Whats your car cleaning regime??

The place to pick up tips on bringing that showroom shine back to your E30.

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kangman
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Fri Feb 08, 2013 8:12 pm

I need to fix my cleaning regime,

tools-
poundland jumbo sponge
jetwash
5ltr turtlewax shampoo, brought 14years ago by my dad who used it on his triumph stag
smartwax sealant (if i have the time)
carplan tyre dressing


Its a simple bucket and sponge wash, left to dry naturally as i dont have a leather chamois
when dry i will run over it with smartwax sealant or meguiars polish with a microfibre cloth

I did clay bar it 4 months ago and it took loads of dirt off and left the paintwork super smooth

:D
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hazd31
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Fri Feb 08, 2013 8:19 pm

jet wash the whole thing twice

shampoo and hot water the top half, then do the bottom half

Jet wash again

Then once dry wax

And dress your tyres and black trim while waiting for the wax to dry
e30topless
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Fri Feb 08, 2013 8:23 pm

F uck getting wet, A £4 Kosovo and sometimes a £1 tyreshine with a free magic tree :)

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Alex
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Fri Feb 08, 2013 8:29 pm

Fook me steve your getting robbed down there

My local is £3.99 with Tyre shine and an a magic tree.
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hazd31
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Fri Feb 08, 2013 8:32 pm

purchase a slut (ps its her car)

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kangman
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Fri Feb 08, 2013 9:34 pm

oh no its a rover 8O
Speedtouch
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Fri Feb 08, 2013 10:06 pm

I usually hand wash mine; first a rinse with a hose to loosen the dirt, then good old bucket and sponge with wash/wax, then another rinse.

It gets a wax polish once in a blue moon, and sometimes I need to use Autosol to keep the chrome clean:

Image

I daren't take it through an automatic car wash, as it leaks like a sieve! :snigger:
Last edited by Speedtouch on Fri Feb 08, 2013 10:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
///M aurice
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Alex
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Fri Feb 08, 2013 10:09 pm

Ronseal on the wood ? :D
Speedtouch
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Fri Feb 08, 2013 10:10 pm

No, that's Sikkens Masterstroke, a microporous wood stain. Amazingly, it's never suffered from woodworm - they're 42 year old original timbers.
///M aurice
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Rtaylor2208
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Fri Feb 08, 2013 11:52 pm

6 months of the year it gets a hand wash and waxed once a month, the other 6 months it sits in the garage getting very very dusty.
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Kos
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Sat Feb 09, 2013 12:18 am

Snow foam
Wash
Rinse
Dry & QD
Dress all trims & tyres
Vacuumed and glass cleaned
Done Every fortnight minimum

Every 6 months wash degrease & clay, polish & wax
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polsta
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Sat Feb 09, 2013 7:34 am

Power jet wash if needed or just hose down
Warm shampoo with sponge and a brush for wheels
Normal hose down to get rid of all soap, then I put the hose in watering can to give a nice gentle rinse off

1 micro fibre around all glass to get rid of most water, then around glass again with a 2nd dry one to get them dry

Then demon shine the car from wet to dry

Is my normal routine if the car is waxed and still nice and beady

Then every few weeks
Autoglym glass polish inside and out ( the stuff that goes white and dry then buff off) is Awsome stuff , ag vinyl and rubber care

Best thing to do is ensure the cars always got a nice cost of good wax and then it's just top up cleans
capri_rob
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Sat Feb 09, 2013 7:59 am

Vacuum dog hairs from boot
Tea.
Wheels with Wonder Wheels
Tea
Hose down
Wash with car shampoo
Hose down
Tea
Chamois leather off
Do windows with glass cleaner
Spray on Tyre foam
Tea
Then if I havent lost the will to live will do a coat of Autoglym and and black trim with some valeting stuff to get it back to black.

When I lived at home and had my first E30's I could spend pretty much all day on a Sunday cleaning and polishing but I rarely can be bothered to go into the detail I used to as there always seems to be something else that needs doing around the house :(
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e30topless said : Proper BMW's have 4 headlights, last of the run was the E30 and E34/E32 anything after that is just complete shite
n8krr
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Tue Feb 12, 2013 7:36 am

capri_rob wrote:Vacuum dog hairs from boot
Tea.
Wheels with Wonder Wheels
Tea
Hose down
Wash with car shampoo
Hose down
Tea
Chamois leather off
Do windows with glass cleaner
Spray on Tyre foam
Tea
Then if I havent lost the will to live will do a coat of Autoglym and and black trim with some valeting stuff to get it back to black.

When I lived at home and had my first E30's I could spend pretty much all day on a Sunday cleaning and polishing but I rarely can be bothered to go into the detail I used to as there always seems to be something else that needs doing around the house :(
That sounds very familiar since moving out cars just get neglected over all the DIY that's needed. Hoping to get a foam lance soon so i'll add snow foam to top of list.
316 Touring......
LilJen
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Sat Mar 02, 2013 11:24 am

I can get pretty OCD with my car cleaning, I can spend hours on it.
Snow Foam
Rinse
Wash (2 buckets with Wool mitt)
Rinse as I go if its warm.
Use various pressure wash attachments for wheel arches, underbody etc.
Dry with microfibre towels
Clean wheels and dress tyres.
blacking products on any platic trims.
polish exhaust.
clean windows/mirrors
spray detail cleaner with microfibre cloths.

then hoover and quick wipe down inside (by then Im usually knackered :P )

Its washed weekly usually, and gets full clay bar and wax a couple of times a year.
Low_E30
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Sun Mar 17, 2013 1:03 pm

kangman wrote: 5ltr turtlewax shampoo, brought 14years ago by my dad who used it on his triumph stag
Any pics of the Stag?? If so, get 'em scanned and up :thumb:

Do you guys throw away the microfibre cloths as they get abit threadbare and lose their flufyness, or are they still effective in this state on paint?
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Kos
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Sun Mar 17, 2013 1:43 pm

I keep Old microfibres & use them on door shuts wheels exhausts etx then they got binned
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Rich2388
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Sun Mar 17, 2013 1:52 pm

e30topless wrote:F uck getting wet, A £4 Kosovo and sometimes a £1 tyreshine with a free magic tree :)

Image
+ 1. Lol. Sod spending ages doing it myself. Give the old jam roles a tenna and its looking sweet in 10mins flat. Then just go over any bits i want to touch up that they aint done to good
jas025
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Sun Mar 17, 2013 5:08 pm

Rich2388 wrote:
e30topless wrote:F uck getting wet, A £4 Kosovo and sometimes a £1 tyreshine with a free magic tree :)

Image
+ 1. Lol. Sod spending ages doing it myself. Give the old jam roles a tenna and its looking sweet in 10mins flat. Then just go over any bits i want to touch up that they aint done to good
+1 as well. My regime is typically, purchase a load of stuff from halfords that I can't be bothered to get round to using and then take it to the hand car wash where they do a great job for £6.

I've got the 3 stage meguires stuff though that when I can be bothered looks great.
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