[TboneS54]

Just a quick review/pics of a "lite" coating I applied to my E46 M3. I don't think people quite trust or believe that some of these ceramic coating products that AREN'T in a glass vile can still provide the same level of gloss/shine/hydrophobicity/self-cleaning etc. I just wanted to dispell that. What you don't get is the longevity, but I think everything else is fairly equal.

I prep'd the car the same I would for any LSP - decon/wash, high polish or what I refer to as "burnish" (light pressure, high speed, soft foam, finer grit polish cream, like p3000+). I don't need a stronger polish or a correction so to speak since this car has been maintined well for a while and isn't driving much.

I then sprayed the car with an IPA/distilled water mix to clean it before coating.

The coating I used was Wolfgang's Uber Ceramic spray coating. Retails for $65, but autogeek always has a sale going on - I got this bottle for $16.50 after coupons/sale on BF last year. It's similar to CANCOAT - similar price, similar application and looks I think. Similar shelf life, and similar ability to coat about 6 cars with one bottle.

Having just applied Gyeon Pure Evo to my E90 M3, I have a good frame of reference for this "lite" coating. It smelled very similar (VOCs), flashed similarly, caused the microfiber to harden similarly (the next day) etc.

The Uber spray is strong stuff. I had to use two towels to level because the first towel, once saturated, was pushing product onto glass and adjacent panels, so I had to come by with a second, cleaner/drier towel to catch what would become high spots. Still, application, just like the Gyeon evo stuff (one/pure/mohs/cancoat) was very easy.

I kept the car covered for a few days to let it cure. Pics below are a week later. I also washed the car, and the water behavior was exactly the same as my e90 with Gyeon. Now, I can blow dry the, and pick up any little beads of water with my super premium towel (korean pearl 70/30 450gsm) and my topper/booster (Wolfgang sio2) as a drying aid so that I touch the car as little as possible, and impart as few fine scratches as possible when I do touch it (trying to convert all towels to premium 70/30 split - on a no scratch crusade lol)

Anyway, very happy with the results, car's never looked better, and never been easier to clean. What's nice about the wolfgang and cancoat is that you can do another application (after decon) and extend your protection another 6-12 months. And then you can do that again, or you can polish and start fresh, but either way, you're not having to buy a new bottel of ceramic. You do have to make sure the existing bottle hasn't dried up - perhaps a good idea to store it in its own air tight container.

I can't really say which is better, this coating-lite or the true gyeon coating I did. Some will like the 2-3 years of the gyeon (I don't care tbh), but for about $10 per application, this coating lite hit a home run!

Tip - (if they're clean) Wipe your BBK, wheels and exh tips with the used/saturated towels or applicator and impart some ceramic protection to those parts. You can of course use up more of your product, or even spend more $ on separate, specific products for wheels/trim, but I liked the efficiency of using the soon-to-be-thrown-away (anyway) towels and/or applicator.

[shimmy23]

nice! thanks for taking the time to share your experience

[Jrock645]

Wolfgang makes great stuff- one of my favorite and go to detailing lines. I'm sure you'll be very pleased.

[shimmy23]

oh! let's not forget to acknowledge that beautiful e46 love it! i still miss mine

[a5m]

Originally Posted by shimmy23

oh! let's not forget to acknowledge that beautiful e46 love it! i still miss mine

Exactly. What coating? That thing is gorgeous

[TboneS54]

Ha! Thanks guys

[Nettles]

Damn that’s a clean E46