[gofast182]

This is a few weeks old as I did the work on July 3rd/4th but I wanted to share with fellow G05ers. I had been waiting for months for a combination of dry weather (hard to come by in NJ this spring) and free time to apply a ceramic coating to our new X5. It finally came together this weekend and I applied Polish Angel Cosmic V2. Ceramic coatings are not known for all-out gloss but I chose this coating because of a generous amount of TiO2 along with the SiO2, trying to prioritize relative gloss over longevity (12mo instead of 24mo like some claim).

I started on the evening of the 3rd when I removed the wheels, cleaned them, and treated them with their own ceramic coating (Pinnacle Black Diamond). Wheel removal was a must for such a thorough cleaning. On the morning of the 4th I was out at 7am to start the rest of the prep... clean the jambs, wash, iron remover, wash, clay, wash. After all of that it was time to polish using my new Rupes LHR15 Mk. III and the Polish Angel Invincible Primer. The Rupes made quick work of it compared to my PC (bigger pad and longer throw) and the Invincible Primer was an extremely mild polish, I think it was more about a chemical base. After all of this prep. it was ~12PM and it was now time for the first application of Cosmic V2. It went on like a thick paint sealant with the supplied applicator which was nice compared to some other coatings which are very liquid. Wait 2hrs, remove, and apply a second coat. Wait 2hrs, remove, and hit it with Cosmic Spritz to accelerate the cure. At this point it was about 5PM. Around 7PM I noticed the first signs of dew starting to form so I backed it into our garage and scratched one of the fender flares on our new baby, ugh. Anyway it was a long involved process and it looks pretty good (there are products I know would give it more gloss but that's not 100% what I'm after here). Only time will tell if it was worth it.

On Sunday I did my biannual detail on my 340i using Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant 3.0. A quality sealant and a black car at dusk are much more conducive to gloss shots than a white car earlier in the day.

Here are pics of both cars.

[gofast182]

No love for a white G05 with ceramic coating and a clean black 340i? Tough crowd!

[radmjk]

Looks like you put a lot of time and effort into it, and I think it looks Impressive! Good work! I'm patiently waiting for my 2020....

[natahoa]

Sorry I’ve been busy and just saw this. Looks great! Sounds hard ...

My priority is keeping bird and tree droppings and bugnuts cleaned every day or two. I used car guys hybrid wax. Looked good but was a nightmare on the windows.

Must recently I used turtle ice wax, the spray on kind. This seems to make the car easier to clean.

[LexxM3]

Originally Posted by gofast182

No love for a white G05 with ceramic coating and a clean black 340i? Tough crowd!

We were just rendered speechless

[aone415]

We have the same cars and opposite colors [IMG][/IMG]

[gofast182]

Originally Posted by aone415

We have the same cars and opposite colors [IMG][/IMG]

Haha nice! And you're also in Jersey and not running a front plate (I've never been stopped for it yet ::knock on wood:: )

[Jrunr]

These look great! Love the look on the black BMW

[RowanBuds]

Cars both looking great! It's a labor of love to do these deep clean jobs, if you've got the patience for it, all the better.

I had the drive to do it for the first 3.5 years with my M3, but the labor of love part has dwindled rapidly over the last year. I was doing twice-weekly full washes, with monthly full details from March/April through November. Had to wash it the other week, and what a chore it felt like.

How did you do the wheel cleaning/ceramic application? Do you have a 2/4 post lift to keep the car suspended, or did you do:

Jack corner up, remove wheel.
Clean wheel
Dry Wheel
Ceramic coat 1
Wait 2 hours
Ceramic coat 2
Wait two hours
Curing agent
Re-install wheel and move to the next corner.


I find wheel cleaning/detailing off of the car to be incredibly inefficient without getting the car wholly off ground, or having a second full set of wheels for her to sit on.

Thanks, and keep up the good work! What'd you charge me to do a ceramic on my G05 when it's home in NJ?

[gofast182]

Thanks for the kind words. It was pretty much the sequence of operations you listed except that I used Pinnacle Black Diamond Wheel Coating which you wipe off after it hazes instead of the long cure cycle you mentioned. All 4 wheels were done in a couple hours and removing them also allowed me to coat the M Sport calipers MUCH easier. The coating doesn't keep the wheels from getting dirty but hitting them with the pressure washer can blast the dirt away with almost no residue.