BMW i Forums - View Single Post - Rear bumper

evanevery · 10-28-2019, 12:43 PM

OK, here we go...

The largest part of this process is the prep. This is why it took me about 3 days to do each of my cars. The prep is basically the same as you would do regardless whether you were doing a ceramic coating or wax. However, since a ceramic coating is such a semi-permanent thing (investment), you definitely want to start with a properly prepared surface. The good news is that once you have the basic paint prep done, you should never have to do it again (unless you are touching something up)!

1. General Paint/Surface Prep:

- Wash the car with a DISH DETERGENT (dawn), NOT a "car shampoo". We want a detergent solution which will STRIP as much wax and surface deposits as possible.

- Wipe the car down with "IronX". This will lift as much particulate off of the paint as possible. Most cars are shipped by train at some point and this will help remove any iron based "rail dust" as possible: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004UMB7WY

- Use a clay bar to wipe down the car. This will remove more of the subsurface impurities which a wash and IronX won't get. This is a standard part of proper paint prep (again, not just for ceramic coatings): https://www.amazon.com/Griots-Garage.../dp/B003POLA84

- Buff/Polish away any swirl marks or scratches which may have appeared over time. This may involve an electric buffer, various grades of buffer pads and polishes. Here's the buffing kit I started with: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M05F4U5 and some additional pads https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017GAGHMQ and polishing compounds https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00P67GSRG

- Wash/Rinse the car one more time (again with a dish detergent) to remove and residue from the paint prep process.

- Buff the car with Essence. This stuff is a great final buffing/polishing step. The reason we are doing this AFTER we do the final wash/rinse is that it leaves a SiO2 surface behind which is perfect for immediately receiving a Ceramic Coating directly! If you use Essence, and plan on applying a ceramic coating, you want to do the final wash/rinse BEFORE the Essence so you do not leave any soap residue or other chemicals behind.

2. Prepare the surface for Ceramic Coating (a little more demanding then wax)

- Wipe the car down with a 50/50 solution of isopropyl alcohol and distilled water. This will remove any chemicals still on the surface of the paint. (NOTE that you will NOT have to do this if you just buffed the car with Essence - but you CAN). You can also use a premix called Eraser instead of a 50/50 alcohol mix: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FY1E0HE

- Apply the Ceramic Coating according to the Manufacturers Recommendations (NOTE: That different ceramic coatings have different application techniques. OptiCoat wants to be wiped on and then left to flash, CQuarts wants to be wiped on and then wiped off a minute later). I greatly prefer the appearance and quality of CQuartz UK 3.0: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D4NXNTV Its relatively expensive stuff but although there is only 50 ml in the bottle you should be able to 2 or 3 cars with that amount. It goes on very sparingly.

- Do a second coat of the CQUK if you have the time. You need to wait for several hours (overnight) to let the first coat fully cure.

- You can spray and wipe Reload on top of the CQuartz coating (after it cures for several hours or overnight) to give it even more depth and hydrophobic properties. Reload can also be used from time to time to refresh the ceramic coating and give it a boost: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L9A0AC8. The link I provided for CQuartz above includes a sample which you can use to do the car the first time.

- You can use GLISS instead of Reload for an every "wetter" top coat. I like the Reload cause I mix it with my ECH2O (see below). The GLISS might be a litter better standalone though: https://www.amazon.com/CarPro-GLISS-.../dp/B078F5Q4DR

- While you can/should Reload to refresh you coating from time to time, you might also simply want to use a detailing compound (wipe-on/wipe-off) to further deepen the appearance of your coating. ECH20 is a waterless detailing spray which can be wiped on/off quickly (on a relatively clean car) without washing. Note that ECH2O is already intended to be mixed down with water (1/5 - 1/10) but you can even mix in a bit of Reload to make a killer detailing spray: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076KNF38C

Here are some extra items I noted in my orders used to research the above links:

- Extra APPLICATOR small microfiber suede towels. These are the smaller "suede-like" towels you use to APPLY the coating. As Ceramic Coating is a semi-permant coating these can only be used ONCE: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CESRDXW

- Extra WIPE_OFF microfiber suede towels. These are the larger "suede-like" towels you use to WIPE OFF the coating: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005FG397U

- Regular Microfiber Towels. These are general purpose microfiber towels used for wiping off regular polishes or detail sprays: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NAAJLVG

10-28-2019, 12:43 PM	#13
evanevery Lieutenant Colonel 1113 Rep 1,904 Posts Drives: iXM60, i8 Rdstr, M4, i7 M70 Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Wisconsin iTrader: (0)	OK, here we go... The largest part of this process is the prep. This is why it took me about 3 days to do each of my cars. The prep is basically the same as you would do regardless whether you were doing a ceramic coating or wax. However, since a ceramic coating is such a semi-permanent thing (investment), you definitely want to start with a properly prepared surface. The good news is that once you have the basic paint prep done, you should never have to do it again (unless you are touching something up)! 1. General Paint/Surface Prep: - Wash the car with a DISH DETERGENT (dawn), NOT a "car shampoo". We want a detergent solution which will STRIP as much wax and surface deposits as possible. - Wipe the car down with "IronX". This will lift as much particulate off of the paint as possible. Most cars are shipped by train at some point and this will help remove any iron based "rail dust" as possible: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004UMB7WY - Use a clay bar to wipe down the car. This will remove more of the subsurface impurities which a wash and IronX won't get. This is a standard part of proper paint prep (again, not just for ceramic coatings): https://www.amazon.com/Griots-Garage.../dp/B003POLA84 - Buff/Polish away any swirl marks or scratches which may have appeared over time. This may involve an electric buffer, various grades of buffer pads and polishes. Here's the buffing kit I started with: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M05F4U5 and some additional pads https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017GAGHMQ and polishing compounds https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00P67GSRG - Wash/Rinse the car one more time (again with a dish detergent) to remove and residue from the paint prep process. - Buff the car with Essence. This stuff is a great final buffing/polishing step. The reason we are doing this AFTER we do the final wash/rinse is that it leaves a SiO2 surface behind which is perfect for immediately receiving a Ceramic Coating directly! If you use Essence, and plan on applying a ceramic coating, you want to do the final wash/rinse BEFORE the Essence so you do not leave any soap residue or other chemicals behind. 2. Prepare the surface for Ceramic Coating (a little more demanding then wax) - Wipe the car down with a 50/50 solution of isopropyl alcohol and distilled water. This will remove any chemicals still on the surface of the paint. (NOTE that you will NOT have to do this if you just buffed the car with Essence - but you CAN). You can also use a premix called Eraser instead of a 50/50 alcohol mix: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FY1E0HE - Apply the Ceramic Coating according to the Manufacturers Recommendations (NOTE: That different ceramic coatings have different application techniques. OptiCoat wants to be wiped on and then left to flash, CQuarts wants to be wiped on and then wiped off a minute later). I greatly prefer the appearance and quality of CQuartz UK 3.0: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D4NXNTV Its relatively expensive stuff but although there is only 50 ml in the bottle you should be able to 2 or 3 cars with that amount. It goes on very sparingly. - Do a second coat of the CQUK if you have the time. You need to wait for several hours (overnight) to let the first coat fully cure. - You can spray and wipe Reload on top of the CQuartz coating (after it cures for several hours or overnight) to give it even more depth and hydrophobic properties. Reload can also be used from time to time to refresh the ceramic coating and give it a boost: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L9A0AC8. The link I provided for CQuartz above includes a sample which you can use to do the car the first time. - You can use GLISS instead of Reload for an every "wetter" top coat. I like the Reload cause I mix it with my ECH2O (see below). The GLISS might be a litter better standalone though: https://www.amazon.com/CarPro-GLISS-.../dp/B078F5Q4DR - While you can/should Reload to refresh you coating from time to time, you might also simply want to use a detailing compound (wipe-on/wipe-off) to further deepen the appearance of your coating. ECH20 is a waterless detailing spray which can be wiped on/off quickly (on a relatively clean car) without washing. Note that ECH2O is already intended to be mixed down with water (1/5 - 1/10) but you can even mix in a bit of Reload to make a killer detailing spray: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076KNF38C Here are some extra items I noted in my orders used to research the above links: - Extra APPLICATOR small microfiber suede towels. These are the smaller "suede-like" towels you use to APPLY the coating. As Ceramic Coating is a semi-permant coating these can only be used ONCE: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CESRDXW - Extra WIPE_OFF microfiber suede towels. These are the larger "suede-like" towels you use to WIPE OFF the coating: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005FG397U - Regular Microfiber Towels. These are general purpose microfiber towels used for wiping off regular polishes or detail sprays: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NAAJLVG __________________ The Jiggery-Pokery is Strong with this One https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1645366 https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1197553 https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...4&postcount=35 Last edited by evanevery; 10-28-2019 at 02:34 PM..
	Appreciate 1 Nachbar8024.00 Quote