[Palmnuts]

I finally managed to complete get a decent detailing session on my new M6 over the last weekend and I'm just amazed how good this San Marino Blue colour turns out when the sun shines. Heres a summary of most of the products used and some pictures of the results (sorry, no in-flight snaps ).

Washed with BMW-branded shampoo (honestly, it's the only stuff I've used that doesn't cause the door seals to creak - all other shampoos seem to have additives which then tend to make seals on frameless doors noisy).

Clayed with Sonus Ultra Fine Clay and Sonus Clay Lube - a great clay which is so gentle that you'd have to be really careless to mar the paintwork

Machined with a 3M polishing pad and Menzerna Final Finish - hardly required this as the clay was so gentle so this really was just to prepare the surface, after which it was wiped down with IPA

Sealed with 22PLE VX1 Signature Glass Coat - to be honest, I'm not that impressed with this product and won't be using it again (will try Nanolex Sealant on the M135i when that arrives in a couple of weeks)

Waxed with 2 coats of Swissvax Blau-Weiss - this is Swissvax's BMW Specific polish and not only is it very easy to apply, it leaves a lovely wet-look finish

Exhausts cleaned with Meguiers Metal Polish - an utter crap product IMO and I much prefer Autosol. I then sealed them with Black Diamond Metal Sealant which is an excellent product for exhaust as nothing sticks to them after you've applied a couple of coats of this.

Glass cleaned with Auto Finesse Crystal - I've only recently come across this product and I cannot stress how good it appears to be. Considering it's a wipe-on wipe-off product, it's ease of use and lack of smearing is impressive to the point that it feels almost too easy! I then sealed the side and rear windows with Nanolex Ultra Glass Sealant (I don't do the windscreen though, as I hate the smearing effect that all glass sealants create when applied on windscreens)

Wheels sealed with Swissvax Autobhan - this is PTFE sealant which makes the wheels über smooth and so easy to clean. Having said that, I'm really seeing the benefit of the ceramic brakes because I get absolutely no brake dust whatsoever from them meaning the wheels always look clean.

Tyres treated with Zaino Z16 tyre gloss, which is another product that I thoroughly recommend for it's natural sheen (more coats = more gloss if required), easy application (simply wipe on with a sponge) and reasonable longevity (the tyres look good between weekly washes).

Interior....well, not much to do in there give it's a three-week old car other than vacuum it and remove fingerprints from the shiny surfaces with a microfibre and Autoglym car glass polish.

Saying that, the Opal White BMW Individual leather is clearly of a different quality than the normal BMW stuff (even the usual higher-quality Merino stuff). This is both good and bad....good, in that it's so soft and really does look and feels of Rolls Royce quality (is the 'Individual' leather similar to what they use in Rollers I wonder?). But bad in that it's also less hardy and much more susceptible to soaking in dye transfer from jeans, and requires an almost daily wipe down, where the dye is then not that easy to remove!

Heres some of the results....

[AlanQS]

Simples! Don't wear bloody blue jeans in the car!

Surely it's worth the effort?!

[rogerxp]

Looks alright I guess.

[dopper99]

Virtually identical steering wheel to a new 3/4 series M Sport.

Car looks nice thou.....

[JustinGTP]

Amazing car. The blue jean transfer comes off. I clean my white dakota leather a lot. Haha.

[dxb335d]

Looks the business.

[xenon]

Stunning car.

[dobbo99]

first 3 photos are great.
I think you have cheated slightly though, its a brand new car!

[Dannyrado]

Distinctly meh.







Not.

[Ste133]

Lovely. I scrolled up and down the photos three or four times... one more time

[briers]

thought you'd sold this

can't fault this, looks stunning

[chrisbin]

Usual location then??

Looks fantastic, but definitely "high maintenance"!

[nicktyler]

Jeans dye transfer? £85k car £10 primark jeans??

Just to be clear I am wearing £8 primark jeans as I type this.

[Alpina_B3_Lux]

Nice looking car mate. And good cleaning! You should come over to Luxembourg and apply your considerable skills to my car, that would be lovely. You'd even get a free dinner for your efforts!

Some chaps from the UK come over to the 'Ring on the first week-end of October. Care to join them? I'd love to get a ride in that machine (without wearing jeans).

Alpina_B3_Lux

[gaza01]

looks lovely
Gtechnique L1 is meant to be good for preventing dye transfer

[themetz]

Luvverly

And a couple of pairs of white jeans, Aha-style, will solve the soiling issue!

[scottc]

Looks awesome Andrew, interesting what you say about the new shampoo as I use Zaino at the moment. I have been tempted to try Swissvax for some time but after trying zymol I have been put off by how hard it is to get off. How do you find it?

Love the car, I would say it's my favorite car you have had so far, even more than the 911 turbo and you know how much I like 911's :-)

[Josh1a1h]

DAYMN!

[Palmnuts]

Thanks as always, although theres more interest in my jeans

Originally Posted by AlanQS

Simples! Don't wear bloody blue jeans in the car!

Surely it's worth the effort?!

As 90% of my clothes are jeans, this could potentially cause a problem!

Originally Posted by themetz

Luvverly

And a couple of pairs of white jeans, Aha-style, will solve the soiling issue!

A pair of white/cream jeans makes up the other 10% of my trouser collection!

Originally Posted by dopper99

Virtually identical steering wheel to a new 3/4 series M Sport.

Yes it is....but you saw it first in the M6 It's a great wheel, in true old-school M car style (small round boss, thin rounded spokes, aka e34 M5 IIRC)

Originally Posted by JustinGTP

Amazing car. The blue jean transfer comes off. I clean my white dakota leather a lot. Haha.

It does with enough effort - not rubbing off the leather at the same time is the challenge. This leather really soaks it up like nothing I've had before - it's nowhere near as durable as Dakota.

Originally Posted by briers

thought you'd sold this

can't fault this, looks stunning

Well, I sold one that was very similar - I had a non-Competiton Pack one for a few weeks before I got a silly deal on a new one

Originally Posted by chrisbin

Usual location then??

Looks fantastic, but definitely "high maintenance"!

Yep, I like photo's there - good contrasting back ground and a bit more interesting than my driveway!

Originally Posted by nicktyler

Jeans dye transfer? £85k car £10 primark jeans??

Just to be clear I am wearing £8 primark jeans as I type this.

I can definitely confirm that the price of jeans has no bearing on their ability to not bleed!

.....as my premium Matalan jeans prove

Originally Posted by Alpina_B3_Lux

Some chaps from the UK come over to the 'Ring on the first week-end of October. Care to join them? I'd love to get a ride in that machine (without wearing jeans).

Alpina_B3_Lux

Thanks Marcel - are you saying 5/6 Oct?

I could probably do this - anyone going that I know and what days will you be there? (I don't fancy being a billy no mates if I'm driving all the way out there!)

Originally Posted by scottc

Looks awesome Andrew, interesting what you say about the new shampoo as I use Zaino at the moment. I have been tempted to try Swissvax for some time but after trying zymol I have been put off by how hard it is to get off. How do you find it?

Love the car, I would say it's my favorite car you have had so far, even more than the 911 turbo and you know how much I like 911's :-)

I have Zaino too and it's a very good shampoo...but I just find that all shampoos bar the BMW-branded one tend to be the cause of noisy door seals as they seem to have additives or waxes in them.

It stems from a few years ago when I got BMW to replace my M3 door seals under warranty for noise and they recommended I used their shampoo to avoid the problem in future. I didn't believe it at first, thinking hey would say that, but it appears to be true - never had noisy seals when I've used only BMW shampoo. I only rigidly stick to this on a brand new car, because if I buy anything used then it'll have had other products used in it already.

[fastloop]

Originally Posted by Palmnuts

Thanks Marcel - are you saying 5/6 Oct?

I could probably do this - anyone going that I know and what days will you be there? (I don't fancy being a billy no mates if I'm driving all the way out there!)

I'm going out Wednesday and back Monday evening, but will be staying a bit further away from the track. My mate and I are planning to be at the track Saturday & Sunday, but probably also during one or more of the evening sessions Thurs/Fri. It really depends on the weather.

It would be good to meet up and see your new car if you decide to take Marcel up on his offer. You know you can't say no to a cow on a hot stone.

[Palmnuts]

Hey Lars, you're right, the lure of steak on a stone is too much

Both Tony and I are coming - we booked the train and hotel the evening. We're leaving very early Saturday AM so should be with you just after lunch. Would be good to get some laps in with you and Marcel . It really is a visit for a few laps and steak with you guys as we need to be back in the UK by Sunday afternoon.

Is a table booked at the Pistenklause on Saturday night and if so, can we add another 3 people to it please (the missus is coming along too)?

[fastloop]

Originally Posted by Palmnuts

Hey Lars, you're right, the lure of steak on a stone is too much

Both Tony and I are coming - we booked the train and hotel the evening. We're leaving very early Saturday AM so should be with you just after lunch. Would be good to get some laps in with you and Marcel . It really is a visit for a few laps and steak with you guys as we need to be back in the UK by Sunday afternoon.

Is a table booked at the Pistenklause on Saturday night and if so, can we add another 3 people to it please (the missus is coming along too)?

Excellent! Looking forward to meeting up.

Have you got transport sorted from the train station to the hotel as I don't remember seeing any train stations near by. AFAIK the table is not booked at the Pistenklause unless Marcel has done it. I'll check with Jonny if he is staying Saturday evening or not. So with Marcel+1 that's at least 6-7. Today has pretty much disappeared wrapping up work and packing, so now is the first moment I have had to take a breather.

I'm quite looking forward to this and hope the weather stays dry as I'm not bringing spare road tyres.