What car wash do people use?

[alik01]

Christine is definitely well looked after, and she must be stunning in AW - best colour for the 1er, I think!

Ameera is quite hard to keep clean with the BSM and also it's dusty up here and then it rains, so not great! I'm not letting any of the car wash people work
touch her, so I only have Sunday so some quality time! But I do wipe down the wheels every night, the brake dust just ticks me off!!

[Taymaishu]

Ah, do I have the product for YOU! http://www.armorall.com.au/content.aspx?id=88

I use it religiously on Christine and works very, very well!

Just a tip:

1. Wash wheels completely using your usual process.
2. Dry wheels completely
3. Apply the spray evenly over every part of wheel (i even do the tyre walls)
4. Wait and let dry for at least 1 hour.

The stuff is brilliant - it keeps break dust right off the wheels and sparkling the whole time. You just can't drive the car from the time you wash the wheels until 1 hour after you apply the spray.

And a demo of Christine's pristine (hey it rhymes!) paint job: http://www.1addicts.com/forums/e90ga...Christine2.jpg

[alik01]

Christine looks awesome! Nice to see she's well looked after, very well I should say!

I remember you told me about the Amourall
tire stuff earlier, been meaning to go pick it up, just really busy, hence I prefer to pick things up online and save myself the hassle, usually works out cheaper too!

Thanks for the tip! Will definitely follow them
to the letter - after seeing Christine!

[alik01]

Got all the goodies from Chem Guys and also finally got the snow gun from the UK. Decided to give her a proper wash last night and have to say the snow wash is incredible, thank you so much AussieRacer for that! Still messing around with the concentration and stuff but it's definitely worth it! Think I'll learn by doing and streamline the process.

Also, the ArmourAll Wheel Protectant is the single greatest thing for cars, BMW should just buy the company and start supplying with all their cars! Thanks Taymaishu and AussieRacer for putting me on to that, life saver really.

Also, thanks Sparoz for all the advise and info, made the cleaning and buying process so much simpler.

Really appreciate all your help.

[Taymaishu]

Originally Posted by alik01

Also, the ArmourAll Wheel Protectant is the single greatest thing for cars, BMW should just buy the company and start supplying with all their cars! Thanks Taymaishu and AussieRacer for putting me on to that, life saver really.

You're welcome! It's an absolute GEM!!!!!

On that note, does anyone know if there are any products such as the Karcher Foam Bottle that can be directly attached onto a hose? I'm not really looking for the $100 adapter foam nozzles, but more like the bottle itself to put my Mother's in and go for it.

Anyone know?

[AussieRacer]

You'd be after something like this:
http://www.waxit.com.au/products.asp?cat=58

But what you really should get is something like this paired up with a pressure washer:
http://shop.autobritedirect.co.uk/au...ions-305-p.asp
The foam it produces is glorious.

[AussieRacer]

Originally Posted by alik01

Got all the goodies from Chem Guys and also finally got the snow gun from the UK. Decided to give her a proper wash last night and have to say the snow wash is incredible, thank you so much AussieRacer for that! Still messing around with the concentration and stuff but it's definitely worth it! Think I'll learn by doing and streamline the process.

Also, the ArmourAll Wheel Protectant is the single greatest thing for cars, BMW should just buy the company and start supplying with all their cars! Thanks Taymaishu and AussieRacer for putting me on to that, life saver really.

Also, thanks Sparoz for all the advise and info, made the cleaning and buying process so much simpler.

Really appreciate all your help.

And no prob. That's what forums are all about

REgarding concentrations, I keep my mixture on lowest setting which gives me at least two full passes of the car on a single bottle. I use the foam gun I listed above and I probably put about 1cm of shampoo (mainly Megs Hyperwash) in. Key for extra foam is making sure the water you add into the bottle is really warm (eg. 40 degs).

[alik01]

Thanks AussieRacer, pretty much the same snow foam gun I've got, paired with a Karcher 2.91 and was using Chem Guys Citrus Wash, the whole thing worked great and it was such a breeze. Will try your method on the next wash and see how I go, just hope it doesn't rain right after I wash like today!

Taymaishu, this snow foam setup has got to be the best and worth every penny! Do it!

[Taymaishu]

Originally Posted by alik01

Thanks AussieRacer, pretty much the same snow foam gun I've got, paired with a Karcher 2.91 and was using Chem Guys Citrus Wash, the whole thing worked great and it was such a breeze. Will try your method on the next wash and see how I go, just hope it doesn't rain right after I wash like today!

Taymaishu, this snow foam setup has got to be the best and worth every penny! Do it!

I'll give it a shot.

Another present for Xmas incoming for Christine. Seems like she's leeching off me for Xmas!

[labrat41]

I blanched at spending the money on the BMW paint protection treatment, and did some searching around. There are plenty of private companies who offer thesame treatment at a substantial discount, but it's still expensive. Then I happened across Colour Shield, a Gold Coast company selling an American product. They even publish a copy of the US patent on their website. As an industrial chemist, I can say that the actual chemistry of the process looks good and makes sense. I purchased their deluxe kit (with neutral pH shampoo etc.,) for $95, but you can get the basic kit for $70. I figured you can spend more on car detailing products from Super Cheap, so there wasn't much to lose. Anyway, I followed the instructions rigorously (I told you I'm a chemist), and I have to say I am very satisfied. The car looks great, the car is quite slippery to the touch, and unless I get a heavy deposit of mud, I don't shampoo it. My trip to the DIY car wash costs $3 for a high pressure rinse plus a spot-free rinse to follow.

I wouldn't trust any car wash shampoo, particularly the ones they use in the "brushless" tunnels. The pH is extremely high (very alkaline), and will attack the gel coat (you've seen those patchy cars around, haven't you?). Besides, you are trusting the finish on your car to some unskilled, minimum wage person who couldn't care less about how he makes up the mixture in the detergent tank.

All detergents will remove wax on a car. That's what they're designed to do. Detergents are meant to suspend dirt and solubilize grease, and car wax is just a very hard form of grease. It's just a matter of time and the number of washes before you remove your wax coating. You can extend the period between waxing if you follow directions, don't use too much detergent in the bucket, wash in the shade, wash small bits of the car at a time so that the suds don't dry on the car, and rinse off each section as you go.

It's early days on the Colour Shield treatment for my car yet, but so far I am very satisfied. I'll keep you posted

[samchuang33]

Just some info to share with some of u who has paint protection. I have been going back and forth with Brisbane BMW as to what product has been used when they did the paint protection for my X5 that is around 5 years old. They will not tell me the actual product but said that it was a very heavy duty wax compound that they used. Anyway, I then question them whether clay, wax and seal was a good idea and was told the obvious answer that I will remove the paint protection if i did detail my car.

The solution that they have offered me was that i can bring the car into service and they can re-apply the paint protection again..... Shit.... He mention that paint protection usually last around 5 years on average and should be re-apply after that period. I think I will just detail it myself down the track when the swirl marks gets to a point that I can not stand.

So for those who has paint protection, do not detail ur car coz u will waste the money that u have paid initially. Just take extra car when u wash and re-apply the paint guard revivor regularly.

[Taymaishu]

Just an example of the detailing I do to Christine.

As before, i use Mother's California Gold series. Wash, seal & glaze and then Carnauba wax.

Today she got a wash and the seal & glaze.

As you can see, I have some orange peel on the front bumper (2nd last pic)

[labrat41]

The formulation in the Colour Shield product is definitely not a wax. It chemically bonds to the paintwork. After a normal wash, the surface is prepared by a wash with a cationic surfactant. This is opposite in charge to most surfactants (such as those in normal car washes), which are anionic. The paint treatment is a mixture of PTFE (Teflon type) resins and silanes, the latter providing the base onto which the PTFE will bond. The saleswoman at Brisbane BMW said that their product contains titanium. This could be either as a titanate (which do much the same job as a silane), or simply as nano-particular titanium dioxide which has a UV protective function.

I would recommend looking at products which are similar to the Colour Shield idea.

[alik01]

The one thy put on mine was called Crystal Elements, and comes with a
lifetime warranty and no reapplications or checkups neccesary. I got it really cheap along with the interior protection from the dealership. The markup for this stuff is ridiculous, asking for half the quoted price will give you a good deal
and keep them in profit!

Labrat, is it possible for the coating and the bonding of the protectant to the paint to
last the lifetime of the vehicle??

[Bimmerle]

Apologies for the new handle. I thought a name change appropriate with the new beast. It's a compound word - "Bimmer" - US slang, with the German suffix "-le" meaning "little".

Everything wears, it's a fact of nature. Just the fact of applying your wash cloth to the paint will eventually wear away anything on the surface, and we're talking about coatings perhaps a fraction of a micrometre thick. The distributors of Colour Shield claim 5 years on a new car and 3 years on a used car with good paint. However, I'm thinking about a re-application every 2 years. At $70 for the kit, that's probably less than what you'd pay in polishes.

[samchuang33]

Originally Posted by labrat41

The formulation in the Colour Shield product is definitely not a wax. It chemically bonds to the paintwork. After a normal wash, the surface is prepared by a wash with a cationic surfactant. This is opposite in charge to most surfactants (such as those in normal car washes), which are anionic. The paint treatment is a mixture of PTFE (Teflon type) resins and silanes, the latter providing the base onto which the PTFE will bond. The saleswoman at Brisbane BMW said that their product contains titanium. This could be either as a titanate (which do much the same job as a silane), or simply as nano-particular titanium dioxide which has a UV protective function.

I would recommend looking at products which are similar to the Colour Shield idea.

Thx dude. U know more than the dealership m8. So Brisbane BMW uses colour shield? I call the number on the triple pack warranty booklet and found out that it was done by a company in Albine which is called Australia wide window tint. Apparently, the dealership have not use them for quite a few years now. Brisbane BMW now do triple pack protection in house.

What would u recommand if it was u in my shoe. 5 year old car with swirl marks and few deep scratches. Might as well cut and polish myself i guess.

[samchuang33]

Originally Posted by Bimmerle

Apologies for the new handle. I thought a name change appropriate with the new beast. It's a compound word - "Bimmer" - US slang, with the German suffix "-le" meaning "little".

Everything wears, it's a fact of nature. Just the fact of applying your wash cloth to the paint will eventually wear away anything on the surface, and we're talking about coatings perhaps a fraction of a micrometre thick. The distributors of Colour Shield claim 5 years on a new car and 3 years on a used car with good paint. However, I'm thinking about a re-application every 2 years. At $70 for the kit, that's probably less than what you'd pay in polishes.

Sry, im a noob in this topic. So where do u get this kit?

[alik01]

Originally Posted by samchuang33

Sry, im a noob in this topic. So where do u get this kit?

I second that, bimmerle. And is it self application or do they do it for you?

I paid $600, for my crystal elements with interior protection too, all with the apparent lifetime warranty. I though this was good compared to the $1995 they charge customers! But $70 treatment sounds pretty damn tempting. Although, I must say I'm pretty happy with this product and was thinking of topping up in about 2 years or so.

This combined with the snow wash kit makes
looking after the car pretty damn easy, except for all the intermittent showers here!

[samchuang33]

just googled, maybe he is refering to one of the product in this site?

http://www.colourshield.com/store/

Had a chat with them. Product should last around 3 year on average. Bimmerle was refering to the paint protection system i think.

http://www.colourshield.com/store/in...roducts_id=180