Introducing my new (to me) X5 "Equi" after paint correction

[SkypirateX]

I bought my 2011 X5 M-sport back in September.

I had been looking for an X5 for the past few months, and came across this one. Being an M-Sport with almost every option and low miles (30K) I couldn't say no.
The name "Equi" comes from the way Cubans say the letter X in Spanish, and the fact that my car is from South Motors BMW which is so far south in Florida its almost in Cuba (Jokingly).

Within the first month I swapped the grilles to gloss black, changed the reflectors to IND's color matched ones and replaced the fogs, coronas, corner lights and license plate lights with LED's. I just got a JB stage 1 tune for the truck and love it!

The one downside to "Equi" was her previous owner took terrible care of the paint. So bad to the point where they probably dried her with a combination of 80 grit sandpaper and sandy beach towels....

My buddy was kind enough to help me over the course of 3 days and in excess of 30 hrs with a 3 stage paint correction.

We used Menzerna cutting and polishing compounds, FG400-4500. Some rubberized buffing pads that took the place of claybars (for the most part). Hundreds of microfibers and much much more... Below is some of it



To begin, the whole truck was washed with normal car wash soap. We then sprayed on this product called iron X which was used to help decontaminate the surface before clay baring with the rubber pads.

Using the rubber pads on the buffers an entire panel could be clayed in less than a minute vs what would take almost half an hr if you were to clay it by hand.
After we clayed that particular days section (1st day was hood, front fenders, front bumper 2nd was the right side of the car and the 3rd we finished everything else which was the longest day by far) the car was washed again then taped off.

Here is how nasty the paint looked before...



After everything was tapped off, each panel was cut with the FG400 and a cutting disc, then polished with the 2500 and a medium pad and finally polished with 4500 and a polishing pad. The process was very time consuming but the end result was amazing

After the 4500 polishing step the whole car was wiped clean then alcohol'd and wiped down again. We then coated it with opti coat which is a scratch resistant clear coat. After that dried we applied reload to seal everything we had just done. Over 30 hours of work and 3 days later "Equi" had never looked so good.

Here are some pics from the job. Enjoy! Any questions feel free to ask away

We used my buddys shop, here he is below going to town with the 4500 polish


The buffer with one of the cutting pads (its pretty chewed up at this point) we used 9 pads in total to finish the job 3 of each level. Bottom left is one of the rubber clay bar pads that had overheated and the center melted (ooops not enough lubricant "glide" was used)


That reflection...


Here she is all done. Ill have better pics after Friday when I can wash her fully. You have to wait a week for the opti coat to cure before the car is washed again.


Plans for the car include...
Tint, I know I need it ASAP
Intake, DP, charge pipe, a Megan axle back and a custom dyno tune. My friends shop uses a custom tuner who says he can get her up to mid/high 300whp and over 500lbs of torque.
Eventually a Vargas turbo kit
Coilovers & Wheels
and more

Enjoy

[P1]

Finally a detail thread! What a turnaround. Gorgeous work! Looking forward to some additional pics...

[SkypirateX]

Originally Posted by P1et

Finally a detail thread! What a turnaround. Gorgeous work! Looking forward to some additional pics...

Thanks! Ill post some more of what I have and after I can wash her again ill be sure to post the outcome.

[SkypirateX]

Here is a before and after of the fenders

[X5M_DA]

Wow ! Great job !

[Christopher06]

good job looks like I'm going to have to try to do the same

[m5 guy]

Fantastic work. Just had this done last week as well by my fried. Took off the 22ple, did some polishing, and put on gtechniq serum. He's coming back next week to top off the serum with some exo.

Nothing like having a properly detailed car, can't wait to see some more pics of you beauty!

[SkypirateX]

Finally got around to washing her!

As you can see Reload is awesome stuff, the water beads off extremely well


There were swirls all over the car before, now its just a mirror








Wednesday she will be lowwwwww

[m5 guy]

[Sean@PSI]

Looking good!

[joyride]

Truck looks great! I've been wanting to do the full paint correction on mine as well, but with winter coming, i'm just gonna put a few coats of sealant on and do it in the spring.

Question, how bad was the paint in front of the rear wheels? Mine's got some decent pitting, wondering how that's gonna turn out.

Thanks,

[SkypirateX]

Originally Posted by joyride

Truck looks great! I've been wanting to do the full paint correction on mine as well, but with winter coming, i'm just gonna put a few coats of sealant on and do it in the spring.

Question, how bad was the paint in front of the rear wheels? Mine's got some decent pitting, wondering how that's gonna turn out.

Thanks,

It had quite a few rock chips and tons of scratches. We were able to get the full color to come back but the chips are obviously all still there. In areas like that it's best to wet sand first then do the above steps. And once the process is complete and hardened, get a clear film put over it to prevent more damage in the future.

[UnicornM]

Nice to see some detailing on X5s round here

I've taken things a step further on my X by wetsanding the dreaded orange peel BMWs are known for. 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000 grit followed by 3 stage polishing and Gtechniq coatings. Although I'm starting to look at Modesta coatings recently.

[F06msportmia]

I am in SFlorida and looking to get a good detailing on "Equi 5". Sent you a PM!