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This is my new (to me) 2011 BMW X5 M Sport. I had been searching for a while for the perfect X5 and I had my heart set on an Alpine White one. Finally found one last week in Houston and picked it up on Saturday. Took half a day off on Tuesday and detailed it. There is still some stuff to do, but I at least got a good start.

I had given her a quick wash over the weekend.


The fender flares had received some attention from me earlier as you can tell by the painters tape. They were a bit haggard.


Some issues that need to be fixed.








I spent about 45 minutes just cleaning this area, and polishing it by hand. Made a big difference.


We'll need to polish these up.


Leftover wax. Could not figure out how to pop that piece out.


Started by spraying Meg's APC in the wheel wells and cleaning those.


Clayed the whole car, but also used some old clay to clay the inside of the fender flares.


Inside, ready to be dried.


A doggie.


Polished the whole SUV with Menzerna 203S on a green Uber pad.






Making my way around the car.


I will get to these later. I needed to get the dirt from around the bolts.


I have replacement center caps on order.




These needed attention too. Cannot have dirt in the keyhole.


As you can see, it wasn't too bad. I took all these swirls out using the above combo.






Slapped a layer of Menzerna Power Lock on there. Next time, a layer of Swissvax Insignis.

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Pulled her out in the full sun to check my work.


























Much better.


Make a big visual difference to have the bolts cleaned.








I will need to touch this up with some paint.




















Already have parts on order to get the iDrive and the plastic surrounds replaced as you can see there is some wear 'n tear...

[WolfeS2K]

Nice X5 m sport. You don't see those very often.

Good job on the detail. About to do mine since the weather finally got better.

[BoogeyMan'sBMW]

Wow, amazing car. Looks great too, wonderful job!

[liang]

Fantastic. Well done.

[cap1]

Beautiful X5, great work!

[FRRYY]

ok. cleaning those bolts actually made a big improvement IMO.

Those little details make the car feel brand new.

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The X5 goes into the dealerhip in two weeks to get the driver side door grab handle replaced, the iDrive controller replaced, the middle console trim replaced and the shifter replaced. As you can tell in the pics above, they were all peeling to some effect. Great to get this replaced under warranty.

[Gray_Panther]

Great turn around!! I love the attention to detail. Especially the smallest of crevices. How did you go about polishing the rear lid where the license plate was? We might have different methods.

Also, i have a GTI detail coming up and I would like to clean the keyholes like you did. How did you do it and what product did you use. It came out fantastic!

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Originally Posted by Gray_Panther

Great turn around!! I love the attention to detail. Especially the smallest of crevices. How did you go about polishing the rear lid where the license plate was? We might have different methods.

Also, i have a GTI detail coming up and I would like to clean the keyholes like you did. How did you do it and what product did you use. It came out fantastic!

I opened the rear lid so I had easier access to the area where the number plate is. I took off the plate and the plate holder. Since my 6.5" pads are on the larger side, I polished as much as I could with the machine and then did the rest with a microfiber and polish and did it by hand.

I used toothpicks with a little quick detailer and q-tips to clean the keyhole.

[Gray_Panther]

Originally Posted by P1et

I opened the rear lid so I had easier access to the area where the number plate is. I took off the plate and the plate holder. Since my 6.5" pads are on the larger side, I polished as much as I could with the machine and then did the rest with a microfiber and polish and did it by hand.

I used toothpicks with a little quick detailer and q-tips to clean the keyhole.

Genius!

For my rear lid I cut up an old polishing pad and hand polished it that way.

[5soko]

Great work! looks awesome... Any sealant applied to the wheels?

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Originally Posted by 5soko

Great work! looks awesome... Any sealant applied to the wheels?

Yes: Chemical Guys JetSeal
109. Tires have one layer of Optimum Opti-bond topped with ShowroomFX White Pearl.

[5soko]

Originally Posted by P1et

Yes: Chemical Guys JetSeal
109. Tires have one layer of Optimum Opti-bond topped with ShowroomFX White Pearl.

Thanks. Do you think that works better then chemical guys wheel sealant? Im about to purchase some wheel sealant and jetseal 109 was on my list of maybes.

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Originally Posted by 5soko

Thanks. Do you think that works better then chemical guys wheel sealant? Im about to purchase some wheel sealant and jetseal 109 was on my list of maybes.

I had originally bought JetSeal 109 for the paint itself, but did not like the durability. However, on wheels, it's a completely different story. Lasts a very long time, very easy to apply and remove also.

I would go with JetSeal.

[B39 B58]

Very nice work. Dumb question probably, but how did you clean the keyhole? I've got the same crud buildup and it drives me crazy. Went at it the other day with a rag and some AIO but it didn't do much.

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Originally Posted by SF Space Grey

Very nice work. Dumb question probably, but how did you clean the keyhole? I've got the same crud buildup and it drives me crazy. Went at it the other day with a rag and some AIO but it didn't do much.

I used toothpicks and those things you clean your ears with. Use one toothpick to wedge the keyhole open, then other to clean it. Just be careful not to break the tip off otherwise you're screwed.

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Quick pic of the trim, shifter and iDrive BMW graciously replaced for me. Much better now.

[B39 B58]

Originally Posted by P1et

I used toothpicks and those things you clean your ears with. Use one toothpick to wedge the keyhole open, then other to clean it. Just be careful not to break the tip off otherwise you're screwed.

Ah, makes sense. And what did you use for cleaner? AIO, APC, polish?

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Originally Posted by SF Space Grey

Ah, makes sense. And what did you use for cleaner? AIO, APC, polish?

Just some quick detailer.

[Otruba_843]

Whats your opinion on Power lock vs BFWD. On an un-clayed surface and a garaged kept car It seems like after 2 months that the water behavior of BFWD has dropped off drastically.

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Originally Posted by Otruba_843

Whats your opinion on Power lock vs BFWD. On an un-clayed surface and a garaged kept car It seems like after 2 months that the water behavior of BFWD has dropped off drastically.

I have never felt the need to try BFWD. Power Lock is hands down my favorite sealant and there is nothing about it that makes me have the need to try something else. In all honesty, in real life situations, if you can get 2 or 3 months out of a sealant, you're doing just fine. I can get 3 months out of Power Lock but I'd be lying if it was much more than that. That is with weekly washes, which of course will slowly strip the sealant.