The BMW M3 Sport Evolution was a model made to homologate the race version, meaning that a certain amount of road ready versions needed to be sold so that a race version could take part in certain racing classes. Initially, it was to be used in Group A Touring Car racing, but later the M3 would go on to be used in many different disciplines, both on tarmac and rally courses.
Based on the hugely popular family saloon car, the E30 version was the first M3 model released. Powered by a naturally aspirated 4 cylinder engine (2.5 litre in this instance), it had a chassis that was optimised for handling over ride quality. A wider track and tyres meant that the wheel arches had to be bigger to accommodate them, leading to the distinctive shape along the flanks of these cars. Weight reduction saw thinner glass fitted to these cars, and a lighter boot lid too. Later, the BMW M3 Sport Evolution was released, with a little more power and other minor enhancements.
This car has been in the hands of our client since 2004. It needed some minor areas of rust dealt with before they became a problem, knowing that these cars can often suffer with structural corrosion. What started as a few minor repairs then spread to a much more comprehensive project, and ended up as a full respray. Lots of brand new parts of trim were sourced, representing a considerable financial investment. Once painted, our client got in touch asking us to help with the final stage of perfecting it.
When the car arrived at the Studio, there were a number of areas that needed attention, quite typical of a car straight out of a bodyshop. For example, a selection of sanded nut insufficiently polished areas. A good wash, with a thorough pre-soak, did wonders to remove the layer of dust and made an instant improvement, and allowing us to see all that was necessary.
Overall there was a lot of poorly refined paintwork from the flatting stage, the bottoms of the doors looking particularly bad as they’d just been left with a flatted (sanded) finish. All of this might look dramatic, but with some expert polishing, this would all be rectified.
As shown above, the paint started responding well, so the process continued around the car until finished. Swissvax Cleaner Fluid was the next step, prior to the Swissvax Best of Show being applied to the paint. Time was short, so photographs of the process went on hold.
Our client came to collect the car on a trailer that weekend before tucking the car away in dry storage for winter. So whilst waiting, the opportunity was seized to get some finished pictures.
At the time of taking the pictures, the fuel filler cap had been removed to rectify a minor paint fault, and hadn\’t been available in time to fit for the detailing work.
Aston Martin V12 Zagato
»