M6 Detailed

[Palmnuts]

I finally managed to complete get a decent detailing session on my new M6 over the last weekend and I'm just amazed how good this San Marino Blue colour turns out when the sun shines (which isn't very often here in the UK ). Heres a summary of most of the products used and some pictures of the results (sorry, no in-flight snaps ).

Washed with BMW-branded shampoo (honestly, it's the only stuff I've used that doesn't cause the door seals to creak - all other shampoos seem to have additives which then tend to make seals on frameless doors noisy).

Clayed with Sonus Ultra Fine Clay and Sonus Clay Lube - a great clay which is so gentle that you'd have to be really careless to mar the paintwork

Machined with a 3M polishing pad and Menzerna Final Finish - hardly required this as the clay was so gentle so this really was just to prepare the surface, after which it was wiped down with IPA

Sealed with 22PLE VX1 Signature Glass Coat - to be honest, I'm not that impressed with this product and won't be using it again (will try Nanolex Sealant on the M135i when that arrives in a couple of weeks)

Waxed with 2 coats of Swissvax Blau-Weiss - this is Swissvax's BMW Specific polish and not only is it very easy to apply, it leaves a lovely wet-look finish

Exhausts cleaned with Meguiers Metal Polish - an utter crap product IMO and I much prefer Autosol. I then sealed them with Black Diamond Metal Sealant which is an excellent product for exhaust as nothing sticks to them after you've applied a couple of coats of this.

Glass cleaned with Auto Finesse Crystal - I've only recently come across this product and I cannot stress how good it appears to be. Considering it's a wipe-on wipe-off product, it's ease of use and lack of smearing is impressive to the point that it feels almost too easy! I then sealed the side and rear windows with Nanolex Ultra Glass Sealant (I don't do the windscreen though, as I hate the smearing effect that all glass sealants create when applied on windscreens)

Wheels sealed with Swissvax Autobhan - this is PTFE sealant which makes the wheels über smooth and so easy to clean. Having said that, I'm really seeing the benefit of the ceramic brakes because I get absolutely no brake dust whatsoever from them meaning the wheels always look clean.

Tyres treated with Zaino Z16 tyre gloss, which is another product that I thoroughly recommend for it's natural sheen (more coats = more gloss if required), easy application (simply wipe on with a sponge) and reasonable longevity (the tyres look good between weekly washes).

Interior....well, not much to do in there give it's a three-week old car other than vacuum it and remove fingerprints from the shiny surfaces with a microfibre and Autoglym car glass polish.

Saying that, the Opal White BMW Individual leather is clearly of a different quality than the normal BMW stuff (even the usual higher-quality Merino stuff). This is both good and bad....good, in that it's so soft and really does look and feels of Rolls Royce quality (is the 'Individual' leather similar to what they use in Rollers I wonder?). But bad in that it's also less hardy and much more susceptible to soaking in dye transfer from jeans, and requires an almost daily wipe down, where the dye is then not that easy to remove!

Heres some of the results....

[q8kamikaze]

Looks greaaaaaaaat thanks for sharing , by the way is that OEM drop ?? The car looks fantastic with the wheels and the drop.

[Ryan@IND]

Great work and quality product!

[RiverRunner]

Originally Posted by q8kamikaze

Looks greaaaaaaaat thanks for sharing , by the way is that OEM drop ?? The car looks fantastic with the wheels and the drop.

Looks like stock height to me, no drop.

[q8kamikaze]

Originally Posted by PackerFan

Looks like stock height to me, no drop.

Maybe CP drop ??

[RiverRunner]

CP drop in UK is supposed to be 10mm, in US, side by side are the same as non-CP.

[bmwsocal]

Love the car. Not a fan of the color. Sorry.

[Hunter5179]

Nice job on the detail and pics

[aweso///Me]

Originally Posted by q8kamikaze

Looks greaaaaaaaat thanks for sharing , by the way is that OEM drop ?? The car looks fantastic with the wheels and the drop.

+1
seems to sit lower than the no cp, same thoughts here.

[H.I.T]

I think Opal White is one of the most beautiful leather for BMW interior. Especially with San Marino Blue paint.

However, because of it's hard to keep the leather clean, I think I would go with Canyon Brown.

And one more thing, what do you think about the Ceramics Brakes? Is it worth 9k$?

[delano]

Looks great, I love the white!

[dan99]

looks good, but too much direct sunlight to really appreaciate the paint's finish. if you were to take these pics indoor with lighting, the paint will really pop out.

[RichardP]

Looks very nice indeed.

As you are obviously someone who cares a great detail about the look of your car, could I ask what your opinion of the paint finish quality is, particularly in relation to orange peel effect?

My M6 GC has been built and I'm awaiting a delivery date, should be sometime in the next 2 weeks. I'm very particular about the way my cars look and I'd like to know if the paint quality on the M6 is any better than that on a cooking 3 series for example. I've seen some cars in the dealership where I ordered mine that have very noticeable orange peel effect.

To give you some idea how I like my cars to look, this is my 110,000 mile E39 M5.