done. 

[imatt27]

Nice work! Looks great 

[Nickfire20]

Excellent write up, a lot of hard work, and attention to detail that goes way above and beyond, and it really shows!  Wouldn’t expect anything less from ya Dave! ??

Edited September 6, 2018 by Nickfire20

[ObsessedDetailer]

That is an awesome car! keep up the good work! I feel as if cleaning white cars are the most rewarding in the sense that you can see all the dirt being washed away from before and after. Keep it up!!