Polished Valve Covers (Large Pics for detail)

[Ecko]

Been doing intensive repairs, upgrades, and customizing to my E38 within the past couple weeks, and thought about sharing this with my fello X5'ers out there that have thought about doing this.

Note the following was done to my valve covers off my E38. The same procedure will apply to the X5 valve covers though

What you'll need

Airplane paint stripper (I used Tal Strip made by Bondo)

5" orbital sander (100g, 120g)

Sandpaper grits: (100, 120, 150, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000)
with sanding block (I used the one by 3M with the triangle head)

Our little buddy "Dremel" with sanding and polishing bits. (Used around hard to reach surfacesand factory imperfections)

Mothers Aluminum polish (liquid or paste)

Safety: Dusk Masks & Eye Protection



Ok first you want to strip the paint off. Don't sand as you'll find yourself sanding for ever and a minute. Thats what the paint stripper is for. Spray on and let it set in for about a 2-3 minutes. You'll notice the paint bubble up which then you can peal it right off.


Once the paint is off you can start sanding down with your 5" orbital sander. The key here is the get to down to the shiny surface. First 100g, then up to 150g. Your power sander then bare muscle with sanding block will be the key here. (Most painful of the whole process)



Now use 320g with sanding block. You can start wet sanding at 400g and work your way up to 2000g. The key here as well is to use different sanding motions to polish up the surface. You don't nessarely have to go up to 2000g, but that just depends on the luster or finish that your looking for. Your probably wondering how about that dremel and when do you us it? You'll figure it out and use it on those hard to reach areas like the ones below in particular.


Now back to 400g and up to 2000g (depending on luster you want) applying Mothers aluminum polish starting @ 1000g






All that hard work pays off to the following





***Note only sand and polish areas which are visible to the eye under the hood.
As for the hidden areas, paint with high heat enamel (aluminum or black will look fine)***
Lito

[ncx]

Looks excellent. I did this on one of my other rides. How are you planning to keep it looking good without constant re-polishing?

[Ecko]

Well you figure a constant re polish monthly while your detailing the rest of your engine bay. Hell I pop my hood at least twice a week. Plus the finish at 2000g is shiny enough. I've thought about a clear coat finish as I'm sure that'll work too.

[ncx]

Well congrats, it really does look great. It would be nice to see a pic once you reinstall everything.

[X5Jay]

Nice work!

[Sweetbimmer]

Wow looks good!

[Wagner]

nicely done.

[PersonaNonGrata]

Very cool! That is some serious elbow grease you put in but it paid off. Now for your X5....

The closest I've come to that, being a lazyass, was bead blasting a valve cover, repainting it, then hand sanding down the raised parts.

[dr.jay]

God Damn thats shiny, all the hard work payed off!!

[2002Silver4.6is]

Has anyone powder coated thier valve covers?? I wonder how they would look with a nice silver finish. Is it tough to remove the valve covers?