Teamspeed.com - 95 Hour Detail by Oakes

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95 Hour Detail by Oakes - BMW M5

Orange peel is common on almost all vehicles from the factory, some worse than others and more common on mass produced vehicles as opposed to specialty brands. In any case, it is not exactly a desired trait in vehicle paint. Many people live with it, some dread it much like myself and the owner of this beautiful Interlagos Blue BMW M5. We both felt that the excessive and very noticeable orange peel on this vehicle was taking away from the true depth and effect of this particular color. Definitely had a dull appearance to it, not to say the car was by any means boring, but the color needed to pop more than it was from the start.

Over the course of 95 working hours, due to various reasons, I was able to level this paint, polish it back and really unleash the true Interlagos from the paint. The pictures, which I've narrowed down to just 45 of the 400+ I captured, definitely show the process and improvement. My own jaw dropped when I pulled her out in to the sun after three weeks, as well as the owners. See for yourself!!

The car had the usual defects, swirling and marring as you can see in these sun snaps, the following group of pictures really show how significant the peel was in the paint.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...ail/BMW5/1.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...ail/BMW5/2.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...ail/BMW5/3.jpg

The more I captured the peel on this car, the more I got antsy to get rid of it, you can see just how rough it really was below:

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...ail/BMW5/4.jpg
5. http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...ail/BMW5/5.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...ail/BMW5/6.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...ail/BMW5/7.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...ail/BMW5/8.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...il/BMW5/10.jpg
10. http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...ail/BMW5/9.jpg

After nearly 9 hours of prep work, everything from full degrease, wash, ironx, wheel removal and removal of grills and other body items that would have been in the way, the car was then masked up as you can see here. When it was all said and done, this M5 took 3 full rolls of green 3M tape and one roll of blue wide tape...rip guys!

The paint readings were taken with the highline gauge and we found a range of 130-860 micron depth.
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...il/BMW5/11.jpg

The sanding process was indeed a process, I used a combination of DA sanding and mostly hand sanding on this vehicle. Starting with 1000 grit, followed by 1500 grit, then 2500 grit...all to be finished with 3000 grit before polishing it back...heres the end result of the fully sanded vehicle. The hood and roof alone were a combined 5 hours! Talk about taking your time...

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...il/BMW5/12.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...il/BMW5/13.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...il/BMW5/14.jpg
15. http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...il/BMW5/15.jpg

Here is a polished back rear door in comparison to the sanded front door:

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...il/BMW5/16.jpg

After approximately 20+ hours of compounding and polishing, the paint definitely looked the way it should under various light sources. These pics were taken before the vehicle was prepped for the ceramic coating it would receive.

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...il/BMW5/17.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...il/BMW5/18.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...il/BMW5/19.jpg
20. http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...il/BMW5/20.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...il/BMW5/34.jpg

Quick snap of my knight in shining armor that will be protecting all my work!

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...il/BMW5/21.jpg

The following pictures are all post sanding, polishing and ceramic coating photos. I did the best I could to capture the true depth and color that the Interlagos blue really has, and to show the orange peel completely gone. This M5 is in its right state now!

http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...il/BMW5/23.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...il/BMW5/24.jpg
25. http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...il/BMW5/25.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...il/BMW5/26.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...il/BMW5/27.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...il/BMW5/28.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...il/BMW5/29.jpg
30. http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...il/BMW5/30.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...il/BMW5/31.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...il/BMW5/32.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...il/BMW5/33.jpg
http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...il/BMW5/36.jpg
35. http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/t...il/BMW5/37.jpg

Great job, that is what my new Mini Countryman paint looks like. Hard to believe these paint jobs are coming from the BMW factory...:shrug:

BMW has always been notorious for orange peel. My new (then) 97 and 98 M3's had it as well.

Great work!

What a transformation! Great work!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Insman (Post 1089347)

Great job, that is what my new Mini Countryman paint looks like. Hard to believe these paint jobs are coming from the BMW factory...:shrug:

Its the new environmental paint, not much they can do about it.

Thanks everyone!

Yes the new waterbourne enviro friendly paint is definitely subject to orange peel a lot more than the old solvent based paints

Outstanding................(even though I said so on Autopia earlier lol).

Good job, thanks for sharing. And nice colour too.

Awesome job. I saw a newer M3 recently and could not believe the amount of orange peel.

Thanks everyone!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Auto Concierge (Post 1089806)

Outstanding................(even though I said so on Autopia earlier lol).

I appreciate it twice as much! haha, thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by FLY996 (Post 1089830)

Awesome job. I saw a newer M3 recently and could not believe the amount of orange peel.

Thank you! I find a lot of the M cars to have worse peel than the standard models :shrug:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oakes (Post 1090072)

I find a lot of the M cars to have worse peel than the standard models :shrug:

I agree. I own a 2002 325i, which has almost no peel at all. Don't know what it is, but a lot of new M cars I see at dealerships have peel everywhere. You'd think it'd be the opposite, wouldn't you?

Awesome job! This M5 is ready to show off its shiny blue paint around town now. :)

Great work i like these threads, you are brave starting with 1000 and finishing with 3000 were there any flatting marks left over under strip lights?

I normally hand blocked 2000 then DA 3000 and finish 4000 with mirka abralon

Quote:

Originally Posted by depthofshine (Post 1091737)

I agree!, Mirks 4000 finishes the job perfectly.

Beautiful. Perfect work.

Out of curiosity why did you post the pics before the CQuartz? Do you feel CQuartz enhanced the finish or just added protection?

The purpose of the pictures before the Cquartz is to show the paint was infact perfect and defect free. As with most last step protection, the product can lightly fill or mask any defects that may have been in the paint. Thus enhancing it.

Very good. Is orange peel removal always a multi-day effort or would it take less on a new BMW?

all depends on the size of the vehicle and how severe it is. If you're on the car straight through it would still be a multi day ordeal if theres just one person on the car.

Slow clap. THAT'S patience!

Thank you both! This car was quite the task

amazing job... Car looks amazing after all is done.

How much would something like this cost?

i used to read your threads back when i was active on supraforums. amazing work as always! and most importantly, keep the threads coming! :thumbup:

very good work! congrats, car looks stunning!

amazing work.. I owned an 06 S4 avant that had the same problem and I never knew what it was. Tried so many different waxes, polishes, etc and could never get it right. Now I see why.

Out of curiousity; wouldnt the cost of a 95 hour detail be almost the same as having the car repainted?

Always impressive what true professionals can do.

Two Thumbs Up!!!

OAKES DETAIL is the real deal guys --- Cant wait to have them do my Cayman R in the coming months (just in time for Spring!) :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by C Money (Post 1248823)

amazing job... Car looks amazing after all is done.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MC357 (Post 1252688)

How much would something like this cost?

Quote:

Originally Posted by distovei (Post 1252717)

i used to read your threads back when i was active on supraforums. amazing work as always! and most importantly, keep the threads coming! :thumbup:

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaioLLV (Post 1254772)

very good work! congrats, car looks stunning!

Thank you all! The cost is all dependent on the hours involved at a typical labor rate of $65 an hour.

Quote:

Originally Posted by parealtor (Post 1254805)

A proper, professional OEM style paint job would be in the 10s of thousands around here. The $5k paint jobs would have been lesser quality paint and even lesser finish with orange peel still likely to be present. Thank you!

Quote:

Originally Posted by pearlcoupeg35 (Post 1254807)

Two Thumbs Up!!!

OAKES DETAIL is the real deal guys --- Cant wait to have them do my Cayman R in the coming months (just in time for Spring!) :)

Thank you Jon! Cant wait to see that beast in here, great looking car!

95 hours x 65 = $6175 wow!

Do you travel? Im in Bucks County PA off of 95. If I were to arrange to have 3 or 4 cars to do would that be something you would have interest in?

Quote:

Originally Posted by TraderHal (Post 1266758)

95 hours x 65 = $6175 wow!

Still much better than most shop labor rates haha!

Quote:

Originally Posted by parealtor (Post 1266821)

Do you travel? Im in Bucks County PA off of 95. If I were to arrange to have 3 or 4 cars to do would that be something you would have interest in?

I've traveled before, yes!

My beat to shit M3 is going to need about 130hrs