Detailer's Domain: Mini Cooper, this is one you have to see

[phil@detailersdomain]

Mini Cooper - This Mini was a bit of a surprise. We figured it would be a 8 hour job. How bad could it possible be, its such a small car. The customer asked for paint correction services and the interior to be cleaned....he then added he would like the wheels pulled off/detailed and the wheel wells detailed as well. Okay when we got the car it was something else.......take a look what a disaster!

Products Used:
Exterior:
Einszett Blitz in the Cam Spray Foam Canon
Adam's Gray Clay Bar and Optimum Instant Detail Spray and Gloss Enhancerfor clay lube
Menzerna Power Gloss Compoune
Menzerna Super Intensive
Menzerna PO85RD
Menzerna Top Inspection
Einszett Glanz

Wheels/Wheel Wells/Tires/Engine
Uber Wheel/Tire/Wheel Well Kit

Interior:
Leather Master Strong Cleaner
Leather Master Vital
Leather Master Protection Cream
Einszett Deep Cleaner
Einszett Gummi
Adam's Glass Cleaner

Dressing on Trim
Black Wow


Tools:
Infratech 5300
Fenix TK11
3M Sun Gun
Brinkmann MaxFire
Metabo PE12-175
Flex 3403
Makita 9227 Hi Speed Rotary
The Uber Foam Pads (5.5inch)
Tons of "Uber" Microfiber Towels
Uber Drying Towels
Cam Spray 1500A with Cam Spray Foam Gun

Before shots:

Wheels




That wasn't so bad........let's start with the interior detail.

Interior before shots: --- Dog hair???? no one said anything about dog hair...













So how in the world do we attack this interior. After careful thought, we decided to pull the rear bench out as well as the front seats.

Ugh the seats!


Time to pull them out


Hair was everywhere



The rear bench



So what do we have underneath the bench




Dirt, dirt, and more dirt...




Tommy on the vac



Driver's area



More vacuuming


Time to pull the front seats out (battery was disconnected)

Tommy pulling out the driver's side



Dan assisting Tommy on the seat removal


Under the driver's seat


More hair!



Cleaned up



Bench back in, Tommy finishing them up


Seat out, cleaned/conditioned/protected



Passenger seat being put back in



Final shots of the interior






Door jamb before



Door jamb after


Now to the exterior:

Starting with the engine start to finish:


Before shot of the engine







Dan on the P21S





Brushing/Agitating all the built up grease, grime, and dirt




Rinsing down the engine bay




Engine wipe down


Final shots of the engine:



Wash - Paint correction - Wheels - Wheel Wells

The presoak




Foaming and washing down the car





Washing down the car with an Uber Sponge


Wheels on the car getting P21S on tires and wheels, wheel wells pressure washed


Claying the car


PG with the Makita and the Uber Yellow


Checking the paint with a Fenix TK11



50/50 shot of the hood
Before shots of the hood






The roof was a mess we did as much as we could on it without wet sanding, scratches were pretty deep, take a look



Under the Sun Gun


After PG and SIP


After PO85RD


Polishing out the bumpers


We put the car on jacks to move on to the wheels and wheel wells



Wheels










Dan and I claying the wheels



Cleaning up the wheel wells




Dressed up in Adam's Undercarriage Spray




Finished wheel wells





Finishing touches
Black wow on the trim



After shots inside and out

















I hope you enjoyed this one. We look forward to your comments

[lacning74]

my mini needs this so badly. i might have to stop by.

[veggivet]

I knew there was a good reason I decided never to let my dog in any of my MINI's. Beautiful work, guys!

[MiniMaybee]

Yes!

[coachfraley]

Very nice work!

[IceManMCS]

Extremely impressive. It looks like those hairs came from a tiny chiwawa. How many hours did it actually take you to complete? I am afraid to ask how much it cost.

[mordecai]

I have 1 thing to say and then some questions. First: WOW! (yes, just WOW!)

First, I don't know if they started doing this in the wheel wells in 07 or it was earlier but there's this weird carpet type crap in the wheel wells that all sorts of junk gets stuck in; how do you get that out? Second, what exactly did you do to the wheels to get the bits of tar and black grime off? I wash and clay and wash and clay and cannot get the little black specks off my rims!

Either way, phenomenal job! I would love to learn how to do this great of a detail job some day. Thanks for sharing!

[phil@detailersdomain]

thanks everyone, we were so confused on what to do on this we ended up spending 2 days on it about 20-23 hours total over the 2 days.

Now on the wheels we used everything on our wheel kit above plus some 3m adhesive remover in the inner wheel.

thanks again.

[MI MINI S]

You did a great job...wow! All that dog hair, what a mess. How much did it cost the customer for your services?

[C H I C K L E T]

Wow! What was the customer's reaction?

[phil@detailersdomain]

the customer was stoked! as for the price...you can pm me if you really want to..

[jcoop36]

Superb job, folks! Looks BETTER than new! This owner just let it get out of hand, and whatever your bill was, it had to be worth it to him. If he won't/can't keep ahead of the dirt buildup, he'll be back to you in the future.

Question: When you wash down the engine, do you cover hoses, distributor, or any other items, or do you just work it over as is?

[ricbow]

Philip, just wow!!!!!!!!!!!

[matthew-w]

I've got dogs, and I've detailed my own cars enough times to know how much work went into that job. Great results all around.

Quick question regarding the jack stands. Did you modify the jack stand to accommodate the MINI's jack points?

[k_h_d]

That interior was absolutely disgusting. How in the world could anybody drive in that. Great job on the detail.

[pilotart]

Looks like a great job to me, what a transformation for that MINI!

But, what about all that grime that hides under the beltline chrome?

[kenchan]

all i can say is wow to both extremes...

wow as in how the f- do you get your car so discustingly dirty?
and the wow as in how the heck did you get that to this?!

[bratling]

Woah. Your photos and descriptions have given me new appreciation for how much work you guys do!

[dogdal24]

Once Again Nice Work!
Also on a side note I just received those green towels from you. They are pretty nice!

[kurisu]

I'm with Kenchan. Unbelievable how someone could let his/her car go that long without cleaning. And damn, that's some impressive work

[04Mini-S]

You guys performed a miracle. To let a car get to that level of filth, unacceptable...

[phil@detailersdomain]

thanks for the feedback everyone! unfortunately some customer just don't have the time, when I showed her the write up she couldn't believe how bad it really was.

[chirowolf]

WOW. If I did not live in Illinois I would have my car at your place today. Great Job. Nice to see a shop with such outstanding service

[ricbow]

you need to move to calif.

[phil@detailersdomain]

there should be tons of guys in CA doing this.