[DETAIL] BMW Alpina 635 JPS

[orgigeorgie]

Sup Guys,

Hope everyone has had a safe long weekend full of festivities We took the opportunity to detail a car I've been looking forward to for some months. When it turned up I literally had to pick my jaw up from the driveway.

Here we have a (from memory) 1987 BMW 635csi Alpina JPS works car. A somewhat cool history which I will butcher if I attempt to retell it.

Anyway it came in requiring a full paint correction. We are talking 2-3 stages of bringing this car upto scratch. The car has had a respray about 15-20 years ago.

This is the boot:


Rear 3/4:


The car is basically the same all over - boot being the absolute worst of them all. As you can see the damage is pretty full on - i'll explain why shortly. Keep reading.

[orgigeorgie]

As you can see the car has a lovely pinstrip running down the side, this needs to be taped up as there is a risk of the machine damaging the colour of the strip or worse; completely lifting it off. The tape I had was around 3x the size of the stripe and I could have easily just taped it up like that but because the damage is so extreme, the change would be bloody obvious. So I fashioned my own pinstripe.



If you have decals please condisder this. (RE: ABARTH OWNERS)



Looks good hey? Wrong. This paint finish is not great here - infact my paint gauge gave me this reading:



2 things: Either there is bog under there or ridiculous quantity of paint. The paint readings were all over the place (btw 150um [average] and 1180um [stupid]) making it a challenge to do a heavy cut in some areas.

[orgigeorgie]

And so it begins:

Bonnet after a single pass:


Boot after 2 LONG passes:


3/4 after single pass:


We eventually got everything looking uniform with a cut and followed up with a polish and a finishing pad. Why? The paint was so soft, I saw better results with a softer pad and longer working time than a medium pad. I stuck to it.

[orgigeorgie]

Did I mention the paint is single stage? No clear.


Ladies and gentlemen I present to you the color black:

[orgigeorgie]

I polished the tail light lens as they were pretty scratched too:





Why all the scratches? Simple. Dust. Once the car was done I cleaned it up with alcohol and applied the first coat of hardbody. I left it for a few hours whilst I continued with the wheels and leather. Left it for a bit and returned to it late afternoon. With the setting sun showering the car, the paint looked horrible. There was dust everywhere!! The car showed dust up like no tomorrow. I then jerried: This car would be driven sparingly, enough time for a thick layer of dust to build up - and the previous owners would simply wipe it off. Did I mention how soft the paint was? The current owner has strictly been instructed to NEVER wipe dust off and to simply rinse and drive. This goes for all of you.

Now the owner was kind enough to trust me and let me have a drive of it. I felt like a boss! So I took it a few blocks down to a carpark where I tried to improve my photography skills. To all you photography junkies can you recommend a lens for car photography? I still suck simply because I don't have the patience to get the right lighting and angle.

[orgigeorgie]

Anyway enjoy:

[orgigeorgie]

[orgigeorgie]

[orgigeorgie]

[orgigeorgie]

[orgigeorgie]

[orgigeorgie]

VROOOM






Thanks for reading. ANy Q's just ask.

I've been on carsales looking for this type of car - if any of you have experience living with it please share below. I have really grown to like these - maybe more than the gtv6.

OG

[Barry Edmunds]

Great job and I love your work but why is the rear number plate not straight?
Barry

[orgigeorgie]

Thank you Barry No it isn't, just how the holes line up.

[agent86]

Hi OG,
          This fantastic BMW 635 brings back some wonderful memories. I owned and restored a 1981 imported BMW 635csi from 1995 till 2002. I still miss her. Just a correction with the naming of this car and I don't wish to be picky but Alpina is a manufacturer in its own right and this model was a B7. Of course it was essentially a 635 but with enough modifications from this small firm to have BMW allow them to have exclusive naming rights as a genuine manufacturer. The under bonnet photo of the block shows that this is a pure BMW 635 CSI, the Alpina has the modifications to out perform the very potent BMW M6. So I am sure this is a limited run of JPS specials or a replica to celebrate the very winning JPS racing versions. Still these are stunning vehicles designed by Paul Bracq who also designed the early pagoda roof 230,250 and 280sl Mercedes Benz. Just a tip if you are looking to buy one of these be wary of early models that were imported from UK or Hong Kong because they rust just as quickly as an early Alfa. And my top tip is to buy a manual without the dog leg first gear avoid autos because they are much slower, more a tourer than a sporty. Just be wary due to the long model run  I have seen botched up cars selling as later models. All major parts on these cars carry a round date stamp showing month and year of manufacture. There is a 6 series register who can help you find what you are after.
Cheers
Mark