BMW E46 Project Car: Fixing the Paint and Passing Smog Inspection
Neglected BMW shines brighter than ever after 10 hour exterior detail.
My $1,500 BMW adventure has only just begun. After fixing the overheating issue on the test drive, and reliably making it home, it was time to begin fixing even more things, like the paint.
It’s not an exaggeration to guess that this car had not been washed in years, beyond getting hit with a lawn sprinkler. That would explain the intense heavy etching and water marks baked into the jet black bodywork of my new-to-me 1999 328i. This simply would not do.
I don’t claim to be a detailing wizard, but I do like to ensure that my cars pass as good enough looking in pictures, and this E46 wasn’t making the mark. In addition to the heavy etching in the paintwork, the exterior of the car felt so coarse that you could shave your Corona beard with it.
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A wash and some intense scrubbing did little to fix the issue. A full detail and paint correction was needed. An aggressive amount of clay bar usage didn’t even put a dent in the etching, but at least the finish was getting smoother. It was only after two passes over the car with polishing compound that the results began to come through. After a final pass with a less abrasive polish, and two coats of carnuba wax the little BMW that could looked…amazing.
Sometimes pictures do all the talking you need.
With the car satisfactorily polished up, it was time to get the car through a California smog inspection. Normally, it is the seller’s responsibility to do this before the car is sold to ensure it is road legal in California. The seller reimbursed me ahead of time for the cost of the smog check and assured me it would pass. Fingers crossed.
I picked an assuming smog test spot in Long Beach and upon seeing the car, the owner and operator was thrilled. He also owned an E46 and was stoked at the condition of the car. When I told him that I had just bought the car a few days ago, and polished it up the day before, he was shocked the difference, before and after. And color me shocked when, fifteen minutes later, the E46 passed smog with flying colors. Pre-2000 cars have to pass a physical emissions test on a dynamometer and the actual numbers put out by the car were cleaner than many new cars being sold off showroom floors today. Hot damn.
Now I have a clean, road-legal BMW E46, but a big new problem has appeared. Stay tuned.
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