New car accessories/consumables bought for new Z4

K

ksher

Veteran
 Bedfordshire
I now have my sDrive23i for just over 1 week (300 miles on the clock). I bought the following in just one week:

1 BMW paint stick (£18.40)
1 CarPlan Demon Shine finishing cloth (£2.99) - for interior cleaning only
1 Meguiars Grit Guard and Bucket (£18.99)
2 Serious Performance 100% Genuine Sheepskin Wash Mitt (£14.98)
1 Serious Perfomance Uber Premium Drying & Detailing MF Towel (£10.95)
1 Silverline Suction Cap (£2.87) - to remove/adjust position of wheel hup cap

The following items are still on my shopping list.

BMW leather cleaning foam (£6.94)
BMW leather care kit with UV protection (£14.95)

What else do I need (I have already got AG Hi-Tech wheel brush, 2 AG Aqua-Dry, AG perfect polishing cloth, BMW Shampoo and Wax, BMW interior cleaner, BMW glass cleaner, BMW wheel rim cleaner)? How many people here do regularly clean the top engine cover and with what?
 
Another bucket! :poke:

Could go silly suggesting Pressure washers, foam lances, glazes and waxes, but at the very least you want to be using the 2 bucket method (one bucket has shampoo solution, other clean water, rinse the mitt in the clean water before putting back in the shampoo bucket every time).

Be a real shame to cover that brand new finish with swirls :(
 
I have already Karcher pressure washer, and other bucket for shampoo. Grit Guard and bucket is the second bucket for removing the dirt from the mitt.
 
Grit Guard: http://www.meguiars.co.uk/product/164

A normal car wash bucket is only £2.99 from Halfords. But Grit Guard (£9.99) is too big to fit into most buckets without cutting.
 
DrNick said:
Is that the normal bmw wax or the new "naturals range"?
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Free BMW Wax, Shampoo, etc. from buying AUC years ago. I saw the nature products in my local dealer last week. I will try them after finishing the stock. :) I think they are similar to Zymol products.
 
I picked up a bottled of their wax (in the grey bottle) was £8 or something similar last weekend (not the one with nono tech, just the normal one) - going to give it a try when the sun finally stops shining so the car is cool enough to wash! Want to get some on soon though, been a couple of weeks now since I polished and put on the EGP.

Looking very mucky at the moment :(
 
Silverline suction cap ?

LTT is superb on leather leaves the leather looking as it did from day one not all shiney like some cleaners do http://www.lttleathercare.net/

I clean my engine bay on a regular basis.

I use megs last touch which drys with a nice satin look even though its a gloss enhancer on the bodywork also use on glass and as a clay lube but you can use AG Fast Glass on engine covers avilable from Halfords.
 
Sounds like you have all the basics to get you started.
As already stated, LTT are your friend for leather care.
If your going to get even more serious about the cleaning of your z then going down the route of snowfoam lances and foam products and then the next steps are claying the paint, cleansing and proetction etc.
it can get expensive but it certainly is enjoyable and rewarding.
 
How often should I clay the car (every 6 months)? I know wax is different from polish. How often should I polish the car without negative effect to paintwork?
 
ksher said:
How often should I clay the car (every 6 months)? I know wax is different from polish. How often should I polish the car without negative effect to paintwork?
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Every 6 months is fine although i left mine a whole year as never did as many miles last year and paint was still very smooth but not the norm for me.

Polish mine every 6 months as part of the 6 month detail and you will not cause any negative effect to the paint with a hand polish they dont have the cutting power of machine polishes

Clay
Polish
Seal
Wax

every 6 months then i top up my wax between plus use a good QD after every wash for that just waxed look this is very good http://www.seriousperformance.co.uk/Products,78,toView_772.html
 
Gaz has got you covered here.
if your clocking more than average milage then maybe do a quarterly cycle.
 
scottbt said:
Gaz has got you covered here.
if your clocking more than average milage then maybe do a quarterly cycle.
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Scott whats your thoughts on these spray waxes could they replace my V2 showdetailer for after a wash or are they going a bit OTT and better off sticking with my QD ?

This one caught my eye http://www.seriousperformance.co.uk/Products,51,toView_813.html
 
My Zed will cover between 11k and 12k miles a year. I think it needs better protection. I'm going to use BMW Wash & Wax for every wash (twice a month), then wax it every 2 months, and clay/polish and wax every 6 months.
 
ksher said:
My Zed will cover between 11k and 12k miles a year. I think it needs better protection. I'm going to use BMW Wash & Wax for every wash (twice a month), then wax it every 2 months, and clay/polish and wax every 6 months.
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Ensure you rinse very thoroughly before washing if only washing twice monthly so not to leave to much loose grime/grit on the car otherwise you may get some scrtache/swirls.

What wax will you be using?
A reasonably placed carnauba wax like dodo juice rainforest rub for instance will last 3 months after one application.

The shampoo may conflict with the durability of the wax as some wash and wax products can cause durability to wain a lot quicker.
Maybe consider a pH neuatral shamppo like zymol car shampoo, poorboys worl super slick and suds, chemical guys maxi sudds 2.

GAZA62 said:
scottbt said:
Gaz has got you covered here.
if your clocking more than average milage then maybe do a quarterly cycle.
Click to expand...


Scott whats your thoughts on these spray waxes could they replace my V2 showdetailer for after a wash or are they going a bit OTT and better off sticking with my QD ?

This one caught my eye http://www.seriousperformance.co.uk/Products,51,toView_813.html
Click to expand...

I tend to use these types of products on cars i maintain every so often.
I use autoglym express wax ( trade version of aqua wax off the shelf ) but i found that using it too frequently it impared the finish like a cloudy film over the paint, nothing nasty but they all do the same and have there place for certain times.

I tend to use them when a car is almost at its end of durabilty from standard lsp just to boost the durabilty and give an extra gloss.

Get some gaz as it does help give a nice waxed look and peps the paint up after every 4th to 5th wash just dont over use the stuff, if you do just lay off it and it wains after a couple of washes.
 
I was quite impressed with Dodo Born to be Mild, which is PH neutral. The bottle is almost done and I've ordered Valet Pro Poseidon's Carnauba Wash to replace it (there were some reasonably positive comments on detailingworld about it).

scottbt said:
The shampoo may conflict with the durability of the wax as some wash and wax products can cause durability to wain a lot quicker.
Maybe consider a pH neuatral shamppo like zymol car shampoo, poorboys worl super slick and suds, chemical guys maxi sudds 2.
Click to expand...
 
I competely forgot about born to be mild :roll:
I think I metioned before about the valetpro products, not the most amazing and I know detailing world is the supposedly the be all of detailing but as soon as a few say somethings good everyones on to it then all of a sudden its yesterdays news and something else is the next best thing.
Best to find that something works for you and stick with it matey.
 
After cleaning the wheels, I always rinse the whole car (sometimes with pressure washer) before washing with shampoo. I still have some BMW own brand wax left, but will either try using BMW Wash & Wax (2 in 1) or new BMW Nature Care Shampoo/Wax/Polish.
 
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