New Car - Getting Started

L

Lord Bodak

New member
Last month I got a 2001 BMW 530i, the first car I've ever owned that I really care about. After doing a lot of research and looking around online, I've ordered some products to use to keep it looking good.



Since I've never done anything like this before (my previous car, a 1994 Oldsmobile, has never seen anything but an automatic car wash), I'm thinking of starting out with the Olds for a few reasons...



First, if I screw up, I won't be screwing up a BMW with near perfect paint, I'll be screwing up an Oldsmobile that hasn't really been taken care of.



Second, it'll make the Olds look a lot better when I sell it.



So here's what I have...

A P21S kit (shampoo, pre-wax cleanser, wax, and wheel cleaner)

Klasse AIO & SG

Blackfire PolyClay and lube



Various microfiber towels, applicators, and such.



Anything I'm missing? If we get reasonable weather next weekend I'd like to get started on the Olds. The BMW was detailed right before I got it, so it should be ok for a while longer until I'm ready to tackle it-- all I've done with it so far is used a QD to keep the bird droppings off it.
 
Great start.



You've got your shampoo, clay, cleaner, sealant, mf's, applicators.



To keep things cheap, I'd only recommend

-a wheel brush or something to agitate the wheel cleaner.

-Some sort of tire and trim dressing like 303

-wool wash mit, oxo or meg's body brush, boar hair brush or something good to wash with



then develop good washing techniques.



If you are interested in doing more... there's a whole new world of detailing waiting for you.



:welcome
 
Thanks. I have a MF "wash bone" for now... I may get a mitt later but we'll see. For the wheels... the P21S kit did come with a plain old sponge, which I'll try on the wheels. If I don't have any luck with that, I'll get a wheel brush... Oxo seems to be well-liked.
 
Lord Bodak said:
Thanks. I have a MF "wash bone" for now... I may get a mitt later but we'll see...
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That sounds really scary to me. I'd get the mitts/BHB and a *foamgun* before anything else. Washing without marring is both essential (else you'll undo all your work right away) and difficult (primary cause of marred paint IMO).



For wheels I'd get a made-for-wheels BHB from Griot's, Autogeek, or TOL.



I'd expect you to need a mildly abrasive polish to use before the Klasse twins. Pretty much every vehicle in the world has marring and Klasse tends to make it pretty visible.



I'd recommend 3M PI-III MG (05937) but it's getting sorta hard to find. The autobody/paint supply places in my town still have it though, and I know some online vendors will too. Might be worth looking for (works fine by hand/PC/Cyclo/rotary and is great before AIO).
 
Accumulator said:
That sounds really scary to me. I'd get the mitts/BHB and a *foamgun* before anything else. Washing without marring is both essential (else you'll undo all your work right away) and difficult (primary cause of marred paint IMO).
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They seem to be getting good reviews here at Autopia. Nothing bad about them that I turned up in a search.
 
Don't take this as an :argue or anything...I'm only interested in helping you *not* mar your paint (i.e., it's not about being perceived as right/wrong ;) ).



The problem I have with the MF bone (which I have *not* used) is that a) MF tends to hold onto certain types of abrasive grit, it's hard to rinse MF wash media clean, b) wash media configured like that will require more pressure to maintain contact with the panel than would a mitt (fill with solution, hold cuff shut, barely touch against panel, solution seeps out of mitt) or a BHB (barely touch tips of bristles against panel). Somewhat hard to explain without going into excruciating detail, but I used covered-sponge wash media back in the day and it was marring-city (from the dirt getting rubbed against the finish, not from the media itself).
 
Listen to Accumulator, he is a master of washing technique.



MF does bite large particles and not let go. I've had a problem with this, and won't use a MF on a cars exterior unless it's already been washed. Also, I won't use a MF after it falls on a dirty floor.
 
The wash bones seem to use a different type of MF, instead of being looped it's open-ended which is meant to keep it from hanging onto the dirt. That combined with a two bucket method will probably do the job. We'll see how it does on the Olds before it ever touches the BMW!



But, I think I will take a look around for a mitt that's not MF. What do you recommend?



Additionally, what should I use to clean MF? I've heard good things about Micro Restore but I haven't heard of much else.
 
Derf said:
Hmmm. I just ordered the Corbra MF boen last week and hope i won't be disappointed.
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It'll be interesting to see. Let me know what you think, and I'll definitely most my opinions as well.



The idea of the open-ended MF to keep it from hanging onto the grit makes sense, but what Accumulator says below makes sense too. Really, I think the only way to find out is for some people to try it out.
 
Not to beat this to death, but the one of the types of MF mitts I've tried has the non-looped nap. I had sorta assumed your bone had this type. I didn't find it any better at releasing contaminants than the looped style of my other MF mitts. What I do is clean the worst of the dirt off with another type of wash media and then use the MF on the already pretty clean panel. This seems to work OK as long as I'm *very* careful about inspecting both the panel and the mitt. I still end up using at least four of the MF mitts though...



Both the sheepskin mitts and the (100%) cotton chenille ones have worked well for me. I got my sheepskin ones at the Autopia store, but there are a lot of good ones out there. I got my chenille mitts from DETAILKING here at Autopia, a long time ago (dunno where I'd get 'em today, usually only use them on the S8 and the Jag, so they last forever).



I find the MicroRestore/etc. detergents work best for me. Charlie's soap works well, but not *as* well. Others claim they do just fine with regular detergent so it must depend on the washer, your water quality, what's on the MFs, and a host of other variables. I'd try the MicroRestore type stuff, sure glad *I* did.
 
Hmm... CMA has Meguiar's chenille mitts for $5.95, that's hard to beat. Sheepskin is more expensive but I know it won't last exceptionally long. Would one of those Meguiar's mitts be a good choice? Is one enough to do the car?



Makes sense to go with CMA and get some Micro Restore and an Oxo wheel brush at the same time.
 
Did some searches for opinions on the Meguiar's chenille mitts and they sounded good. I ordered some MicroRestore, a few extra applicators (realized I had none for the P21S cleanser!), and 3 of the mitts (I figured I needed at least two, and the price was right).



Thanks for all the information!
 
Lord Bodak said:
Sheepskin is more expensive but I know it won't last exceptionally long. Would one of those Meguiar's mitts be a good choice? Is one enough to do the car?
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Good move, getting more mitts than you'd planned. Heh heh, some of us use an incredibly large number of them for each wash (even on not-too-dirty cars).



I'd test the mitts (wet with wash solution) on a CD just to make sure they're OK.



I've heard differing reports on the Meg's mitts so I've steered clear of them.



Oh, and my sheepskin mitts from the Autopia store are still like new after more than a year. And I don't even take any special care of them, in fact I sorta abuse/neglect them but they don't seem to suffer for it.
 
Accumulator said:
Good move, getting more mitts than you'd planned. Heh heh, some of us use an incredibly large number of them for each wash (even on not-too-dirty cars).
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I was planning on at least two, so I looked and thought "how many can I get without raising the shipping costs?" and the answer was 3 :chuckle:
 
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