Rasky's work! :)

2013 EVO X paint correction & Opti-Coat wheels/calipers


Process:

Wash - Megs Hyper Wash, 2BM, Lambs wool mit
Tires - OPC and Tuf-Shine brush, Hyper Dressing 3:1
Wheels - Sonax FE with various brushes and wash mit, Wheels removed and both faces and barrels were coated with Opti-Coat Pro along with the calipers
Surface prep - Speedy prep towel, Glide for lube
Decon - IronX and Tarminator
Paint correction - D300 on the Rupes 21 with Megs MF polishing pads followed by HD Polish with yellow Rupes pads.
LSP - Blackfire Wet Diamond


Before pics






Tire sling








50/50 shots…Defects hard to capture in white







Wheel wells cleaned up, calipers coated.


After pics



















Thanks for looking,
Rasky
 
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I'm curious to see the price that was charged for the EVO X. Can you PM me the price? I'm curious how much a job like that costs. (I know every detailer is different - just want an idea)
 
Awesome work Mr.Rasky, that white looks great!

Hey @bootyluvr : I'm betting that this detail is just around $1k. You could probably get away a bit less but he did a ton of work with the wheels off and the opti-coat on the wheels and calipers plus a two step correction.
 
Nix said:
Hey @bootyluvr : I'm betting that this detail is just around $1k. You could probably get away a bit less but he did a ton of work with the wheels off and the opti-coat on the wheels and calipers plus a two step correction.
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Thanks. I was figured at least $750+ Definitely alot of work involved.

I don't love my car enough to pay $500+ for a detail. I just need something decent lol
 
A father’s gift to his son, an American soldier

This detail is pretty special in many ways, so when I was contacted about it, I gladly accepted. Most importantly, this vehicle belongs to CPT Austin McNaul, of the US Army, who is currently on his second deployment in Afghanistan. While he is away, he asked his parents to safeguard his dog, Bruce, and this fine example of German engineering, his 2007 BMW 335i. The other reason this detail is special is that CPT McNaul’s father, Eric, has been a leader, mentor, and above all, a very good friend to my wife during her 8+ years at her job. For this, I also consider him a very good friend. When I first evaluated the vehicle with Eric he mentioned that he wanted lots of pictures and possibly some video, which he could later send to CPT McNaul to show the before and after condition. After looking the car over I suggested a 2-step correction and an interior detail to get the car looking better, but secretly my wife and I had discussed going “all out” on the car as a surprise for them both.



Here is the proud owner, CPT Austin McNaul









The condition of the car was pretty rough on the outside with some very nasty water spot etching, heavy swirls, scratches, and door scuffs. The interior was about average but the leather needed a good cleaning. Detailing the engine bay wasn’t planned, but after seeing how much dust/dirt was built up, I figured I’d give it a quick once over too.



Interior before





















The years of dirt and grime could be seen packed down in all the textured groves of the leather.





























Yummy!





I did an initial cleaning of the seats using Optimum Power Clean at 10:1 and a leather brush. Below you can see my rinse water after doing just the drivers seat.





I then let some Leatherique Rejuvenator Oil soak in for 48hrs (Reapplied after 24hrs).





Moving on to the engine bay, you can see why I decided to clean it up a little with all the accumulated dust/dirt.





 
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Hands down, I spent the most time on the exterior and addressing the water spot issue. After a good wash with Meguiar’s Hyper wash and decon with IronX and Tarminator, I brought it back in for a closer inspection. The damage done by the hard water spots was some of the worst I’ve seen and they literally changed the texture on the hood and fenders. If you look at the hood picture below you’ll notice the lack of gloss and the overhead lights look fuzzy/distorted in the reflection.





Zooming in close to the surface of the hood, we get a much better idea of why there is such a lack of gloss and the reason for the distorted reflection.





Closer yet (crop of the above pic)





And another taken with my cell phone. The texture of the paint almost resembles that of the vinyl interior panels! Amazing how much damage hard water can do!





To remove these water spots would require a good amount of wet sanding. First thing I needed to do was take some paint readings to make sure there was enough clear coat to allow for sanding. BMW’s of this year tend to have a good amount of material on them and as can be seen below, readings were in the 160’s to 180’s throughout the car.





However, before sanding I wanted to touch up some of the larger rock chips that were on the front end. My method for doing this is to first build up the paint/clear, then I shave them down with my cool little Festool Denibber, which you can purchase from Kevin Brown.









After the chips were taken care of, I wet sanded the roof, hood, and deck lid with Meguiar’s 1500 and 3000 grit “Finishing” discs. I paired the finishing discs with a Meguiar’s interface pad as the intention was to remove the water spots while minimizing the removal of the OEM orange peel. All sanding was done via my Mirka Ceros DA sander, compliments again of Kevin Brown.









Some remaining etching could be seen after sanding, but I’d say 95% of it was removed and would be very hard to spot after polishing.

 
The rest of the paint was pretty swirled up after years of automatic car washes and improper washing.













Scratches and scuffs

















For those of you reading this who've ever gotten the “hub scrub” option at the automatic car wash, this is what that long spinning “street sweeper” brush is doing to the finish on your wheels, and in this case, the paint lower rocker panel. Notice all the vertical scratches?







I also spot sanded the deep scratches and door scuffs.













Eric was hoping I could clean up the silver trim, which was also affected by the hard water spots. I’ve not always had the best luck with the various types of BMW trim, fortunately these cleaned right up after a few passes with Meguiar’s M101.













The initial paint correction step was done using my Flex rotary with Meguiar’s Solo wool pads and M100 compound.





My intermediate correction step was done using my Rupes LHR21 with HD Adapt beta sample I had and Meguiar’s MF Finishing pads.





Final polishing was done using the new Optimum Primer with my Rupes LHR15 and green B&S foam pads. I chose the new Opt Primer for finishing as I would be applying Optimum’s Opti-Coat Pro coating, which eliminates the need for IPA/Eraser wipe-down, aids in bonding, but most importantly, eases application. While HD Adapt actually left the paint in very good condition, Primer was able to really bring up the gloss to another level.



How about some 50/50 shots?













Eric recently put the winter wheels and tires on the BMW, but I went ahead and cleaned, polished with Opt Primer, and coated them with Opti-Coat Pro. The barrels were pretty trashed from years of brake dust eating into the paint and the brown/rust colored staining required a good amount of polishing to remove.





Cleaned up the wheel wells a little, nothing crazy.





Wheels coated and ready to go back on





"Twerking" wheels back to factory specs :)





As per my usual, I was working down to the wire and Eric arrived before I had a chance to get all the after pics I wanted, though I feel I captured enough. For some reason I have a hard time remembering which shots I need to take when someone is waiting for me. Eric was very pleased though and as I went around getting my pics, he kept snapping his own and wanted one of me next to the car.

 
Time for some after pics!













































All paint was corrected to the same level, even the lower rocker panels. Vertical “hub scrub” scratches removed.













The hood turned out great, aside from a few bug splatters that had etched though the paint.

 
















I love Black Sapphire Metallic!









A proud father giving his approval













































Eric sent me several pictures when he got home, but I really feel this last photo sums up the whole job! CPT Austin McNaul, I hope you enjoy your reconditioned car and, most importantly, Thank You for your service!!!







Thank you for taking the time to view my work,

Rasky
 
Awesome work Rasky. The car looks great!!!
 
phenomenal job - last pic is great

how do you address stuff around emblems such as the "335i" when you're sanding and stuff? Get as close as possible and do some by hand? Same with the polishing steps... get as close as possible, and then the rest by hand around the badges etc?
 
OMG. This is the first time I have checked out your work. Absolutely incredible results. I am in awe. I wish I had your skills. :bowdownsit:
 
webby said:
phenomenal job - last pic is great

how do you address stuff around emblems such as the "335i" when you're sanding and stuff? Get as close as possible and do some by hand? Same with the polishing steps... get as close as possible, and then the rest by hand around the badges etc?
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Thanks Webby!

General rule of thumb, don't sand where you can't polish by machine, unless you like hand polishing that is. Ideally you would remove all emblems prior to sanding, otherwise you want to stay a good 1/4" away from it. I only sanded the top of the deck lid on this one so I didn't have to deal with the emblems. Polishing was done by hand around the emblem and in between the numbers/letters. Time consuming and tedious work...I have some special Q-tips/swabs too.
 
RaskyR1 said:
Needless to say I LOVE this car and definitely put in more time then I should have, but I can't help myself. :)
Before pics
20120809-DSC_1281.jpg


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I had this car. Absolutely loved it. It was an 88 4WS (4 Wheel Steering). Same colour. I had OEM rims though.
My mom had this exact car, with an OEM spoiler. Sure miss that car.
 
4WS FTW!!! :rockwoot: I would love to find a barnfind Lude Si 4WS and own the **** out of it!
 
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