Black Audi A4 2.0T Quattro

Reddwarf

Reddwarf

New member
My first black car to detail! First impressions: Wow! I can see why people like black, what a huge difference when clean". :yay Second impression: "water spots! AARGH! Scratches! What a pain!" :wall I always thought my British Racing Green Jaguar was close enough to black to experience the black car, but no. I admit it, I'm a wimp, I don't want a black car. Granted, it looks fantastic when done, but getting there is a lot of effort.

A very dirty car! :eek:
Dirty_side_drivers.jpg


Dirty_mirrow.jpg


Dirty_hood.jpg


This is a neighbor's car. She asked me to detail the outside. High-level process:
- clean wheels
- wash car
- Polish
- re-wash
- sealant
- dress wheels
- clean windows

Detail Process

Wheels - oh my! The Germans and their dusty brakes! Whats up with that?! This car had really dirty wheels. Unfortunately, I am out of PB Spray & Rinse :( and these wheels desperately needed some! My only option was some Meg's Hot Rims. I spent about an hour cleaning the wheels, tires, and wheel wells.

Dirty_wheel_closeup.jpg


Dirty_wheel.jpg


- kratcher pressure washer
- Meg's Hot Rims All Wheel cleaner on rims
- Amazing Roll Off for tires and wheel wells
- EZ Wheel Brush
- Other brushes

The owner took the car to a tunnel car wash were they tried to clean her wheels. Note the damage they did to two of the wheels!

Clean (note damage on the first one):
Clean_wheel1.jpg


Clean_wheel2.jpg



First Wash
I used the Foam gun with Chemical guys Citruswash & Gloss with a black Schmitt. I dried with a leaf blower


Polish
I was hoping to save some time and use PB Polish with Sealant, but I was not getting the correction on the swirls from the car wash i wanted so I decided to go Wolfgang on the car. Seems appropriate being a German car.

- Wolfgang 3.0 total Swirl Remover
- UDM
- LC Orange pad
- Windshield polished with DP Glass Restorer

The Wolfgang TWS worked well. There were still scratches I could not remove. I thought I would have to use the Wolfgang Finishing Glaze but I didn't. The finish looked fine awith the TWS. If I had more time I would have used the Finishing Glaze, but I doubt there would have been an appreciable difference.

Second Wash
The second wash was not totally necessary. The TWS had little dusting but I wanted to make sure the surface was ready for the sealant.

- Wolfgang Autobath (thanks for the sample Meghan!). This is a good soap!
- White Schmitt
- Dried with Leaf Blower

LSP
- Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant. I love this stuff! It is so easy to apply and remove. The only draw back is the cure time.
- Tires dressed with Pinnacle Black Onyx
- Wheel well sprayed with Chemical Guys Bare Bones
- Windows cleaned with Stoners IG

All in all, I spent about 5.5 hours. I was knackered after! :passout:

Clean_side.jpg


Clean_hood.jpg


My Assistant Photographer:
Clean_helper.jpg
 
Nice turnaround Red!

Yeah, there is nothing like black, except for black! It is a lot of work, but when it's right, nothing compares!

The German cars do have dusty pads, but they work very well. I had to switch to Akebono ceramics. I couldn't deal with washing my wheels 3x a week.

I'm not surprised that you weren't getting easy correction. Those Audis have some hard paint.

Good job on the write up! Thanks for taking the time to do it. It definitely adds to the presentation and makes for a better read. Trust me, I know how time consuming they can be.

Cool assistant! :bigups
 
Gotta love black when it shines. Gotta hate black when ya gotta shine it.
Nice job.
The damage on the wheels looks more like the track than cleaning damage.
 
Ronkh said:
Gotta love black when it shines. Gotta hate black when ya gotta shine it.
Nice job.
The damage on the wheels looks more like the track than cleaning damage.
Click to expand...

Good point on the damage. It was on both wheels on the same side of the car.

Thanks everyone for the comments.
 
Nice work. I would have expected some additional finishing if you used the orange pad.

Also, what is the consistency of the DP Glass Restorer and how does it spread?

I have a product that is a soft gooey paste (thicker than a typical polish) and somewhat messy to use (spread/work).
 
Bunky said:
Nice work. I would have expected some additional finishing if you used the orange pad.

Also, what is the consistency of the DP Glass Restorer and how does it spread?

I have a product that is a soft gooey paste (thicker than a typical polish) and somewhat messy to use (spread/work).
Click to expand...

I agree, I thought for sure I would need to follow the TSR with something.

The DP Glass Restorer is not thick. I applied it by hand with a Wolfgang pad.
 
Bravo, sir...looks like you did a great job. :bigups

Now you know how I felt after my encounter with the abused A4 kind. ;)
 
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