New car detailing... your suggestions

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Hi all.

I am set to receive the Z4 M Coupe I ordered last month and after lots of looking around, have decided on the following course of action:

(Asked the dealer not to wash/wax it, just remove the plastic, protective films and bubble wrap).

1. Wash with Meguire's Gold Class Wash
2. rinse with de-ionized water
3. Apply XMT 360 polish
4. Apply Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant (2 or more coats?)

Then apply Gold Class Clear Coat Liquid Wax, or the remaining Wolfgang sealant, perhaps alternate every 2 weeks.

Any thoughts or suggestions on the products or method?

Thanks in advance. -David in Houston
 
clay bar. typically you can find a mother's or meguiar's kit at your local car parts place.

otherwise, everything looks good (and like more effort than i'd exert
LOL.gif
)

nice car, btw!
 
David,
Nice car. What you said sounds like a good plan. You didn't mention if your car is a dark or light color, as that can make a difference. If your car is brand new (It sounds to me like that) check with BMW to see if there is any kind of waiting period to let the paint cure. I don't know if newer cars need this or not. Some body shops recommend letting the paint cure 3 months before waxing. The way that most detailers, including myself do would be this- 1) Wash the Z4 2)then claybar 3) wash again to remove residue 4)Polish only if there are swirl marks or spider web marks in the paint (New car shouldn't have this. If no swirl marks are present skip this step. 5) If you have a dark car color use a Machine glaze (really makes the paint shine) 6) then top off with a carnauba wax. I wouldn't be applying wax, and sealant every two weeks, as it won't be needed. Hope this gives you an Idea or two. I detailed my Prizm with a machine glaze, and topped it off with wax, and it lasted 5 months or so sitting outside in the Colorado sun, and is just now starting to need a rewax,
 
he should be ok with waxing right off the lot. BMWs come off the ship covered in a thick wax that is removed at the quarentine/prep station, then they are covered in plastic to be shipped by rail/truck
 
David,

Sounds like you have a good start to your plan. Here's a couple suggestions:

Wash - Gold Class is a great OTC soap. Use the "two-bucket method" and a Grit Guard in your rinse bucket. The "two-bucket method" just means one bucket for wash solution and one bucket for rinsing only. This keeps the dirt particles out of your wash solution and therefore reduces the chances of scratching/marring the paint while you're washing. Another washing method to do some research on is Optimum No Wash Rinse & Shine, or ONR. It's a rinseless wash so you don't have to use a hose. People who look at the product but have never tried it are always skeptical, but there are enough people using it these days that have great things to say about it, including me. Let me know if you want more info on ONR.

Drying - Use a leaf blower or some high quality microfiber drying towels. You can get these at any online detail supply store. I've got a few of the Cobra Guzzlers from AutoGeek.net. Pricey, but they are great.

Clay - Just pick up a clay kit from your local parts store. When you clay, use a quality MF towel to wipe off the excess residue and there will be no need to re-wash.

Polish - I'm going to assume you're working by hand. Unless you already have the 360, I'd suggest going with Optimum Poli-Seal. There's been some debate as to whether or not 360 contains fillers. Optimum Poli-Seal has no fillers and will clean, correct, and protect the paint. It is very easy to work with.

Glaze - Avoid these. Most contain fillers which will only temporarily mask any spider-webbing or swirls. Waste of money, IMO (unless you're going to be showing this car).

Wax/Sealant - Wolfgang is good stuff from what I've read. You might also look into Optimum Opti-Seal. It's a spray on-walk away pure sealant. After you apply your sealant, wait 24 hours (wash if necessary) and apply your favorite carnauba wax. I like DP Max Wax for ease of application (on and off), look, and price (bang for your buck). Other's to consider would be Poorboy's Natty's Blue, Collinite 845 (very long-lasting durable wax), or if your budget will allow, Pinnacle Souveran paste wax.

Protection boosters - If you follow the above process, you really don't need to be re-waxing every 2 weeks. Instead, I would suggest picking up some Duragloss #951 AquaWax or Optimum Car Wax (it's a spray wax). AquaWax is marketed as a spray on sealant. For the cost, it's hard to beat. It's also great on windows. Optimum Car Wax is a spray wax. However, it's much better than other spray waxes. You can actually use it as a stand-alone wax. They are getting ready to release an updated formulation so you can get a great deal on the existing formula that yields good protection and looks. Both AquaWax and Optimum Car Wax are spray-on, walk away products. If you can use a quick detailer, you can use these two products. They would both be great for use after washing as it would only take 5 minutes or less to apply to the entire vehicle.

Tire Shine - I prefer water-based dressings because they are less messy. I prefer Optimum Tire Shine because it leaves a nice matte finish.

Wheels - You can use a sealant or wax on your wheels so that brake dust is less likely to bond to them. This will make cleaning them a breeze. If you do this, you shouldn't need to use harsh wheel cleaners when washing. If you do, you're just going to strip the sealant/wax that you applied to them so you'll have to re-apply.

Interior protectant - I know you didn't mention this area for your car care needs, but I think it's very important. When buying any new car, especially a BMW, it's best to keep the interior protected from the sun and other elements. Two great products to do this are Aerospace 303 protectant and Optimum Protectant Plus. I prefer Optimum Protectant Plus because it 1) leaves a very matte finish 2) isn't greasy to the touch 3) provides good UV protection 4) has a pleasant scent. 303 is also great for UV protection.

As you see, I recommend a lot of Optimum products. The reason I do so is because I use Optimum products for my detailing business. However, I don't get paid by Optimum or receive free products from Optimum. I buy my own products. I just wanted to throw that out there in case anybody questioned why I recommend their products so much.

As some one else mentioned, check out some detailing boards for more info. I like Autopia.org, OptimumForums.org, and DetailingBliss.com.

Good luck!
 
Last edited:
One thing I forgot to mention. A new car's paint is baked on at the factory so there is no need to wait any amount of time before waxing. That only applies if you have a panel(s) re-painted at a body shop.
 
Originally Posted By: mshu7
One thing I forgot to mention. A new car's paint is baked on at the factory so there is no need to wait any amount of time before waxing. That only applies if you have a panel(s) re-painted at a body shop.

When I had a panel repainted at a body shop, they stuck the car into an "oven" as well, yet they told me to avoid waxing for 60 days. They also made me go back after 30 days for them to apply the clear coat??? This was back in 2000.
 
That is nice that your body shop has some sort of an oven system. However, I would have to assume that a body shop's oven isn't as good as what you'd find at the factory since it gets baked before anything is installed on the vehicle (engine, interior parts, etc.). Just a guess. I'm not a body shop pro so I could be wrong.
 
I'm a manager at a body shop. Its not really an "oven". Its a paint booth that has the capacity to heat itself. It usually is around 120 degrees. All this does is speed up drying times. Its not a big magic hardening technique. Its more of a time production thing. And yes, we paint ahd heat all body parts that we paint.
We use Dupont and offer a lifetime warranty on the panels we paint.

We also strip off all the weatherstriping, windows, etc... before we paint it. That way there are no masking lines or risk of overspray on the mouldings etc.. Nothing looks worse then overspray on areas that do not require paint.
The factory doesn't use a magic oven either. Just a heated drying pre-assembly line.

And yes, DO NOT wax for at least 60-90 days after a paint job.
 
no one has mentioned that to avoid getting swirls ..us a microfiber wash mitt and a micro fiber polishing towle ..you may want to dry with one as well
 
Originally Posted By: deepsquat
no one has mentioned that to avoid getting swirls ..us a microfiber wash mitt and a micro fiber polishing towle ..you may want to dry with one as well


Swirls are put in by rotary buffers, I think what your describing is called micro scratches.
 
Every 3 months I do the following regimen:

Exterior

1. Wash (Bowdens Own Autobody Gel);
2. Clay with Claymagic Blue and #49 Bodyshine;
3. P21S Paint Cleansing Lotion;
4. Wolfgang Deep Gloss Sealant or Klasse Sealant Glaze;
5. Chemical Guys Butter Wet Wax or Pinnacle Signature Series. Have also been experimenting with Collinite 845

Maintained with Duragloss Aquawax in between and washed weekly

Interior (Monthly)

Leather cleaned with Softly/Water Mix (1:6);
Conditioned with Chemical Guys Pure Leather Conditioner
Vinyl wiped down or cleaned with Meguiar's All Purpose Cleaner and conditioned with Einzsett Cockpitt Premium

Wheels and Tyres (Weekly)

Wheels cleaned with either Meguiar's Wheel Brightener or Poorboys Spray & Rinse. Tyres conditioned with Mother's FX Tyre Shine or Autoglym Instant Tyre Dressing.

The big detail takes me all day (literally)
 
Your BMW E86 Z4 M Coupe is assembled in South Carolina so you won't have to deal with any shipping wax residue.
In spite of coming fresh off the delivery truck my new Imola Red Z4 M Coupe did not pass the sandwich bag surface contamination test so it was clay for the first prep step. I used a very non-aggresive clay (Griot's) and Meguiar's Final Inspection as a lubricant. The paint surface came clean. I then used a rotary buffer with a Lake Country foam pad to apply Meguiar's No 82 light polish/cleaner. Again using the rotary buffer I applied Meguiar's No 3 Machine Polish. I then used a Porter Cable random orbital polisher to apply Meguiar's NXT 2.0 sealant.
All these products were removed with micro-fiber polishing cloth. After letting the NXT 2.0 cure for a couple of days I hand applied P21S wax to get that final "deep" shine.
 
One thing I would suggest is to halt rubber/weatherstrip deteriation before it starts. I suggest dupont krytox as that stuff lasts forever it seems. You can buy in liquid (my preference) or grease (which lasts longer but is harder to apply). If you use this stuff from day one, all your rubber pieces will stay like new and you hardly ever have to apply it because it lasts so long. There is a Krtyox thread in this detailing section.

I even thought about putting it on CV joint boots etc. but I wonder if it would do more harm than good underneath the car by atracting dirt.?
 
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