Car Wash (how soon after purchase)

[Mrrippey]

Hey Gang,

How soon after you got your car did you wash it? I have a black GC and man it gets dirty so quickly. Ive only had it for two weeks but I know the car should be weathered for some time (I think). Just looking to take it to a hand wash place to get her all prettied up for the week.

Thanks all

Rippey

[GannyCy]

I waited two weeks on my Alpine White, but if I had black I probably would have washed after one week.

[RichardP]

Not sure about the USA, but tests done in the UK show that the hand wash places are the worst for scratches and swirls. Best do it yourself with two buckets and a wash mitt.

Modern paint is usually soft because it's water based, it won't harden significantly if you leave it a few weeks after it's been baked at the factory. If you have repairs then that's a bit different as they can't bake the new paint as hot as the factory can.

[southern6er22]

I washed my Carbon Black within the first week, and I pretty much hand wash it myself every week. I try to do every two weeks on my rims because they take forever and give me lumbago - and I'm only 25 lol.

I use lots of soapy water and lots of rinsing to keep particles off the car and the microfiber mitt. I usually blow it dry with a gas leaf blower to avoid microabrasions with the chamois. I'm 2 years in with this routine, and my car still looks great. There are some microscratches you can see if (a) the light is just right and (b) you're looking for them. Overall, I've been very happy with how well it has held up being a black car.

I do sometimes skip drying all together in the spring. The pollen falls faster than I can get the car clean, so I just give it a good final rinse and take it for a few 0 to *cough-cough* mph runs to knock off the bulk of the water. I'd rather have a few temporary water spots from not drying rather than permanent scratches from rubbing the pollen into the finish.

[ibimmer954]

Black car? Needs to be washed approximately every 14.29102 minutes. Or whenever you get around to it. But either do it yourself by hand or pay someone to do it. No automated washes! It will destroy your paint in no time.

[southern6er22]

I have a sign I keep in the glovebox for when I take my car in for service. It reads "Please do not wash or clean this car in any way, inside or out." Not only does it keep it out of the automated wash, but it also makes me and my car memorable (i.e. it reminds them how OCD I am and to be extra careful because if anything is wrong, I will see it).

[doug_999]

I believe that BMW paints cars in mass and then stores them until they are ready for production. So even if your car is made on a Monday, it could have been painted weeks earlier and as noted, they bake the paint on. So you should be able to wash it day#1, but might want to wait a month before waxing (even though BMW would probably tell you that is just silly).

[pbw]

Picked up my 640i CB on Saturday. In the uk we have had Sahara dust and very high levels of pollution (to the point of advising not to exercise outdoors in some parts of the county!) over the past week. I will try to hose down with copious amounts of water before thinking about using a sponge or mitt. One of my weekend jobs

[Mrrippey]

I was thinking about taking to one of those hand wash places but it still goes through the machine for their 'wax' and the air dry. I would love to wash it myself but if I did that, I will never get it washed. I thought hand washing (with the mitts) would be better than a straight automated car wash. Ah the things we have to think about. It is going to rain tomorrow so nothing to worry about but I will get it washed on Saturday. I will ask about the chemicals used to see if it is abrasive or not.

Rippey

[zoltans4]

Originally Posted by Mrrippey

I was thinking about taking to one of those hand wash places but it still goes through the machine for their 'wax' and the air dry. I would love to wash it myself but if I did that, I will never get it washed. I thought hand washing (with the mitts) would be better than a straight automated car wash. Ah the things we have to think about. It is going to rain tomorrow so nothing to worry about but I will get it washed on Saturday. I will ask about the chemicals used to see if it is abrasive or not.

Rippey

At a 'hand car wash' place you usually just go for the 'off the line wash' which means they pull it around and pressure wash it and ACTUALLY hand wash it, not just hand dry it.
Basically you just always want a clean new towel used on your car to wash, wipe, wax, dry and everything else. its the dirt in the old towels that collect things that can scratch your paint.