SwissVax cleaning etc.

[kjmez]

Before I get 10 friendly fellow owners replying with a helpful let me save you time by suggesting you skip this post as it probably won't interest you.

For anyone who wants to help me make head or tail of the world of keeping my AW 1M looking good - please help me cut to the chase and let me know what to buy. I am thinking something along the lines of the Entry Collection Kit (Supplied Without Wax) as I don't really have any of the necessary kit. I used to get the old car hand washed, but think this one needs more care. My main issue is that I don't have access to an outside tap, so will pressure wash loose dirt off at local petrol garage (power hose) and then come home for 2 bucket, no rinse wash.

Not kept in a garage, but have invested in a fairly expensive car cover. Not daily drive, so only really likely to go out when dry and not too often.

Never used a wax/clay tool etc. Have read the S2000 pdf and most makes sense, but need personal advice I think. Looking for help with what to get to wash properly. Will probably try waxing too, but hoping this can be done for < £150?

Thanks in advance for your time.

K

[h-manuk]

hi K, hope your well?

my car was quite dirty recently so I gave it some TLC on Boxing day.

because of the black paintwork I was concerned about getting scratches and swirls from hand car washes so decided to maintain keeping it clean myself.

im no professional car valeter but adopted the basic detailing routine by using the following steps:

1. Jet washed dirt and hand washed using 2 bucket method with Meguirs Gold Shampoo
2. Used a Meguirs clay bar with their quick detailer lubricant on the paintwork, alloys, windows and lights. This really makes a differnce to the surface finish!
3. Applied Autoglym's super resin polish on paintwork and also the alloys
4. Waxed paintwork with Meguirs liquid wax
5. Sealed alloys with Autoglym's alloy wheel sealant and used their tyre dressing on the rubber.

Took me the best part of 7 hours in total and here are the results:

[ozinaldo]

This might be the most clean and shiny BSM 1M on the planet! Am I seeing some rust on the brakes or is it just the light?

By the way, I paid close to 200 USD to somebody who did a similar job on my VO here in Santiago de Chile today and you have all my respect by doing it yourself.

[bdaddylo]

A friend of mine with an AW M3 turned me on to Zaino http://zainostore.com/. Here are some pictures in poor lighting after I clay barred and applied one coat of Z-PC and Z-5. I finished it up the following day with a coat of Z-2. Each coat takes about 45 minutes to apply and remove by hand on a 1M. Sorry for the dirty wheels. I plan on using Rejex on them, but haven't gotten around to it.

[mikewills]

Originally Posted by ozinaldo

This might be the most clean and shiny BSM 1M on the planet! Am I seeing some rust on the brakes or is it just the light?

By the way, I paid close to 200 USD to somebody who did a similar job on my VO here in Santiago de Chile today and you have all my respect by doing it yourself.

The rotors will lightly rust after every wash.

[Oaktree]

I can't help with wax as I just ordered some materials from http://www.detailersdomain.com
LussoOro Lusso Oro Premium Carnauba Wax
PrimaSprayWaxBulk Prima Hydro Spray Wax 16 oz 3 Pack + 1 FREE

But what I can say is, after every wash I apply a spray wax. I power rinse the car at a secondary car wash (or at home during summer), wash with soap, squeegee the car as best I can in 60 seconds, spray with a quick/detailers wax then dry with fiber towel. This has helped me avoid the dreaded swirl marks and keep the shine.

[ChrisBuer]

I’m a bit of a detailing freak, so I’ll respond the best I can without fully losing it and writing an entire essay

Firstly, that starter kit you posted up does look OK, but you could easily buy some of the bits individually and then get some of the other bits online elsewhere.

Firstly, I’d say that thee cleaner fluid will be very good to prepare the paint ready to receive the wax, but you do need to have a wax if you’re going to use it. The Car Bath shampoo is OK but I actually prefer Meguiers Gold Class as it is silky smooth, great value and gives the car a nice bath! Pneu I’ve not used to be honest so cannot comment. The microfibre towels will be OK, but to be honest, you’re probably better off getting something from Sonus if I’m honest.

So, I’d suggest the following bits (I’ll not paste lines as I don’t want to be accused of advertising, even though I’m not). All I’ll say is that I use two main sites which are CleanYourCar.co.uk and i4detailing.co.uk, both of which are very good value and hold a lot of different products.

So my essentials are as follows:

Washing
- Dodo Juice Yeti Fist Wash-mitt (i4detailing) – An excellent plush washmitt made from Lambswool that will last you years!
- A decent bucket with a grit guard (I have an unnamed make, but any decent bucket with a grit guard will do).
- Meguiers Gold Class shampoo (Halfords) – This is the best shampoo I’ve used for the price.
- Billberry Wheel Wash (i4detailing & CYC) – This stuff is superb at lift off all of the brake dust. Spray it on, leave and then jet off.
- EZ-Detail Brush – This is the BEST wheel brush that you’ll ever use!!

Not so essential but well worth it:
- Autosmart G101 – This is an all-purpose cleaner (APC) and I spray this onto the car before doing anything. It loosens the dirt off and then allows the jet washer to remove most of the muck.
- Wolf Deironiser Gel – This stuff removes the deepest of muck from your wheels. Iron fillings, grit, grease, muck, everything! It’s superb.

Drying
- I4D Uber Premium Drying Towel – Possibly the most plush absorbent drying towels that I’ve used. You can pretty much dry the entire car with it without wringing it out!
- Any pack of plush microfibers ( i4detailing and CYC both do packs at a low price) – These are good for general buffing, drying and wiping.
- Sonus Der Wunder Polishing cloth – Great for removing polish and wax to buff to a sheen.

Protecting
Everyone will have an opinion on what is best, so this is quite subjective. However I have found after using loads of products such as Sonus, Zaino, Swissvax, Megs, Blackfires, etc, that the following are very good:

- Dodo Juice Red Mist – A great little sealant spray that will give your car some protection (especially if you’re not using a wax) and a very nice shine!!
- Zaino Z6 Detailing Spray – A nice spray that can be used between washes to top up the cars protection and shine.
- SwissVax Quick Detailer – Good to remove water marks and give the car a shine.
- Swissvax Glacier wax – This wax is made especially for white cars and has a brightener enhancer in it to really give the car a white shine. It also lasts a long time.

The above is just off the top of my head, but please feel free to ask any questions. I’ve tried a LOT of other products, so just because I’ve not mentioned them above, doesn’t mean that I’ve not tried or heard of them

[evolution80]

you got to try the swissvax gum-feed - i did ALL the rubber/gum parts on my bsm before storing it for the winter - the gum-feed is truly amazing as is the pneu-spray!

thanks again to chrisbuer who pointed me to swissvax / swizöl products in the first place i dont use anything else from now on - although i agree on using meguiars shampoo - but i havent tried the swissvax car bath yet

[Amnizu]

You might consider checking the detailing section of this forum or heading over to detailing world

Simply put, there is some bad advice in this thread already and the process you are suggesting is not going to return the results you want. The vast majority of car wash places or commercial pressure wash places do not maintain their equipment properly for high quality results and recycle and filter waste water back into their wash water. Often these filters are never cleaned or replaced. This leads to a sand blasting effect of improperly filtered water with mixed in dirt being sent onto your paint at high pressure and speed.

I am in a very similar situation to you. I found a local garage with a detail bay that is currently unused and worked out a relationship with the management of the building you might try doing the same.

[Jezzer]

I had my VO correction detailed, and they used Swissvax Crystal Rock wax and the paintwork has an amazing wet look to it now. Expensive but highly recommended.

[kjmez]

Thanks chaps - I knew I could rely on you to get me going with this. I ordered Meguirs stuff just after posting this last night. Looking at h-manuk's photos, I'd be delighted to get close. That said, I won't be dedicating 7 hrs to it. Maybe 3 though. Massive thanks to ChrisB - I nearly PMd this question to you as I remembered you have a bit of an obsession with detailing. I will let you know how I get on. I'm hoping the stuff I ordered from amazon arrives for me to work on it at parents in Wales this weekend. No doubt I will grow towards the best of bread with swissvax etc.

Who knew I could actually be looking forward to cleaning a car. Hmmmm - I remember thinking how sad the old man neighbour looked back in the 80s when obsessively cleaning his car every weekend...... How life sneaks up on you.

[Shost]

Nothing wrong bout spending ages washing cars. I could happily spend a good 7-8 hours doing a full detail, engine, interior etc, even longer if light allows. Also making use of the parents enclosed driveway.

In fact if I didn't have exams to worry about I'd be out all every week doing it!

I'm a fan of the Meguairs 3 stage paint cleaner, polish and wax on my previous cars. I also use the gold class cleaner and quick detailer from Halfords every wash. Also had mine pro detailed with Race Glaze 55 and Swisswax wheel sealant when new so haven't used any clay and protected it myself yet. Given the finish that my detailer Roy Kunz achieved with orbital polishers etc I'd struggle to improve it by hand now. I've only used the megs wax to remove stubborn water marks so far.

Defo use two buckets, I clean with a microfiber and dry with a huge one the size of a bath towel. Almost.

[kjmez]

Ended up spending 5hrs on the detailing. Never done it before. 3 generations - father and grandfather helping out. Washed, clayed, polished and waxed. Also picked up the cover to keep it looking that way. I really enjoyed it. Noticed my first stone chip though. Tiny, but now I know it's there.

[Powerbeast]

Wow the shine on that VO is perfect.