So I do have a thread in the newbie section but after owning the Zed since February I am not really a newbie so you can stop flushing my head down the toilet now.....please.
So I bought my 2006 2.5i in February after trading in my 2004 225 TT roadster (still miss that car).
Bought the car for £6495 on 56k miles and 2 previous owners. Coming from a 221bhp TT I knew it wouldn't have as much grunt but because its a lot lighter and a far better handling car it feels just as quick but obviously not in a straight line.
My plans for the car was just to detail it from top to bottom, inside and out and that was it.....HOWEVER reading different threads on here and seeing other members cars that soon changed.
The first port of call was to change the candles BMW call head lights to a HID conversion. I went for 5000k to keep it OEM to current models, while i was at it I changed all the other bulbs to LED including the fog lights.
Next came the first of its many cleans, started off with the interior, the seats you could almost use as a mirror. The leather was initially cleaned with a leather cleaner, conditioned then protected.
While i was cleaning the interior i installed the iPod connection
Exterior cleaned and 3 layers of show wax
Auto Finesse re-released Glisten their liquid wax so it would be rude not to give it ago after work.
The car came with rust appearing on the arches, so off I went down to my local dealership for them to inspect it. It took around 4 weeks for them to get authorisation but can't complain after they replaced them which would have cost me at least £2000!!
Once the paint had completely cured (gave it about 8weeks) I set about correcting the cars paintwork which was a mess. I had clayed the car when I first bought it so this was from the bonnet some 8months later
Once clayed I began the three stage paint correction ensuring a flawless finish.
Because I was correcting the car over a number of evenings between work I decided to test out which sealant I wanted to use.
Auto Finesse Power Seal
Soft 99 Fusso
Auto Finesse Tough Coat.
You can obviously see the difference between sealed and not.
Next up was cleaning and sealing the roof.
The 108s on the car look great however showed up my callipers and hubs....curse of surface rust
I think the previous owner must have crossed the thread on the aerial as no matter what I've tried it won't budge and being a cheap metal one off eBay it had discoloured over time. So while I had the satin black rattle can out I made a make shift spray booth.
With winter coming and living in the country side I wanted to get a set of winter alloys allowing me to get the 108s properly refurbished. I went for a set of M3 replica's with new non winter tyres (but one) for £178
That one is the non new tyre
Few quick shots after a clean before going back into the garage
The postman kindly delivered me these which I had purchased from eBay
Photograph taken after a full paint correction.....no photoshop was used to edit.
Before correcting the front bumper I took the chance to remove the kidney grill and tidy up the faded black metal which was a massive annoyance for me.
No matter what product I used on the number plate bracket I could not restore, so decided to paint it.
Correction complete, decided to go for AF Tough Coat and AF Desire
After all that hard work I had a small incident damaging my near side and rear arch. The car is booked in BMW, I noticed and it became more evident that they didn't blend the new wings paint so they stuck out like a sore thumb. So BMW have agreed to respray the drivers half an I am paying for a new wing, damage repair and respray the remaining panels.
Future plans include changing the steering wheel to a leather bound one, matching handbrake, cup holders, possibly a remap and obviously a full paint correction because I can guarantee it'll come back with swirls and holograms.
