Engine bay cleaning: before and after pics plus brief guide

A

a11y

Veteran
 Central Scotland
Could've posted this in the Gallery but given it's not a Z4 I guess it's better being a mini-guide :oops:

Finally finished off under the bonnet on my e90 and got some decent pics:
- hosed down with hot water using a garden sprayer
- I didn't bother protecting/waterproofing anything, the water pressure was low (wouldn't recommend a power washer...)
- Flash all-purpose cleaner (on special from Tesco :oops: ) with sponge, brush and toothbrush
- rinsed again with hot water
- paintwork AG SRP'd and waxed with Collinite #476
- plastics treated with CG trim restorer stuff

Doubt it'll ever be as clean as that again under there so thought I'd best take some photos :D

Engine bay before (after 75k miles covered by previous owner...):








Engine bay after:





 
Nice effort! Personally i'd cover electrics anyway, especially the coil pack area - you don't want water down there.

Use a detailing brush with the APC - otherwise you'll be making more effort for yourself :) APC should ideally by around 1:4 ratio to water for a good clean.

I also use degreaser after the initial rinse as the engine bay WILL be full of road grime and traffic film - degreaser will cut this better.

Also, i would suggest you clean it in sections, it makes sure you've got every bit :D

Although the engine bay was pretty clean before hand, i gave mine the usual treatment i do to engine bays when i first picked up my ZM

IMG_3137.jpg
 
Steve what do you do about cleaning all the gubbins on the throttle assembly. I'm concerned about getting this wet and de lubricated.
 
I think I shall leave my bonnet closed and never go in there again. Nothing more shall be said of this... *slinks off in shame*
 
srhutch said:
Steve what do you do about cleaning all the gubbins on the throttle assembly. I'm concerned about getting this wet and de lubricated.
Click to expand...

Do you mean around the body assemblies? I use APC as usual, taking into account the nooks. They're internally lubricated so i'm not too fussed, i do make sure i haven't got any fluids into the electrics though. I used to do this on my old Evo engine, and that scrubbed up well :)

IMG_3060.jpg
 
Good works fellas.

Puts my car to shame (its not even been washed for 7 weeks)

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
 
Good effort, i'd never touched the engine, when cleaning any car, before the Z. Now I get the odd request, for a look under the bonnet, so I have to keep it looking good. Thanks for the tips will try to get mine that shiny. :thumbsup:
 
I'm not looking forward to doing mine, as it's has an oil leak from one of the VANOS bolts - which has taken 4 visits to BMW to find.

So now I've got a film of oil all over the engine/undertrays/etc.
 
I was always scared to attempt it in case water got in to the electrics, but reading up online and finding people successfully using pressure washers gave me the kick up the a**e I needed. It's still not perfect but it's good enough for me :)
 
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