Advice on Washing a black car.

Hey guys. I recently purchased a black BMW 335i Coupe. It is black, and im worried about one thing! that its black! what can i do or use to prevent getting circle rub marks when washing and drying? What are good products? Microfiber towels? Shammys? I dont have a big budget cause i am only 18 years old soo let me know! id appreciate it!THANX!

Dany

 

A good start is this video by Mike Philips:

How to Wash Your Car (ShowCar Style!)

 

Given budget restrictions, get yourself either Meguiar's Gold Class Car Wash or Duragloss #901 Car Wash. Get two five gallon buckets, one or two waffle-weave drying towels (no chamois!), a microfiber wash mitt, and a bunch of decent microfiber towels. You will also probably want a gentle wheel brush and a wheel cleaner, e.g., Meguiar's All Wheel Cleaner, though many of us just use our ordinary car shampoo to wash our wheels. Most if not all of the above products you should be able to get locally.

 

Invest in Grit-Guards too, thats an important one. Watch that video and try stick with it as closely as possible. If you can't get MF wash-mitts, 100% sheepskin or lambskin washmitts are just as good if not better. Good luck, and post pics!

Brendan

 

I really hope that it's not Jet Black, an incredibly soft paint. You will have to be very careful washing and drying it each and every time.

Also, with all due respect, if you bought yourself a 335i, I somehow find it hard to believe you don't have "big buget" to buy detailing supplies.

 

Parents bought it possibly? Not implying anything. Also, if you can with drying an easy way to reduce the chance of marring the paint from drying would be to blowdry the car with a leaf blower if available. Makes it a lot easier if the cars waxed as well.

 

Yea, my parents put half down for me. I am busting my ass off at work to pay the rest! , and as far as budget i meant around 50-100 dollars as i wil be paying for the products myself.

Thanx for the video! that video is pretty good, i will make sure i get some grit guards, microfiber towels, and all that good stuff. I will also try out that Meguiars soap.

And the car is jet black. :gasp: So i guess i have to be very careful!

 

You will definitely have to. With the towels, I would suggest buying a few quality towels online. The Megs Gold Class is what I have been using the whole time and I've had good results although I haven't tried many other shampoos. I would recommend ordering from one of the site sponsors as they have all the stuff you can imagine, plus you get a discount as well. Good luck!

 

Well, since you considered purchasing a BMW, you're definitely going to pay for that luxury, LoL. Just hope it doesn't require major repairs, hehe. I do agree with P1et on this one, if you bought yourself a BMW, why penny-pinch?

Anyway, I would pick up the following things:

• Grit Guard (Detailer's Domain)
• 2 Graduated Plastic Buckets (Lowe's)
• Proline Grout Sponge (Lowe's)
• Waffle Weave Drying Towels (theragshack.com; there's a sale going on right now)
• Meguiar's Gold Class Shampoo (Walmart)
• Eagle One A2Z All Wheel & Tire Cleaner (Walmart)
• Swissvax Wheel Brush (Detailer's Domain)
• E-Z Detail Brush (Autogeek)
• Eagle One Tire applicators (Autozone)
• Your favorite tire dressing

This should take care of just about everything for the basics. Eventually you'll probably get bitten by the detail bug and before you know it, you'll be making purchases left and right to keep your baby clean. Hope this helps. :applause2:

 

2 five gallon buckets-10 bucks
Grit Guard-10 bucks
Proline Grout Sponge- 6 for 10 bucks
Swissvax Wheel brush-10 bucks
Deep reach brush(EZ Detail Brush is 25, others have found a cheaper alternative)
Duragloss Soap- 6 bucks
Wheel cleaner
Amazing Drier towel from Justin- 15 bucks
Tire Dressing- Surf City Garage Beyond Black Tire Pro(not spray)
Duragloss 105 sealant for wheels

 

The waffle weave drying towels from detailers domain are nice. I just ordered 3 more.

 

I would like to second the purchase of GOOD quality microfiber towels. I have experienced theeffects of using mediocre-quality towels on my black Honda paint surface. Good quality towels make a big difference in the maintaining of a black car. I have been very pleased with the towels I have purchased from both RagShak and Detailer's Domain. Both are offering Christmas discounts, so check out their respective forums here on DB for more info.

Cheers,
Al

 

Nice car! I have a Sapphire Black BMW, and even that is easy to scratch (my fingernail scratches it). Jet black is a beautiful color, but it is very very soft.

Make sure you don't dry the car when it is dirty or even touch it in any way. Eventually you might need to get it polished or polish it yourself.

I agree with everyone else, that you should put more money into detailing supplies, at least a grand if you're serious. Otherwise, you'll have to take it to a professional detailer if you want it perfect (and mos t of them will have trouble with a jet black BMW.

You should get your products from Phil at detailersdomain.com because he only sells the best and has great customer service and prices.

 

i heard he is selling everything shop ,store an forum wonder why.

 

Great video...:thumb:

 

I too just purchased another Jet Black BMW, and am very worried about washing it. Just dropped $200+ purchasing products based upon JL's detail of his wife's JB 330xi. Here's the three methods I am considering, and would welcome opinions.

1. Two bucket wash with grit guards (received them for Christmas), Majestic Solutions Ultra Gloss. Blow dry with leaf vacuum and gently wipe off with MF towel. I have about 10 MF towels, all purchased from Autopia. This seems to be the most common method.

2. Purchase a Canon Foam gun, rinse car first, spray with foam, rinse, blow dry, and gently wife off with MF towel, only if neccessary. Point here would be to not try to touch the paint.

3. Purchase ONR, use two bucket method, wipe with two MF towels. Seems kind of scarey to me because this would have the most towel time on the paint. But, so many seem to do it.

 

Nothing wrong with what you described here, should minimize micro marring/scratches/swirls. The key is just to be careful that's all.

 

A few things I really noticed helps with reducing washing and drying induced swirls is

1. A good pre soak method (foam gun/cannon)
2. Hot or warm water pressure wash
3. 2 buckets with gritt guards
4. WW drying towels

Just my opinion

 

congrats on your new purchase!

having recently acquired a new truck in black, i faced the same feelings about ONR. i had purchased it from the last Detailers Domain Sale, so i gave myself no choice but to use it.

my advise would be to try out ONR on another vehicle and get a feeling for the way it works. my test car (wife's subaru) was in pretty nasty shape from all the salt/bad weather we've been having here in the northeast. i used the 2 bucket method, a little warm water, a good MF wash mitt, and 2 plush MF towels to dry. a good sweatshirt with a front pocket is key for me in the drying stage as i know left side first, right side second for drying!

take your time, enjoy the time you're not spending worrying about the rest of life, and just focus on a nice lite touch on the paint. no need to push!

as an alternative, purchase a pressure washer (karcher) and a foam cannon. it's amazing what a great tool it is...really takes out the fear of hurting that beautiful black paint.

Good Luck!

 

Just ordered a foam cannon. I have an Excel w/Honda engine 2600 psi pressure washer. Will that work with the foam cannon, or do I need a Karcher?