Whats up guys :redspot . I have a white 97 540I and i want to detail it this weekend. anyone have some tips on bringing out the showroom shine on the paint. and also whats the best way to clean the wood interior. I appreciate all the tips.:D

Guide to Detailing (http://autopia.org/forum/guide-detailing/)
For the wood, you might try wetsanding if it is bad enough, otherwise try PlastX or ScratchX.

careful when you wetsand if you do, the clearcoat on those plastics are very thin. Also, i'd advise that you use a sealant as is my choice for white cars (last step polisH).

White is a fantastic color to polish and wax....it should hurt your eyes to look at it in the sun LOL!

If you have a porter-cable, I recommend a good polish for swirl removal (Meguiar's #83 or the new Pinnacle XMT line..1-2-3-4 depending upon correction level), followed by a sealant for brilliant gloss. Wolfgang Sealant or one of the new favorites Pinnacle XMT360 is very nice and gives a protective coating.

For cleaning the interior wood trim: I use a boar's hair brush and a diluted solution of liquid dishwash soap and warm water (10:1 or so). The boar's hair will not scratch the finish and I also use it on leather seats and door panels.

Have fun with the car!

Toto

Thanks for all the asnwers. Can i ask though why is everyone using the portacable poisher. I have a dewalt. Is there something about the portacable or is using a dewalt wrong? confused

Are you using the DeWalt rotary polisher? Nothing wrong with that at all...I have 2 of them at the shop along with a Metabo and Festool Rotex.

Most folks use the Porter-Cable because it is very forgiving and easy to use.

Toto

yeah it's the rotary polisher. It is tricky though if you use it to fast and put too much pressure you liable to take all the pain off lol. Thanks for the answer, i thought there might have been something special about the porta cable

I like Zaino on my white car. Makes it look like a mirror. Mind you it is going to be 20yo this September.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y219/kazakovi/bmw/P1070903.jpg

oh wow, that is nice. Where fo you get that? Online? or can i get it at a pepboys or soemthing?

Zaino is to expensive to throw on a white car IMO.
I would just get some poorboys EX-P, or Pinnacle Deep gloss.
Both are sealants and that's all you really need. No point wasting
good carnuba wax on a paintjob that just won't show it. Polishing is
really the only thing that will make you're paint look better, other
than just a good paint sealant of course.

What about Klasse Sealant Glaze?

I used Klasse on mine and love the results!