How often do you wash your car?

[BMWMilan]

I'm at about 3-4 weeks. And then maybe a wax every 2 months.

You?

[southern6er22]

At first, every 5 to 7 days.

That dropped to about every 7 to 10 days after the first couple months living in my bubble of new Bimmer euphoria.

Now, I do about every 2 weeks. However, lately I've been rinsing my car every 2 days to get the pollen off. After 4 hours there is a significant amount of pollen covering the car. It's embarrassing after a day or two. I hose it off then go drive it to knock the water off to decrease spotting. It's not perfect, but it's much better than leaving it covered in pollen.

I don't do the wheels every week because those spindles and groves on the 20" M Sport wheels are killer. It takes forever. I think every 2-3 weeks on the wheels is sufficient for BMW not to send an angry German to come take back my car out of shame.

I wax about every 3 months.

I condition the leather about every 4 months.

[Jon D]

Wash, on average, twice a week, then keep the shine and protection going with a quick squirt of Werkstat every fortnight.

[neversummer78]

I wash once every 3 - 4 weeks. In between, I use quick detailer/spray wax to lift off dusts from paint with microfiber towel and windex to clean windshields. Spray wax/quick detailer spray works as lubricant between paint and dust, so you won't scratch paint when wipe off gently with microfiber towels. I spray both the towel and on paint then wipe dust off paint. Show car result everytime beside wheels. As for wheels, I think car looks nicer with brake dust for some odd reasons.

When I wash, I use Sonax wheel cleaner for cleaning wheel, so no need to scrub wheel at all when wash. Just spray solution on, leave it on for 5 minutes, and hose off. Highly recommend

I wax roughly once a month or almost every time I wash, so I can keep adding layer of wax to paint.

[M6-4KIX]

Having a garage is a blessing!! My GTO is in storage til the end of this month then the 6er is back outside! I wash at least every week including the wheels (with the brushes I got fro Griot's it's a snap)

A big help for the water spots........ I bought a leaf blower (hot rodders secret tool) to blow off the water then only 2 cotton polishing towels to finish off. This alone saves me at least 30 min of time. My wife thinks I'm nuts!!

Pollen (especially that yellow broom sh@#t) will soon be in the air here, Fun for both the car and my allergies!!!

I strongly suggest you guys take in a local car show (hot rods/muscle cars) and pick their brains as to what works the best....... they'll know! New stuff all the time.

[southern6er22]

+1 on the leaf blower.

I've never used a chamois because I feel like there is so much dust and other gunk in the air that I'm going to drag it across the paint. After I finish washing, I hose everything down again and then go to town with my heavy duty gas leaf blower. It really works well, and it's a life saver with CB paint

[Bönz]

I wash when she needs it. If there's a long dry spell I use a California duster to remove dust - it does not scratch the paint - but you have to do it often before too much dust accumulates.

My detailer is Sonus Spritz (used often) and I never wax. I only polish with Klasse All-in-One. Neither of these products have silicon which builds up and dulls the finish. They are acrylic based. I also use Sonus Acrylic Glanz spray on top of the Klasse. Leaves unbelievable shine and depth.

78: Keep the Windex away from your car man. Ammonia is bad. Use a non-ammonia based window cleaner like Stoner's Invisible Glass (there are others). These products are designed to clean auto glass and the crap that accumulates (inside and out).

I use Griot's wheel cleaner. It is very gentle yet extremely effective. Almost no scrubbing. I also use Wheel Wax twice a year.

Since we're on the subject, I use Lexol on my leather.

[neversummer78]

Originally Posted by Bönz

I wash when she needs it. If there's a long dry spell I use a California duster to remove dust - it does not scratch the paint - but you have to do it often before too much dust accumulates.

My detailer is Sonus Spritz (used often) and I never wax. I only polish with Klasse All-in-One. Neither of these products have silicon which builds up and dulls the finish. They are acrylic based. I also use Sonus Acrylic Glanz spray on top of the Klasse. Leaves unbelievable shine and depth.

78: Keep the Windex away from your car man. Ammonia is bad. Use a non-ammonia based window cleaner like Stoner's Invisible Glass (there are others). These products are designed to clean auto glass and the crap that accumulates (inside and out).

I use Griot's wheel cleaner. It is very gentle yet extremely effective. Almost no scrubbing. I also use Wheel Wax twice a year.

Since we're on the subject, I use Lexol on my leather.

Thanks, I heard that the only bad thing is that ammonia destroys tint/dries out plastic, so I've been using it only on the outside and just water on the inside. I'll try automotive specific glass cleaner next time.

[BMWMilan]

Reading what some of you guys do, I feel like such a slacker.

I'm going to go and wash my car now ...

[///MD]

Originally Posted by ipsedixit

Reading what some of you guys do, I feel like such a slacker.

3 weeks of ownership and no wash. too scared to take it to a wash with the powder coated wheels. too lazy and tired to find time to do it myself.

[southern6er22]

The pollen's holding me back right now. After 30 minutes it's covered in pollen again. Hard to justify an hour of my time when it's this bad.

[BMWMilan]

Originally Posted by ///MD

3 weeks of ownership and no wash. too scared to take it to a wash with the powder coated wheels. too lazy and tired to find time to do it myself.

Find a good hand wash place. The guy I use is fantastic. Spends like an hour and a half on the car. Goes through the spokes on the wheels like he's excavating for dinosaur bones.

Would never trust a typical car wash machine and simply don't have the time to do it myself.

[Harveyten]

I try and wash my car once a week, unfortunately over the winter months it's slipped to once a fortnight not ideal as i hate driving a dirty car. I have OCD when it comes to cleaning cars, not the only one reading some of the comments above and over the years I have tried so many products. My Garage is currently full with Zaino goodies I also get my car professionally detailed every two/three months, which is a little extravagant but well worth it.

[Jon D]

Originally Posted by Harveyten

...I have OCD when it comes to cleaning cars...

Same here

[southern6er22]

This thread made me feel guilty, so I was fighting the setting sun this evening to get it squeaky clean. I'm sure the neighbors loved the 7:00 p.m. leaf blower.

I'm sure I'll be cursing in the morning when I walk out to a pollen-coated car. Fingers crossed....

[ctenidae]

My wife enjoys washng cars, adn in teh summer we wash about every two weeks. She's 6 months pregnant now, though, so I don't think we'll get it done as often this summer...

I usually just stop at a hand wash place when it's dirty. Since my commute at the moment is only about 4 blocks, I don't have to wash very often at all (car lives in the garage at work, next to 2 Ferraris and a huge Caddy convertible that are also in long term storage there)

[BMWMilan]

Originally Posted by southern6er22

This thread made me feel guilty, so I was fighting the setting sun this evening to get it squeaky clean. I'm sure the neighbors loved the 7:00 p.m. leaf blower.

I'm sure I'll be cursing in the morning when I walk out to a pollen-coated car. Fingers crossed....

I take it you don't park your car indoors? That would really bug me.

[Bönz]

Forget the car. How the hell do you breath?

[neversummer78]

Only 5% ammonia in Windex, and it was used very little to remove dust and pollen off the windsheid. I get more from cigarettes from smokers outside bars and restaurants I visit.

[Bönz]

No, I was talking to Southy about the pollen.

[neversummer78]

o, sorry :P

[southern6er22]

Unfortunately, I don't have the luxury of parking in the garage. We ripped out all the pine trees around the house over the last decade, so luckily that fear is gone. Hurricanes are a b!tch.