Issues with rail dust on alpine white

[Grinchxvx]

I clay barred my car 3 months ago since it was super contaminated with rail dust and it looked great but I washed my car yesterday for the first time in maybe a month and it's already starting to get dust on a lot of the trunk area and lower door/ quarters. Anyone else notice it accumulate fast on white? I figured I would be good for another year before I needed to bar it again.

[P1]

I have the same on my X5, as I do with the 135i. Alpine White plus fun exhaust in the back means the stuff will stick to your paint. Not fun, and I actually end up having to polish it out.

[Grinchxvx]

Originally Posted by P1et

I have the same on my X5, as I do with the 135i. Alpine White plus fun exhaust in the back means the stuff will stick to your paint. Not fun, and I actually end up having to polish it out.

Yeah I'm kittyless with muffler delete so that would make sense, just kind of bumped its building up so fast

[Grinchxvx]

Bummed*

[P1]

Originally Posted by Grinchxvx

Yeah I'm kittyless with muffler delete so that would make sense, just kind of bumped its building up so fast

All you can do is to make sure those areas stay sealed as much as possible, to prevent it from sticking as bad. But yes, no cat and no muffler will make it a nightmare.

The way air flows on the rear on the vehicle, plus perhaps some static electricity, will make it all accumulate there. I know that when I take my X5 out after washing it, it'll be dirty on the rear end in no time.

[Grinchxvx]

Looks like I'll have to do it for every season if i want it to stay clean. At least it will only be the back and sides. Doing a whole car detail takes a whole day almost.

[Ginger_Extract]

Yeah, I don't know what it is, but compared to any of my other vehicles of any color, Alpine loves to attract rail dust. I generally clay bi-annually and wax approx 4x/yr. Usually any contaminants come off with some finger nail coercion.

[Dackelone]

You guys must live too close to the rail road tracks!

In all seriousness... why not use some Auto Finesse Iron Out every other car washing. I think that should cut down on the iron buildup. You could also use a car cover - since it sounds like your cars are parked outside.

DetailersDomain

Auto Finesse Iron Out
http://www.detailersdomain.com/Auto-...-ml_p_780.html

[Grinchxvx]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

You guys must live too close to the rail road tracks!

In all seriousness... why not use some Auto Finesse Iron Out every other car washing. I think that should cut down on the iron buildup. You could also use a car cover - since it sounds like your cars are parked outside.

DetailersDomain

Auto Finesse Iron Out
http://www.detailersdomain.com/Auto-...-ml_p_780.html

I park my car under covered parking when I'm home but at work its out in the open and our building is about 100 yards from train tracks. I used iron x before I clayed my car a few months ago and it seemed to help the process.

[Greg@DetailedImage]

If you're that close to the train, you're definitely going to see the buildup every 2-3 months. It's on all cars, but white just shows it easily and looks worse. Something like IronX used frequently (not just before you clay every few months) will definitely prevent it from getting contaminated and looking like crap quickly. It may not be able to stop it completely, but it should eliminate the need for clay bar every few months. Getting a coating applied, like 22PLE or GlossCoat, or frequently using a good sealant will definitely help protect the paint, especially if you're using IronX frequently to remove the buildup.

I went through the exact same thing with my E36 M3, but mine was even worse as I had to park about 3 car lengths from the train tracks! Drove me nuts but IronX helped quite a lot, then I would clay and polish about once a year.

Hope that helps!

Ivan @ DI