Originally Posted by 3PedalMINI

a little background on me since im new here. Ive been a car nut my whole life and always had a soft spot for Audi's. my love for them grew immensely after test driving a 2008 A5 6spd manual. It was the first one i had ever driven and they had me from the beginning. I run a business designing and installing residential/commercial audio video systems (home theaters, automation, whole home audio ETC.) unfortunately the timing wasn't right for the a5 as the economy was starting to collapse. in September of 2009 we purchased a Q5 to cart around customers and do sales consultations. Now there is a A6 sitting in the driveway. I also have a thing for MINI's. my first car was a 6 speed 2006 mini cooper s and sold it when the economy took a dump. I know have a 2011 6 speed clubman S black with lime green accents. I dont feel connected as much as i did with my 2006 and will be purchasing either a TTrs (if i can get one) or an S5. I am a complete and total car care nut. I spend hours on my rides making sure they are perfect. Neither the MINI or A6 have swirls (they are black and you know how hard black is to care for). I look forward to becoming part of the Audi world community

Took delivery of this Beauty last Monday. Traded in our 2010 Q5 premium plus for her. The dealer gave us a bloody good deal and my jaw about hit the ground when they came back with the number on the q5, of course i didnt show that and squeezed another 1500 out of them in the trade. i cannot believe how well the Q held its value lol.

After i picked the Audi up from getting tinted i pulled it in the driveway and got to work. It started off with the wheels, used sonax full effect wheel cleaner. I then hit the tires with Adams All purpose cleaner to remove the dealers nasty tire wet. I then proceeded with a two bucket wash and three foams. For the initial foam i used McGuires hyper wash i then pressure washed it and did two foamings with adams car wash. The reason for the megs hyper wash is because adams soap doesnt cut the dirt and grime because its PH Balanced. I wanted to ensure there wasnt anything on the paint before i touched it with the Wool Wash Mitt. The paint is near perfect and wanted to prove to my self that my method is good (self test) I then used the master blaster to blow the water off the paint.

My methad proved right as there were zero swirls/scratches put in by me. I then got to work De-badging her. I found that using turtle wax bug and tar remover provides ridiculous lubrication for the fishing line and does not induce scratches. I Wash the area with soap and then used 3m adhesive remover and a Autozone microfiber. I found out the hard way if you spray the adhesive remover and it scatters and hits any plastic it is near ruined. Spray the 3M adhesive remover on the cheap MF (saturate it) and hold it over top the adhesive. Keep spraying it on the MF and place it over top for 20 or so seconds (you want to keep doing this at least 6 times) grab another Cheap MF and lightly spray the towel and begin **GENTLY rubbing the adhesive. you will see it start disintegrating, fold the MF and spray a little bit on and continue the process until the adhesive is removed. Once removed wash the area with soap and dry. your done and have a scratch free area where you were working

I have de-badged 9 or so cars and am near a pro at it. This one was easy as the car is brand new and the adhesive didnt have time to "cure" It took me a total of 30 minutes from start to finish. Cars that have the badges on there for years you can be looking at a 1-2 hour job and 3M Adhesive remover is a MUST.

I then pulled it in the garage and got to work. I looked it over under the lights and there are zero swirls in the finish. There was a scratch in the roof the dealer had placed in when they washed it off the truck and some marring when the salesmen rubbed it while being dirty. I clayed the roof and hit it with one quick pass of adams fine machine polish. I wiped the area and the scratch/marring was removed 100% after that i took a waterless wash towell and sprayed 70% IPA alchohol to strip the finish of any wax. I was sure to find scratches/swirls underneith from any filler wax they used but i was totally shocked to see the exact perfect finish underneath. After that I hit the car with Revive Polish just to make sure any wax I had left behind was removed.

I then used adams machine super sealant to seal her from any acidic droppings (mostly bird bombs). once i allowed the sealant to cure i hit it with some brilliant glaze and finally Adams American Paste wax.

* i do not work for adams, i have been a car cleaning enthusiest for years and have been through it all. turtle wax, megs, ice, mothers, autoglym, griots, menzerna and now finally Adams Polishes. The stuff is absolutely amaizing!!! unfortunately it was over cast the day i took the before shots and the sun was going in and out today when i pulled her out after 2 days of rain. Also, my DSLR took a dump so im stuck using my P&S camera which is crap. Tje ics really doesnt do my work or this paint justice. Once i get it working ill snap some new shots and post them

Product used:
Craftsman 2600PSI pressure washer rinsing with 40 degree fan nozzle.
Italian Made foam gun
Sonax Wheel Cleaner
Adams All purpose Cleaner
McGuires hyper wash for initial foam
Adams Murana Whool wash mit
Adams Car wash in bucket/ 2 foamings
Adams Car was buckets (2 for 2 bucket method)
Master Blaster Air force dryer
Turtle Wax bug&tar remover (for de-badging)
3M Adhesive remover
Fishing Line
Adams Detail Spray
Adams Clay
Adams Fine Machine Polish
Adams Revive Polish
Adams Machine Super Sealant
Adams Brilliant Glaze
Adams Americana Past Wax
Adams Super VRT (tire wet)
Adams Glass Cleaner
Adams Glass Sealant
Adams Waterlesh Wash towel
Adams Single soft microfiver towels (6 to wipe polishes & waxes off)

You can really see the scratch in one of the pics.







Roof where the scratch is






Rinsed with pressure washer, Zero scrubbing and effort:banana:

adams foam 5 minutes after initial foaming




10 Minutes after

Pooling rinse method


Had to get the master blaster in the shot

Dry Wheel







De-Badging materials

Bug & Tar Remover

After removing the badge



After 2 twenty second segments

Gone, kinda lol

It got dark but i then washed it again to remove any strangling adhesive *****/3M Remover


The scratch really shows up


After Revive, after this shot i did a DS wipedown so the streak is gone. Im just showing the debth and clearity of the paint after Revive polish (paint cleanser)

Cant seal a german beauty without some german brew:jester:


The final shots. my DSLR isnt working and my point and shoot is over/underexposing the pics.








The scratch on the roof is totally gone!!! the sun is hitting it in this shot

Hood



This last shot is the sun hitting it. Those are not streaks or swirls in the corner i just cant steady my hand enough


The black phantom pearl effect really is one of the most impressive metalic black paint i have ever seen. Usually im a "black" paint only guy but i fell in love with this at the dealership.

Enjoy, ill get some better shots once this rain ends!

Originally Posted by uskjxl70

Obviously your a detail enthusiast, but why did you leave the side badges on the car that say supercharded

Originally Posted by 3PedalMINI

After i picked the Audi up from getting tinted i pulled it in the driveway and got to work.

Originally Posted by NW Dave

How dark of a tint and what kind did you wind up getting? I just dropped my Phantom Black on Black A6 off for a tint, detail and full clearbra this morning. I decided to go with 35% 3M color safe film. With a black interior, I'm hoping it doesn't come out looking too dark.

Originally Posted by NW Dave

How dark of a tint and what kind did you wind up getting? I just dropped my Phantom Black on Black A6 off for a tint, detail and full clearbra this morning. I decided to go with 35% 3M color safe film. With a black interior, I'm hoping it doesn't come out looking too dark.

Originally Posted by PJRed2008

Two issues with this. First is the comment about the chamois. I've used chamois' for 40 years and they work fine if you take care of them. I recently sold my 3 year old red Corvette and it didn't have a swirl mark anywhere.

Second is the airforce dryer. Yeah, they dry the car, but you're forcing water at 200 mph into areas that aren't designed to withstand that pressure. I'd rather have a swirl mark or two than water induced failures of electronics or other equipment.

JMO

Originally Posted by 3PedalMINI

you did color stable? let me know if it looks "hazy/Dirty" This is the first time i went with the color stable as my Tint guy recommended it on the audi as it has a more OEM/Richer look. I do agree with him as when i have it side by side next to my mini the tint certainly looks much more impressive/oem. The only issue i have with it is it looks extremely "grainy" almost dirty. I have spoken to him and assures me this is completely normal. It was a shock to me because my other films (ive had over 7 cars tinted) have been perfectly clear. First time/probably the last time ill go with color stable tint.

Originally Posted by NW Dave

I'll definitely let you know if my results are similar. Now you have me a little worried. My installer is a high end shop here locally and they do a lot of $100k plus cars. They told me they now go 95% or more of the installs using color safe and customers really like it. I can't imagine they would if it looked hazy or dirty.

I'll be crossing my fingers until I get the car back in a day or so.