dealer add on sale - protective wax/coating thingy

[jimbooo]

I picked up My M4 last monday (380 tedious gentle miles so far - roll on 1200!) and when i ordered it they listed a load of add ons etc.. to be honest i was daydreaming by this point and thinking of my new toy so wasnt really listening. one of the things they said is would you like the blah blah protective blah blah coating blah blah (they did explain it but i was away with the fairies). anyway i heard the word "protective" and said yep add that on and no to all the insurance add ons as ive leart they are all cheaper from third parties.

anyway now after one week of muddy road use i gave her a full day of detailing yesterday. the full works, snow foam, 2 buckets, lambswool mit, dried with leaf blower (dont laugh it works brilliantly). the full autoglym super resin polish followed by HD wax. she looks better than the day i picked her up and i have a full washing machine of microfibre to show for my efforts. plus a wife who cant understand how it takes an entire day to wash a car.

anyway if the so called add on thingy i paid for was a wax then its quite frankly ste. No water beading at all when i washed it plus the dirt was really stuck on, both buddy puddle residue and road dust. its like it was just bare paint. Then i noticed these kind of transparent patches in front of the rear wheel arches, quite big say one square foot of protective transparent film each side.

Its got me thinking is that normal or is that the protective thingy i ordered?

yes this post is dumb as i should know what i paid for, i dont care either way as im very very happy with my new beast of a car but just wondered about those film patches.
do you all have those on your M4's?

[mark.c]

Not uncommon, you probably paid for Life Shine or some other type of coating, there are lots. Dealers are notoriously bad at putting these on, they do make them a good amount of money though! Ask any proper detailer and they will have seen loads of poorly prepped and applied such coatings. I would keep washing as you have been and enjoy the car

[nickfrog]

It's basically a point of sale scam and maximise the chances of your new car being swirled by whoever kid applies it.

Wax in winter won't be there for long (days at the most) btw, a sealant will be a better bet.

[belleair302]

A proper prepared detailer will apply products that will last for months, yes even a wax. What a dealer offers is rubbish. Just say NO!

[nickfrog]

You don't absolutely need a detailer for a new car prep and they're not magicians : a wax in winter will not last very long, it's inherent to how they are made irrespective of application and decontamination, compared to synthetic sealants.

[simonpa]

Agree with all the above. A dealer will only use their usual in-house car cleaners.

On the topic of wax, a good carnuba over a decent polish will last a year and still bead.
Probably not so long if you wash your car twice a week, but any coating will eventually wear off.

[theboss]

The Gtechniq products are hard wearing - I had C1 on previous cars and now Crystal Serum on the M5 - nearly 20k miles later and all it needs is a very simple, mild shampoo and it looks all glossy and beady again then 24 hours later it's filthy.

The dealer applied products which subtly add £500 to the price are nothing short of a scam IMHO.

Edited by theboss on Tuesday 8th December 13:53

[RossP]

jimbooo said:

Then i noticed these kind of transparent patches in front of the rear wheel arches, quite big say one square foot of protective transparent film each side.

Its got me thinking is that normal or is that the protective thingy i ordered?

They are on my M4 and I didn't order any protective stuff - got burned on that once before in a similar moment to yours!

[theboss]

RossP said:

jimbooo said:

Then i noticed these kind of transparent patches in front of the rear wheel arches, quite big say one square foot of protective transparent film each side.

Its got me thinking is that normal or is that the protective thingy i ordered?

They are on my M4 and I didn't order any protective stuff - got burned on that once before in a similar moment to yours!

Presumably what you're both describing is a protective film on the front side of what are quite heavily flared rear arches and thus prone to stone chipping? I noticed the same when I had an E70 M Sport.

[ukwill]

I had A-Glaze (http://www.aglaze.com) put on mine (via the bmw dealer). It's good enough to be the sealant used by Boeing, Airbus and BAE Systems so I reckon it'll be good enough to protect mine for the 12-15k miles I'll probably put on it. Saying that, I'll be adding Suntek to my front end shortly, which is far more beneficial (imo).

I imagine as with most of these things - it's all about the prep. Perhaps your's wasn't prepped correctly?