Lets talk a little about Detailing

[liquidtiger720]

Yada Yada Yada

Am I the only obssessive compulsive here who details the engine bay?

After saying this, I have to do a disclaimer that it will probably be dirty at bimmerfest because of all the rain this week. Like a fool, I cleaned the wheels with P21s wheel cleaner and it brought on the heaviest rain of the season.

I'm to scared to detail my engine bay, so I leave it alone.

[Boom n Zoom]

one of my (and probably your) great pastimes. When (like myself) you have recently bought a ‘New’ second-hand car, part of the process of becoming acquainted with said car is to (naturally) spend lots of time behind the wheel going everywhere and doing everything to understand the car you have bought but more importantly to enjoy it.

For me a great part of that enjoyment is in the cleaning, for when you are cleaning you are looking in detail at every part of the car, this allows you to find and see things that you more than likely didn’t notice when you bought it. One other thing is that you can tell from the paint a lot about the overall condition of a car, yes there are some instances where it may well be immaculate inside and out but has never been serviced, but I think you would agree that this is rare as anyone who loves the outside of their car that much is certainly going to be the ‘fastidious’ type of owner.

And this brings me to the ‘Procedure” of detailing my vehicle. In my case the car lives outside in the weather as I don’t (yet) have a shed/garage/carport in which to park it so with the Queensland weather being what it is, mostly hot and humid during the Summer (we certainly don’t get any snow but hey there is always a first time ) and funnily enough we can and sometimes do get down to 0 degrees Celsius during Winter, Spring and Autumn sometimes don’t even bother stopping by (It seems that Autumn is somewhat confused at the moment)

So to the Procedure:

I have been a big Maguire’s fan for a long time I use it still on the Ford EB II S XR8 Falcon and now the Mitsubishi Verada Ei, but with the Panzer I wanted to try something else. I have seen the Zymol products around the place and when after seeing the results on an acquaintance 944 Turbo Porsche I was willing to give it a try. I hunted around and found a detailer from the Zymol website that not only used the product but sold it as well. After a lengthy conversation whilst looking over the car we decided that it would need a cut and polish first to remove the blemishes in the clear coat
Then clay-bar it with
Lhem-Klay with Lehm-Lube
And wash
Clear Auto Bathe using a soft sponge.
Followed by a good rinse down and chamois dry.
Then HD-Cleanse paintwork cleaner and micro fibre cloth and the Brite Wheel cleaner
Another light rinse and chamois down.
Hit the inside with the Leather Conditioner whist waiting for the outside to dry.
Then clean the glass with Glas
Once dry and having applied the Leather conditioner, head back outside and apply this a panel at a time.
Carbon Wax, taken off with the Micro fibre coth. It’s meant for dark coloured finishes.
If the paint is even half good this is where you really see the results.
Then just cause I could
I used the Aerodynamic Wax for the front and rear bumpers, brake ducts and the rubber bump strips along the side of the car.
I then went over it with another polishing cloth and applied the Seal preservative and Tyre preservative followed by Wheel Coat.
Once complete I applied the Treat Leather Conditioner and the Vinyl conditioner.

It was then time to step back and take a look at 4 hours of work. I have to say I was really surprised at the finish it was very deep looking and had that incredible shine.
Since then it has become really grubby, but even with three weeks of accumulated road grime on it the water is just beginning to bead, this is apparently the time when it needs another clean and reapplication of Carbon Wax as when it is fresh the water doesn’t bead it just sheets off, it’s kind of freaky at first because even when it is raining it doesn’t look wet ‘cause the water has nothing to hold it’s surface tension, therefore, it can’t stay on the car.

Boom n Zoom

P.S.
After having read all of this it is reads somewhat like a hard sell on the product I don’t mean it to sound this way . I just wanted to pass on the results that I have had with the product. I would like to add that the biggest problem with the Zymol is the price, it’s right up there at the top of the market, although it is all a very easy product to use the price is inhibiting.

I think I will continue to use it but with just a basic wash, clay-bar, wheel cleaner, wax, leather treatment and conditioner. I did use all the ‘hand crafted’ washes and polishes, lotions and potions when I did it and the finished result is pretty amazing. All I can say is go try it on something and see what you think.

P.P.S.

Gayle, I too detail the Engine bay of my cars, but I have to get the Magnesium rocker covers recoated before I do that as it looks tired and ratty at the moment, but once done I will get in there and have it sparkling.

Boom n Zoom

[califblue]

Gayle, trust me you are not the only one...just wait and see

[Gayle]

Gayle, trust me you are not the only one...just wait and see

So you and SC David are going to put me to shame tomorrow. I am already calculating how much detailing I can get in tonight between 5:30 and dark. And you were right, that was one heavy rain that came my way from your area.

[Russell]

THe original BMW Gummi pflege (no longer available) is gel-like in a tube. This stuff and all the others I have seen including 1Z etc are water like. I have several BMW does make a Gummi pflege in a spray can. It foams up a bit when applied. Again not the same/good.

I even tried importing it from Germany with Maximian imports. No luck. We had a big discussion on Roadflys detailing forum on a new source. no luck.

Thanks for trying

Do I get a finder's fee?

http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/...2-14-9-407-015

[liquidtiger720]

Detailing procedure:
Wash with mothers gold class shampoo
Clay bar with pinnicle poly-clay, meguiars aggressive, or poorboys claybar.
Polish with 3m Finesse it 2 Machine polish, 3m finesse it swirl mark remover for dark cars, or Poorboys ssr3, 2.5, or 1 at my discretion.
Polish with Klasse All-in-one or poorboys ssr1 or poorboys professional polish.
Apply Klasse sealant (synthetic wax) or Mothers Pure carnauba wax or Pinnicle Paste Glaz (light cars only) or Poorboys Natty’s
- Wax, sealant, and others applied by hand.
- Polishes with porter cable.
- Window cleaned using Stoners Invisible Glass, followed by Rain-x.
- If car has black trim- I use Poorboys trim restorer
- Tires shined using Meguiars High Endurance Gloss or Wolfgang Diamond Gel or Poorboys bold n birght
Vaccum carpets and small crevices/vents/etc.
Dust interior with mini California car duster
Clean/Protect interior vinyl with Poorboys Natural shine.
Clean wheel wells with dilute Bold N Brite 50:50 for wheel wells
Clean wheels with soap and water.

All products are applied or taken off with pakshak microfiber towels.

[angrypancake]

under the hood detailing with Meguiars

[Paul in NZ]

wash
mother pre polish cleaner
mothers polish
bmw wax
brushes cloths vacumn interior
clean leather with damp cloth
bmw leather conditioner
clean engine bay,not really detail it
make sure everything is in its place(does anyone else plug the centre belt into the parcel shelf retainer or do you hide it behind the armrest?)

[1995 525i]

What does your full detailing routine involve, whether you do it yourself or have someone else do it? Give specifics on interior, exterior, and the products that you use.

I will post my "routine" in a bit.

I hand wash my car with Meguires car wash. Then I vaccum the interior, clean the interior so it is free of dust. Armoral comes next. I power wash my rims (my pressure washer is electric so it isn't too powerful). Every couple of months I Wax the car. Every 6 months I do the three step Meguire process which has a paint cleaner, polish and carnuba wax. My car looks amazing after I do that. Last week I added back to black to my cleaning supplies and now the exterior looks really good. The tires gets Meguires tire spray (stuff stays on really good).

All in all my car looks good as you are walking around it but the closer you get the more flaws you can see. I really need an orbital buffer and some high end wax. I guess I'll just add that to my wish list.

Michael

[Russell]

Weekly/near weekly

• hand wash car- quality car wash seems about same 4 ALL cotton mitts-2 for wheels/tires and low areas 2- for upper body.
• Pull car in garage Dry/blot with microfiber drying towels
• clean windows with invisible gasss if needed
• wheel dressing- low shine- many brands all seem to last a week or so. I curently use original water based Armorall. spray on, wait 10 minutres and wipe/dry/buff off
• Aerospace 303 on hard plastics as needed to keep shine Orginal water based Armorall is also used some. sray on, set a few minutes and buff

Other

• Use sealant/ topper wax every 6 to 8 weeks- currently like Mother's Reflection sealant and Mother's Topper wax or top sealant with s-100 carnuaba or Poorboys' Nattys blue. I use microfiber to wipe off.
• Clean/vacumn interior as needed- Aerospace 303 on dash and plastics. Treat leather with leatherique once a year in summer. Gummi Pflege on seals. BTW, I have rubber winter mats.
• Clean engine with STP "steam" cleaner about twice a year. I bought a case cheap. Seem just like the Gunk brand to me. Cover electrical components with foil
• Clay with Blue Magic and hand polish body about once/twice a year. Remove light scratches with as "minimal" polish that works. I currently have Iz red (weak) and green (stronger). Take car to Dent Wizard when needed to removes dings. I get very few.

What does your full detailing routine involve, whether you do it yourself or have someone else do it? Give specifics on interior, exterior, and the products that you use.

I will post my "routine" in a bit.