One of our loyal customers picked up a brand new G81 BMW M3 Competition Touring towards the end of 2024 and it immediately came to us for a Gtechniq New Car Detail.
The customer opted for our Platinum Detailing Package, which includes Gtechniq's flagship coatings; Crystal Serum Ultra, a 9-year coating, and EXO V5, a hydrophobic top-coat designed to make maintenance washes far easier.
With the customer living 3 hours away from our detailing base here in Hampshire, the car arrived fairly dirty.
We got the detail underway with a safe decontamination wash.
We started with a pre-wash to remove road grime, followed by a snow foam treatment to safely treat any remaining initial contaminants. After the necessary dwell-time, we fully rinsed the M3 ready for a contact wash.
We use a two-bucket hand wash method as part of our details. This means we're able rinse the microfibre wash mitt we're using at multiple stages. Any minute particles of dirt become trapped in the rinse bucket and do not become re-applied to the car. After this stage is complete, the car is rinsed once more.
Brand new cars tend to have other contamination on the paintwork, including iron fallout and road tar deposits. These can be picked up during the journey from the factory to the dealership as well as any other movements the car makes.
This is especially the case if rail logistics are involved, or if the car has sat next to an industrial area for any reason. We use specialist iron fallout and tar removers to fully treat these contaminants. This stage also preps painted surfaces for later steps, such as machine polishing.
With the 'wet work' complete, it was time to move the car into our detailing bay.
Once indoors, the first step was to remove the wheels. We did this to deep-clean the intricate spokes and wheel barrels ready for Gtechniq C5 Wheel Armour installation.
It's important to clean all areas to ensure the ceramic coating has the best surface possible to adhere to, therefore maximising its performance.
While the wheels were being worked on, all four wheel arches were deep-cleaned and protected with a trim dressing.
As this was happening, the M3's leather interior was cleaned and coating with Gtechniq L1 Leather Guard. This is a fantastic option for protecting leather from the sun's UV rays, clothing dye transfer and it promotes abrasion resistance... while being anti-bacterial. The perfect treatment if you have a busy life which can sometimes result in small coffee and food spillages.
With the M3's wheels now dry, our in-house wheel coating expert, Alex, installed the Gtechniq C5 Wheel Armour. Due to the complex design of the wheels, plenty of attention was paid to the spokes. This ensured all surfaces were equally covered with C5.
This is a 12-month coating designed to repel brake dust and road grime, making cleaning the wheels far easier. Considering the design of the wheels, this will be of huge benefit to the customer.
With the wheels now complete the team moved onto preparing and coating exterior glass. We ensured all surfaces were free of contamination, water spots and other small defects ready for three coats of Gtechniq G1. This is a 2-year, hydrophobic coating design to repel rain, making wet weather driving safer.
The process of installing Gtechniq G1 is always fantastic to see, as we apply the coating in multiple directions to ensure all areas are covered. This is a strict procedure that we adhere to as set out in our Gtechniq Accredited training.
The G1 is then removed with G2, ensuring all glass is crystal clear and protected.
We then moved onto the paintwork. Generally speaking all surfaces weren't too bad with only very mild swirl marks being present. This is usually because of dealer prep.
We used one of our favourite compounds, P&S Rehab, with a black finishing pad to gently prepare all areas ready for Gtechniq Crystal Serum Ultra.
With a combined 30 years detailing experience, paintwork correction is just one area we excel in. We're also an official RUPES partner, so we have access to the latest machine polishers and accessories to get the best results every time.
The paintwork was now free of swirl marks and minor scratches. The waviness you can see in the photo above is the factory-installed orange peel. This is something that can be removed to achieve a mirror finish. It's a long process and a service we can talk to you about if it's something you'd like for your vehicle.
Painted surfaces were wiped down with Gtechniq Panel Wipe which prepares each panel to receive the Crystal Serum Ultra ceramic coating.
Crystal Serum Ultra is an Accredited Detailer-only coating and has to be applied in a specific way, in a controlled environment. This is to ensure application consistency and maximum performance.
Once cured, the Crystal Serum Ultra is 'levelled' and buffed. This prepares the new surface of all painted areas for EXO V5, Gtechniq's hydrophobic top coat.
Similar to Crystal Serum Ultra, EXO V5 is applied in a specific way to ensure it performs the way it should on your vehicle. When EXO starts to 'flash off' it's time to be levelled and buffed.
It's important to use high-quality towels for the final buff, which is why we opt for The Rag Company's Pearl coating towels. Conveniently, they come in a box, on a roll, ready to tear off and are known as Rip N' Rags. These leave all areas clean, shiny and protected with no 'lint' which can sometimes be associated with cheaper towels.
Finishing touches to the M3 included tyre dressing to make the car really 'pop'. We use Gtechniq T1 as this product gives a fantastic finish to tyres and is durable. So when you eventually get home and start to show your car to people, the tyres will still look fantastic.
With all coatings applied and wheel nuts torqued to spec, it was time for the customer to collect his car!
Once the car was outside and the sun hit the paintwork, the car came alive and all of our work became very obvious. The car looked incredible and the customer was over the moon with the transformation, even though it was brand new!
And that's a wrap! If you'd like your car detailing feel free to get in touch as we'd love to hear from you. It doesn't matter if it's new, new-to-you, or a vehicle you've owned for a while, we can transform anything to look clean and shiny.
The Clean and Shiny Team.
