Keeping your car clean - a HOWTO

[dave 2]

Dude you should paint your Kidney Grill red. itd look cool i reckon

yeah and you should also paint ur mirrors fluorescent green, and powdercoat the bottlecaps brown!!

that'll look ph fat yo!

jks...

[Guest Spargo]

Roughly the same as i do, 'cept i'd rather wash a black car once a week than polish/wax at all. So i don't. As long as I look after it, it doesn't appear to make too much of a difference.

I use Autosol on the Jag's acres of chrome. Comes up a treat. I'll snap some pics when i wash her this arvo.

[bumpstop325 0]

I use Autosol on the Jag's acres of chrome. Comes up a treat. I'll snap some pics when i wash her this arvo.

me love autosol.

also love/big fan of mothers products.

also make sure your bonnet is cold.

[Guest hizza bizza]

Dude you should paint your Kidney Grill red. itd look cool i reckon

whatever floats ya boat I guess, but from pics i've seen with the grill and bumpers painted red it looks abit odd. Needs the contrast of the black me thinks....

[m325i 704]

Dude i am the biggest advocate of keeping your car original, but the Grill has already been painted black hasnt it?

Originally they are crome right?

Well recroming to original would cost $$$

And e30s like mine(My Car) have the kidney grill painted the same colour as the car....

hence why i reckon you should paint it red, or chrome.

Edited March 15, 2004 by m325i

[Guest hizza bizza]

Opps my bad, I thought you were talking about painting the whole grill. So yeah youre right, that would look cool, well it dose on your ride anyways.

[Guest Andrew]

Ollie - it doesn't matter how you apply it - and you shouldn't be doing it with a cloth. My experiance with the amorall polish wax system is bad - the stuff is so greasy.

m325 - the chrome is plastic heh.. not metal. New chrome grill is like $30 bucks.

[OLLIE 26]

and i want your m325i i want i want very nice.

i see quite a few rich kristin school dads drivin round albany whilst i'm at uni or my girlfriends place, just wish they'd slap a for sale sticker on the window!

[Homy.D.Clown 0]

for those of you who do a bit of country driving and get lots of nasty sticky bugs stuck to your front bumper i suggest a magical product..

"citrius cleaner"...its freeking great...just makes the bugs so soft they wash right off..no hard scrubbing..even the baked on bastards

spray the stuff on before wetting down your car and leave for a minute wash as normal...actually the cleaner is good on upholtery stains and lots of general cleaning areas..

hell it even cured my std's..but it hurt like f**k...ahahahah..oops

[*sic 1]

your rash all cleared now dude?

[Homy.D.Clown 0]

like i said all clean...but wot bout your nasty festering.....u know.....

[Dnz 0]

Maybe its just a hamilton thing?

[Guest Andrew]

Roughly the same as i do, 'cept i'd rather wash a black car once a week than polish/wax at all. So i don't. As long as I look after it, it doesn't appear to make too much of a difference.

I use Autosol on the Jag's acres of chrome. Comes up a treat. I'll snap some pics when i wash her this arvo.

If you don't polish or wax it you can never get the car clean properly - it will get damaged by sun also.

You'll find it impossible to use a chamois on it - the paint will hold the water like a true champ.

[*sic 1]

like i said all clean...but wot bout your nasty festering.....u know.....

might have to pay for a doc then, damn

[Guest Spargo]

Roughly the same as i do, 'cept i'd rather wash a black car once a week than polish/wax at all. So i don't. As long as I look after it, it doesn't appear to make too much of a difference.

I use Autosol on the Jag's acres of chrome. Comes up a treat. I'll snap some pics when i wash her this arvo.

If you don't polish or wax it you can never get the car clean properly - it will get damaged by sun also.

You'll find it impossible to use a chamois on it - the paint will hold the water like a true champ.

i've got bead. Chamois makes water look like a chump.

My paint is obviously made of unobtanium, and pwns all.

[*sic 1]

water is my enemy, but a good ol squeegy and a chamois and BAMM! pwned.

[downlow 0]

painted grills look sh*t, when i got my car it hada white grill, didnt look good at all, that went straighta way

[bmwsparkle 3]

painted grills look sh*t, when i got my car it hada white grill, didnt look good at all, that went straighta way

haha i did that, man that looked arse, what a ricer i was...

[Jimocles 0]

as an addition if your paint is really faded the best cutting compound I have ever found is Brasso

used to be a car groomer when I left school for a few years, and we used to get samples of all the new stuff, but always went back to the tried and tested

its hard work but less abrasive than alot of the supposedly specialist products

put in on about a square foot at a time, rub pretty hard then buff it off with a clean rag, (do it in straight lines)

you will not believe how smooth and shiny you can get your baby

it might look smeary before you polish it, but trust me it comes up fantastically.

ps, dont do it on dark blue or black, it still works but its a helluva hard work

my favourite polish is simonize speed wax, with macguiers gold class wax on top of that

mmmmmmmmmmmm shiny

[nz320i 0]

Rub it all off with a clean dry cotton towel - and it should come up like so - nice and wet looking.

DO NOT GET THE STUFF ON THE STEERING WHEEL, PEDALS, OR HANDBRAKE - it makes driving pretty hard - slippery sh*t hah.

Hey wondered how that checker plate is held down? Id Quite like some in my car as i dont have the original bmw mats. Thanks pm me if poss?c heers

[Jazzbass 1]

Enjoyed the read - thanks, mate.

Good advice about leaving the doors open to dry out...

I've recently started using Meguiar's Show Car Glaze, followed with BMW citron wax -gives an amazing finish.

I also use the Meguiar's Leather Cleaner/Conditioner wipes - they seem to do a decent job on the interior.

[lordandrevv 0]

I don't remember seeing it, but would a quick wash with a waterblaster wash off the wax? It's not scrubbing it, so it shoudnt rubb it down, but all that pressure... My gues is that it wouldn't wash it all of, but it would make the wax last less time???

What do the professionals think?

[nath 128]

Enjoyed the read - thanks, mate.

Good advice about leaving the doors open to dry out...

I've recently started using Meguiar's Show Car Glaze, followed with BMW citron wax -gives an amazing finish.

I also use the Meguiar's Leather Cleaner/Conditioner wipes - they seem to do a decent job on the interior.

i havent heard of anyone using a bmw cleaning product- god to hear that its worth what you pay!

also good for the seats is Hide Food (Bentley, Crewe)

[BMW POWER 2]

I'm going to post a few more in depth details aka- "Mint Tips" - for minting up your car- for the likes of BMWCC Show and shine - do you want to take out that contest?

Guards, Mags, and Tires

The Guards

Before washing the car, give under the guards a quick hose. This will soften any dirt. Also if you have citrus cleaner, give it a quick spary after you have hosed. This will make it easier to remove dirt and/or mud. If you have a high pressure hose/waterblaster handy then after you have done the initial "wetting" under the guards, then spray them right out.Make sure you get right in there, kind of squat on the ground and point the hose right up under it.

The Mags

Hose the mags down to remove any excess mud/carbon/dirt. If available I highly recommend a mag wheel cleaner. If not available use citrus cleaner or something to that effect. Spray the mag wheel/citrus cleaner over the mags, making sure to "get right in there". Leave it to soak for 5-10 minutes. (I suggest while you are soaking it clean the actual vehicle.) After 10 minutes or so attack the mags with your waterblaster/high pressure hose. This should remove all grime, if not, attend to the grubby bits with alot of foamy car wash and concentrate the mag wheel cleaner onto this particular area. Blast again as required. Let it dry (open a beer/watch the soccer () for half an hour). Return and wipe off any excess water.

The Guards

Part 2

Tire dressing/silicon spray is needed here.But only if you have plastic under guards (unlike some E30s?) Spray plenty of silicon spray under the guards. Let it dry then rub off the excess. By this stage the guards should be mint. With a capital M.

The Mags

Part 2

Rub off any excess water on the mags. If you want them looking super-mint, apply some wax. Let it dry then rub off. Now comes the tire part -If you are using tire dressing, put a small amount in a bucket and use an old paintbrush. works wonders - again silicon or tire dressing/spray will do the trick. Make sure to get all of the tire. Move the vehicle forward slightly so that you get the unreachable bit that are directly in contact with the ground (see pic). Make sure you rub off the excess.

Next stage in this saga coming soon.Might even start a new thread - How to mintify your BMW

lordandrevv Posted Dec 18 2005, 09:23 AM

I don't remember seeing it, but would a quick wash with a waterblaster wash off the wax? It's not scrubbing it, so it shoudnt rubb it down, but all that pressure... My gues is that it wouldn't wash it all of, but it would make the wax last less time???

What do the professionals think?

Yes it will remove wax. Especially a commercial waterblaster, as they are usually much higher pressure.

Edited July 15, 2006 by BMW POWER

[kiwipetrolhead 1]

Hey, thanks for all these cleaning tips and things. I pretty much already do all this stuff.

I always get stuck in and clean under the guards. That is where I start off in fact. On occasion I have also been known to remove the wheels to give the brakes and suspension a good clean (hose off). That also helps lengthen the time it takes for the sh*t to drift through and dirty your front mags again. If you do this though, make sure you dry your brakes out ASAP afterwards or the discs may well get a rust spot where the pads touch while sitting stationary, which could cause problems later on. In fact, I always go for a quick drive to dry the brakes out after every wash (no matter what), then I do the polish after that.

As for opening doors and stuff to allow everything to dry out - yip, a definite must.

As for the windows - you know how you get that hard water staining (same as on shower doors) - you can buy a product from Mitre 10 that deals to that. I forget what it's called, but it works... with some effort. The difference it makes is well worth it though. (It comes in a yellow box I think - just ask a staff member if you want to find out more about it.) There is a product made by the same company that you can apply to "protect" the glass from this staining happening again as well. The staining occurs from something in tape water, rain water is not a cause (I think). You can usually see the difference between the side and rear glass compared to the windscreen - I guess because the wipers pretty much prevent the windscreen glass from developing this staining problem. But yip, really clean glass really does make a big difference to the overall appearance of the car.

Paul