How do you care for your BMW??

[bad company]

Alex88 said:

I know it sounds really cool to say you just use an immigrant car wash, by those cheap car washes will ruin your paint in the long run, resulting in a costly repair. So a completely false economy.

Edited by Alex88 on Friday 12th May 08:14

Edited by Alex88 on Friday 12th May 08:14

Presumably you have some evidence to back up this opinion?

LIke many others I've been using East European run car washes for years without problem.

[bad company]

Alex88 said:

bad company said:

Alex88 said:

I know it sounds really cool to say you just use an immigrant car wash, by those cheap car washes will ruin your paint in the long run, resulting in a costly repair. So a completely false economy.

Edited by Alex88 on Friday 12th May 08:14

Edited by Alex88 on Friday 12th May 08:14

Presumably you have some evidence to back up this opinion?

LIke many others I've been using East European run car washes for years without problem.

Here you go:

https://www.pistonheads.com/news/general/totd-car-...

A lot of those stories relate to mechanical car washes. The East Europeans generally do a good job. The ones I use are great and cheap.

Why would I wash my own car when they charge £12 for inside & outside?

[Ninja59]

Alex88 said:

Well, I disagree.

In regards to 3 vs 6 months, the SRP and EGP are quick and easy to apply. Not an all day, expensive, overkill solution like you're doing.

How would you even know? You have never done EGP alone. The biggest issue with SRP is it is an AIO. It has minimal if any actual enhancement/corrective ability by hand, via machine it can be reasonably powerful more as finishing polish, but nothing compared with a dedicated polish. Furthermore, the fillers will be only masking it and also of course it has some wax content to provide a low level of protection (which ironically is the totally wrong way of applying sealant and wax combination, sealants should be put on the bare paint layer (or acceptable polymer based glaze) first then the wax layer.

EGP contains naptha. It will either way you like it remove some of the fillers and reduce the impact of the fillers delivered via SRP, flipside those fillers will also reduce its durability. Fact.

As in regards to my "expensive, overkill solution", as stated all my product choices have been decided via experience and equally in some regards asking people doing it day in day out. Done properly your level of detail would still take a good portion of a day (without any major poilishing mine is no longer, but I won't be doing it every 3 months, with more major polishing then probably it would take 2 days, but either way every stage is aimed solely for me to save time down the line).

Edited by Ninja59 on Saturday 13th May 15:14

[Ninja59]

bad company said:

A lot of those stories relate to mechanical car washes. The East Europeans generally do a good job. The ones I use are great and cheap.

Why would I wash my own car when they charge £12 for inside & outside?

A lot of hand car wash places use aggressive bulk chemicals which unfortunately are usually either highly acidic, alkali or use strong solvents to clean.

In regards to most wheel cleaners in bulk they will acid based and can unfortunately damage sensitive finishes like diamond cut wheels (or at least compromise further sensitive decorative finishes).The same can also be said for old detailing products (and some current non acid products) like Bilberry wheel cleaner, whilst non acid (true) they are highly alkali and have similar problems for some wheel types.

Regarding body then depending on your level of cleaning then again the pre wash will probably be a heavy traffic film remover (TFR) which will clean most of the crap off, but is designed really to not be used regularly.

Regarding something like tar removers then you have products like the infamous Autosmart Tardis, containing xylene whilst it will remove tar again it is highly aggressive and unfortunately any fresh paint or previously smart repaired areas can be damaged or remove entirely (I do remember one detailing meet where left alone Tardis had eaten away at a plastic cup, hence why official Autosmart containers of 5 litres were metal).

End result of all these usually combined with poor technique (grit filled wash sponges and leathers), dulled clearcoat because of the number of defects and in some cases more extensive damage if left too long in the sun or unfortunate previous repairs.

Edited by Ninja59 on Saturday 13th May 15:22

Edited by Ninja59 on Saturday 13th May 15:24

[bmwmike]

I like washing my car

[bad company]

bmwmike said:

I like washing my car

I don't.

[corozin]

p1stonhead said:

It gets washed for free when it gets serviced

Ninja59 said:

Weekly routine:
Wheels cleaned with shampoo and brushes (possibly jacked up to make arch cleaning easier)
Snow Foamed and detail brushes used for detail areas
Rinsed
Snow Foamed
2 Bucket Method
Rinsed
Open Hosed
Dried (pat dry method to minimise introduction of swirls)
Glass Cleaned
Exhausts Cleaned (and reprotected if necessary)
Panels wiped down with quick detailer (currently Meguiars Last Touch to avoid topping up protection which far too many do)
Interior and engine bay etc. tended to as necessary (leather clean etc. in between times)
]

Weekly?! Bloody hell.

Edited by p1stonhead on Friday 12th May 11:44

Trust me if you get your paintwork up to show standard the last thing you want is some monkey at the BMW dealer washing it whilst in for service. That's a sure fire way to end up with any decent waxes or sealants chemically stripped off and paint swirls everywhere. Of course if you don't give a st it's not a problem but many people do.

[corozin]

Ninja59 said:

<SNIP>

Regarding body then depending on your level of cleaning then again the pre wash will probably be a heavy traffic film remover (TFR) which will clean most of the crap off, but is designed really to not be used regularly.

Regarding something like tar removers then you have products like the infamous Autosmart Tardis, containing xylene whilst it will remove tar again it is highly aggressive and unfortunately any fresh paint or previously smart repaired areas can be damaged or remove entirely (I do remember one detailing meet where left alone Tardis had eaten away at a plastic cup, hence why official Autosmart containers of 5 litres were metal).

End result of all these usually combined with poor technique (grit filled wash sponges and leathers), dulled clearcoat because of the number of defects and in some cases more extensive damage if left too long in the sun or unfortunate previous repairs.

Edited by Ninja59 on Saturday 13th May 15:24

TFR will not only strip off any waxes or protective sealants on the car, but if you have a cabrio it also strips off any weatherproofing (e.g. Renovo). TFR is really nasty stuff.

[p1stonhead]

corozin said:

p1stonhead said:

It gets washed for free when it gets serviced

Ninja59 said:

Weekly routine:
Wheels cleaned with shampoo and brushes (possibly jacked up to make arch cleaning easier)
Snow Foamed and detail brushes used for detail areas
Rinsed
Snow Foamed
2 Bucket Method
Rinsed
Open Hosed
Dried (pat dry method to minimise introduction of swirls)
Glass Cleaned
Exhausts Cleaned (and reprotected if necessary)
Panels wiped down with quick detailer (currently Meguiars Last Touch to avoid topping up protection which far too many do)
Interior and engine bay etc. tended to as necessary (leather clean etc. in between times)
]

Weekly?! Bloody hell.

Edited by p1stonhead on Friday 12th May 11:44

Trust me if you get your paintwork up to show standard the last thing you want is some monkey at the BMW dealer washing it whilst in for service. That's a sure fire way to end up with any decent waxes or sealants chemically stripped off and paint swirls everywhere. Of course if you don't give a st it's not a problem but many people do.

I'm firmly in the 'don't give a st' camp but mine is a E91 and not a 507

Funnily enough though I did take a pressure wash it today to remove a load of bird crap from it. I think it was done by an ostrich!

[stumpage]

Put it through the local car wash every couple of weeks. That's all the love it deserves.

[moffat]

Locky12 said:

Hi everyone,

Recently bought a brand new 118D and had Paint protection (Gardx) thrown in with the deal.

My question is how do you care for your BMW? What products do you use??

I believe that BMW recommend their own products and can't be liable if other products are used and they cause imperfections.

Any recommendations/advice much appreciated.

First of all the dealer supplied paint protection products are all poor so don't hold out much hope.

Secondly car care really depends on 1) colour 2) how much you care how your car will look, now and in the future

To elaborate:

1) Colour - If you have colour prone to swirling and marks e.g. black or solid red it will require more attention than say white where you can't really see the imperfections

2) Do you care? - If yes, how much? Using the local Eastern Euro's can be okay if your car isn't black, but at the same time they will use poor products that will create swirls and other marks

If you do care, suggest you get the basics:

Bucket
Lambswool or microfibre mitt
Good car shampoo
Thick microfibre drying towels - 2
Glass polish
Quick detailer
Decent wax
Interior cleaner

Meguiars stuff is excellent and available in Halford and online,

Obviously you can start taking it a step further and clay the car, use snow foam and get better paint protection etc but I would suggest visiting www.detailingworld.co.uk for more info.

[corozin]

moffat said:

First of all the dealer supplied paint protection products are all poor so don't hold out much hope.

Secondly car care really depends on 1) colour 2) how much you care how your car will look, now and in the future

To elaborate:

1) Colour - If you have colour prone to swirling and marks e.g. black or solid red it will require more attention than say white where you can't really see the imperfections

2) Do you care? - If yes, how much? Using the local Eastern Euro's can be okay if your car isn't black, but at the same time they will use poor products that will create swirls and other marks

If you do care, suggest you get the basics:

Bucket
Lambswool or microfibre mitt
Good car shampoo
Thick microfibre drying towels - 2
Glass polish
Quick detailer
Decent wax
Interior cleaner

Meguiars stuff is excellent and available in Halford and online,

Obviously you can start taking it a step further and clay the car, use snow foam and get better paint protection etc but I would suggest visiting www.detailingworld.co.uk for more info.

I have a friend who took delivery of a new BMW last summer and (being a detailing nut) went to town straight away on the paint. I was surprised at this, but you would be surprised how much detrious the clay bar removed from the paint of a car with delivery mileage on it. My friend attributed it to the amount of time these things spend sitting in various storage car parks after production.

[Locky12]

crolandc said:

Hi Locky, the best advice I can give is as a person like yourself who obviously wants to look after your paintwork is watch the detailers on You Tube, everything you want or need to know is there. Good luck mate.

Edited by crolandc on Friday 12th May 07:53

Thanks for the advice!!

Spending so much of my money on a car I want to keep it looking as good as new! Why wouldn't you look after something that costs to much to purchase?? #alwayslookaftermythings #OCD

I will definitely take on board some of the tips here!!

Thanks again!!

[Lozw86]

Hand car wash for about £9 once a month or so, I do not enjoy cleaning / polishing cars

[Monkeylegend]

I need to buy myself another bucket.

[IIIRestorerIII]

Once I've taken all the kit out I may as well do both cars so an X5 and Yaris. They have been detailed previously with Carpro CQuartz.

Iron Remover each wheel and rinse
Snow foam and rinse
2 bucket wash and rinse
Carpro Reload whilst drying with 2 new microfibres

Usually close to 4 hours now so...

If swmbo hasn't given me too much grief and to be fair usually takes pity on me by this stage so may even assist now

Windows
Vacuum
Tyres dressed

I've found they need doing around every month.

I'm not a detailer so if anyone thinks I need to adjust that routine please advise appropriately.

[SebringMan]

Once a year I will do the following:

Wash the car
Clay it with a mit ; this is a massive timesaver
Polish it
Wax it with a very decent and durable polish. I use Collinite 476SS but Megs Ultimate Car Wax is almost as good.

This does take a while I do admit!

After that I'll wash it around once a month as follows:

1 bucket with a grit guard
Wash mitt with half decent shampoo
A drying towel around A3 size ; this is another massive time saver.

The above takes me around 15 minutes tops, less if the wax is fresh on the car. It seems to stay cleaner than when the Polish wash it too.

I used to be a Polish car washing supporter until two things happened;

-My 944 Turbo came back looking like the water had burned itself into the paint ; it was really matt! I ended up regretting taking it immediately and polished/waxed it at home pronto!
-When we drove alot our Mondoes had random electrical issues ; sensors corroding up etc as well as earth points. The ones after we didn't take to them. Almost all of the issues stopped and the car looked better for it. A VAG suffered a similar fate ; have you seen how expensive EPB calipers are on them? I do know!

When I went to the Evo triangle with my mates a friend in his Black E89 Z4 got his washed by the Polish. Despite it having less than half of the miles of my car with 55k mine has around probably a 1/4 of the swirls of his if not less ; it was a near swirl free car when he bought it. And mine is on 131k and rising and 6 years older to boot.

[gf15]

Before I got my car, it had been subjected to 6 years of BMW service and Polish car washes and looked like;



After a rather intensive day with a detailer:


7 years later, it looks almost as good:
Washed using 2 bucket method every 2 or 3 weeks using autoglym shampoo and dried off using micro fibre cloth. Takes about 75 minutes from filling the buckets to opening a beer.
Polished & waxed once a year using Autoglym polish & wax, takes about 4 hours.
Use Liquid leather cleaner and hide feed on the seats and leather bits every 9 months, Leather is nicer now at 160k miles than it was at 50k miles and the interior smells of leather. I think it is worth keeping it nice.

[bearman68]

Here's a radical idea. Change the oil more often, and leave it dirty.

That way, you'll have a car that runs nicely, rather than looking nice.

I know I know, hardly the answer you were looking for, but <shrug>, you know, I just like cars to run well....

[crolandc]

bearman68 said:

Here's a radical idea. Change the oil more often, and leave it dirty.

That way, you'll have a car that runs nicely, rather than looking nice.

I know I know, hardly the answer you were looking for, but <shrug>, you know, I just like cars to run well....

Better still, change oil often AND clean car when needed...win win.