XSeries-forum

Hi

I have recently brought my first BMW, the time has come to clean the car, please can you recomend any porducts and what process i should follow to maintain that show room look.


Many thanks

Piro

Get someone else to do it....

[quote=""bullethead""]Get someone else to do it.... [/quote]

The problem with most of these cheap car wash places is the chemicals are too strong, and dirty sponges = loads of swirl marks.

I use zymol as it was recomended, and getting on well with it at the min, link below only need a cap full in a bucket works a treat
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165527

As per my other posts, I recommend initially claying with Bilt Hamber Auto Clay, polishing with say Autoglym super resin polish (or getting someone to do a proper machine polish to correct the paint, get rid of swirls and minor scratches) then a good wax such as Bilt Hamber Auto Balm. See Elitecarcare (that's where I got mine). You might also wish to do the plastics, interior etc. If you spend a couple of days doing all that, keeping it clean with a simple hand wash (ideally with a bucket with a grill in the bottom so that muck gets trapped at the bottom) will be easy and you can just rewax it every six months and wipre the interior with a microfibre cloth. Hope this helps.

I had the BMW offered paint sealer put on my X6 at new and hey told me that I should not use a car wash (I never do) for the reasons stated above. The bodyshop manager suggested using Autoglym car wash correctly mixed and avoid use of a polishing product as it might damage the coating. As the weather has been rubbish, I haven't cleaned the X6 yet, but that may be a job for tomorrow..

I normally use AutoGlym products as a 'System' on all our bimmers. If I have time I wash by hand, dry off, and then apply one coat of Resin Polish followed by two coats of Extra Gloss Wax. Seems to last a couple of months at least depending upon how dirty the cars get. I've also used their Deep Shine as well. For the iinterior leather I use their Leather Cream every 6 months, and has been suggested above, I use a microfibre cloth to wipe everything else down.

Meguiars is rated quite highly too, but I've not used it given I have a cupboard full of AG products.

Thanks guys, as the weather is abit poor at the mo, i may wait till April. once the whether picks up

It really depends on the colour as well, I tested Swissol, Autoglym and Menzerna, and for the Highland Green - Menzerna FMJ as the final product was the best for it.

For my Golf Cabrio however, Swissol is best for the red colour. The black Polo again is best with Menzerna, have not tried anything on the Abarth yet and my M has got the Protech layer so no waxing at all required.

Since I discovered detailingworld forums, I seriously think I've got OCD

I now have 2 buckets, each with grit guards, lambswool wash mitts, huge drying towels, a bunch of Dodo Juice stuff and a DA polisher.
I've even got some wet & dry sandpaper which I haven't yet had the courage to use.

Stay away from detailingworld, it's expensive

Here is the result of the last all day detail session on my X6, Started with snow foam followed by Megs NXT wash, once dried on with the machine polishing with Sonus SFX3, then over with Poorboys Black Hole before giving it a coat of AutoGlym HD Wax

Hmm, detailingworld.

Since discovering that a few years back, I must have spent about 5k on products and tool types. Even got a paint thickness gauge.

You've gone a bit further than me. I spend the best part of 3 days (probably 2 spread over 3 really) when I got the X5. I have a proper foam lance but haven't gone as far as a machine polisher as I am worried about over doing it. I guess a paint meter would help but I feel I'm obsessive enough as it is. The problem is that if you get to worried about it then whenever it's dirty it pishes you off and if you get a small parking ding, well....

What's the best solution for those who can't realistically wash their own car - live in a city flat, car parked on street, also short on time courtesy of work and two young boys?? I've historically used an Eastern European hand wash set up - fine for my current car but wondering what to do when the new X5 rocks up!

for those who have the time effort inclination (and money as it soon adds up!) all the info you need is here ......... http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/f ... y.php?f=17

Smee

Iain from finerdetails is a regular on detailingworld and is the guy responsible for fortnightly detailing on both family cars. The X6 was tackled by Iain at PDI stage with express orders for the dealer not to come within 50 foot of the car with a bucket & sponge. Full Swissvax protection from Day One
Expensive, yes, but results speak for themselves. The car is beading beatifully as we speak