BMW 1 Series Coupe Forum / 1 Series Convertible Forum (1M / tii / 135i / 128i / Coupe / Cabrio / Hatchback) (BMW E82 E88 128i 130i 135i)
 





 

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      02-27-2019, 05:48 AM   #1
jhanna
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ragtop care?

hi people,

although i am new to bmw ownership,my son had a lovely 1982 318i about 8 year ago. that was when i started appreciating the bmw brand. we both admired the one series in particular, and had my eye on a coupe or a convertible for a while.

finally, i bought a beautiful low km example last month and its my first convertible.

just a simple question, do you use the bmw brand conditioner, for the ragtop, or do you use an aftermarket product?

how often do you apply the product. my car is strictly a weekend car and its under cover 24/7 with a dust cover as well.

btw.......its no cafe cruiser either, this car capabilities are utilized......fully, in the backwoods of the Adelaide hills.
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      02-27-2019, 06:43 AM   #2
minirips2
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I don't know if it's available in Oz, but there's a product called Ragg Topp that has cleaners and conditioners for fabric tops. It's carried here by Auto Geek. Works great.
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      02-27-2019, 06:47 AM   #3
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I clean and treat the top once a year with Raggtopp, which is not BMW branded, products. I also hand wash the car to minimize the exposure of the top to other cleaning products and abrasion from brushes in commercial car washes. My convertible is in the garage at night but out during the day, most days. I do not use any cloth cover for it. Sometimes I vacuum the top when I am washing the painted outside surfaces.
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      02-27-2019, 07:38 AM   #4
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Griots garage sells a bunch of car care products and I've bought some cleaner and protectant from them. I like the protectant they sell, it's fairly easy to apply and it's easy to wipe off over spray. Don't use a wash rag on the top as the fibers from the rag will be hard to get off.

https://www.griotsgarage.com/search....tible+top+care

I do recommend using a horse hair brush for cleaning the top. Get a good quality brush as it can leave hairs from the brush on the top. There's several youtube vids on how to care for the top, I'd watch some of those.

You don't have to wash the top every time you wash the car, sometimes just a good rinse from the power setting on your hose will do just fine.

I've also used a sticky lint roller on the top to clean it from time to time, that does a great job for quick clean up on the top.

Enjoy the car and welcome to the forum!
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      02-27-2019, 03:47 PM   #5
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I've used 303 cleaner, then protectant on all of my cloth convertibles.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1







Not hard to use, very effective, good for about 2 years. I park outside always, even in snow.
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      02-27-2019, 04:52 PM   #6
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I've owned convertibles for 40 years. First, never take a convertible to an automatic car wash. Hand wash yourself. As others have said, you rarely need to wash the top with soap, rinsing with a water hose works fine. I only wash mine with a clean cloth and soap 2-4 times a year. Let the top air dry, wiping it dry with a cloth removes any repellent you may have applied. I live in the desert which is really brutal on fabric. You can use any good quality car wash soap for the top. You don't need anything special. Every time you wash the top with soap, spray it with Scotchguard or any generic equivalent after it is completely dry. Any special top treatment for sale is essentially scotchguard. You can pay a lot of of money for "special" stuff for your top but you are wasting your money
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      02-27-2019, 08:18 PM   #7
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RaggTop and 303 seem to be the popular brands here in the US these days; Sonax is apparently tops in Europe, if you want to put a German product on your German top. Griot's has great stuff and I'll probably use their top stuff on my new-to-me 135i.

Check out the masking JimVonBaden is using above. That is totally the way to do this, much as mostly none of us will bother, but it only makes sense that you don't want this stuff on your paint and glass finishes. Note most of the pro shops' videos show and advise wiping off the glass and paint after applying the top treatment; not getting it on there in the first place may be more time consuming but makes a lot more sense. With full masking you won't be shy about really getting a solid coat of protectant onto the top; if you want to go a long time between treatments that deep-in-there coating is gonna be key.
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      02-27-2019, 09:06 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bobdavisnpf View Post
RaggTop and 303 seem to be the popular brands here in the US these days; Sonax is apparently tops in Europe, if you want to put a German product on your German top. Griot's has great stuff and I'll probably use their top stuff on my new-to-me 135i.

Check out the masking JimVonBaden is using above. That is totally the way to do this, much as mostly none of us will bother, but it only makes sense that you don't want this stuff on your paint and glass finishes. Note most of the pro shops' videos show and advise wiping off the glass and paint after applying the top treatment; not getting it on there in the first place may be more time consuming but makes a lot more sense. With full masking you won't be shy about really getting a solid coat of protectant onto the top; if you want to go a long time between treatments that deep-in-there coating is gonna be key.
Good sealant can be particularly difficult to get off the trim and glass, so masking makes it much easier. As you said, it also makes you more likely to get full coverage, especially in those all important seams and edges.
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      02-27-2019, 10:50 PM   #9
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thanks guys.....much appreciated.

surprised no one has mentioned ARMOUR ALL.......supposed to be a product of USA?

the products mentioned are great info for a novice convertible owner.
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      02-28-2019, 01:56 AM   #10
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I left some quick detailer on too long during the summer and now I have a stain on my black top, anyone have a suggestion on something stronger than 303 or raggtopp cleaner to get it out? Thanks
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      03-12-2019, 01:23 AM   #11
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      03-12-2019, 08:19 AM   #12
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Do any of these products restore a bit of color to the top?
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      03-12-2019, 08:46 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Artdnj View Post
Do any of these products restore a bit of color to the top?
That's a great question.... subscribed...
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      03-12-2019, 10:37 AM   #14
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aww dang, I thought I had "before" pics but can't find now... oh well here's the "after" pic. I think the colors are pretty much exactly the same as before, including lighter top and darker crease-marks; I think it was garaged top-down for months at a time by PO, perhaps that somehow created the slight crease-mark patterns.

Ok on second look, the top is still the same color but more uniform, maybe a bit brighter if that makes sense, and definitely has some visual "pop" compared to before.

I used Griot's Garage convertible top cleaner and convertible top protectant.

On a sap stain, I tried some 3M Adhesive Remover that Griot's sells in their flagship store, as recommended by one of their senior guys when I asked him to come out and take a look at it. I liked it better before the 3M application, but worried the sap compound could eventually degrade the fabric. Again, I forgot I did not have a "before" pic, but the sap-stain pattern was distinct line of lighter-colored drips, apparently the best the PO's detailing shop could do on the detailing level she bought. Now the light-colored look is gone, the drips are smaller, but there's a watermark-type line at the perimeter of the work area (about 1/2" out from the drip, all the way around). This was the extent of the 3M solvent's wicking action. Rather than spray it on, I sprayed it on a tooth brush, then carefully worked just the dots of sap; on a dry top that probably hasn't seen a solid coat of protectant in 8 years, it wicked out fast. I cut short the effort to prevent further wicking, as I worried I'd get exactly this kind of work-stain from it.

The close-up may make it look pretty bad, but it's present in the above photo too - and about that hard to spot when your passenger is walking around or entering the car.

We washed immediately after stain removal, using 9 oz in one wash. Wet-down included a good soaking, then some low-pressure fan spray to loosen up dirt without blasting the top. Sprayed cleaner, gently worked up lather with horsehair brush in sections about 2 sq ft at a time; then another gently pass with brush over the whole top after lather had time to loosen any last bits. Hosed off with gentle spray until mostly clear, then a more aggressive low-pressure fan spray til water ran completely clear. Parked it under awning to dry overnight. (sorry no pics during washing)

This being our first treatment we really drenched the top, using 28 oz total in 2 coats. I masked with 6 mil plastic sheet we had left over from another project. I should have gotten some 0.7 mil plastic instead: much cheaper, won't pull up the painter's tape you tack it down with, easier to work around the corners at rear hinge points. I pulled off the masking as soon as 2nd coat had set up (about 15 minutes) and glad I did: protectant had pooled at the hinge corners and dripped down the side of the car, despite my efforts to keep dabbing up the pooling liquid. It also got under the tape on the rear window bottom.

Even after sitting on the paint for maybe an hour in some spots, it seemed to clean up pretty easy with a good wipe and some Quick Detailer spray (a light-blue dilute cleaner + wax Griot's product) just to be sure it was off without leaving a gap in last week's light-wax job. Next time I'll use the right plastic, a more-complete skirt, and mask those corners in a way that allows a clear path to drip off. I'll also double-tape the window's bottom edge (tape then plastic then tape), so protectant can't run under the tape.

I left it parked for a day and a half to dry and cure. Drove it in a steady light-to-medium rain on the highway for a couple hours last night; after a half hour it was still beading up on the newly treated top, where before it had all the water resistance of an 8yo Turkish towel. What really surprised me was arriving home and finding it was still beading up! I doubt this will last, and all products warn that a heavy rain will eventually soak through, but I am pleasantly surprised with the effectiveness of the cleaning and treatment.
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      03-12-2019, 11:02 AM   #15
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I do not mask when applying the repellant but I use a cardboard shield to minimize overspray onto the glass and painted surfaces.
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      03-12-2019, 01:18 PM   #16
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Quote:
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I do not mask when applying the repellant but I use a cardboard shield to minimize overspray onto the glass and painted surfaces.
yup, same here... The Griot's repellent lets you get it on the paint and it comes off with a simple wipe. Some of the other sealants require that you protect the car first, that's one reason I went with the Griot's cleaner and protectant.
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      03-19-2019, 10:33 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Artdnj View Post
Do any of these products restore a bit of color to the top?
303 makes the black a little darker and more even.
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