|
I love detailing. My third car was a 1989 535i 5-speed, black on black, and I loved her so. I learned a lot about detailing by keeping her shiny. I made some side cash in college buying broken, ugly cars and bringing them back from the brink. Last summer I worked detailing boats. Some big boats. Some smaller boats. It's pretty similar to detailing a car, except waaay bigger. Also, you're hanging off the dock/side of the boat with the buffer in one hand, straining to reach some distant patch of hull, far more often than you'd like. This little guy is my workhorse. Is it a piece of poo poo? Yes. Would I rather have a Dewalt polisher? Hell yes. But after you've dropped a couple buffers in the water during the aforementioned detailing contortionism, you'll be comforted by the fact that you're only out $50 if it goes for a swim. I stick to the 3M family of chemicals, primarily. Their compounds and polishes are great. I especially like the newer ones that break down in abrasiveness during use, so you're basically compounding and polishing at the same time. It actually works well, which can't be said about a lot of gimmicky detailing products out there. I'm also a huge fan of Nu Finish, polymer waxes are the best thing. No more chalky carnuba residue making GBS threads up my trim and every crevice on the car? Yes, please. For the folks complaining about brown tires, here's my weapon of choice: Bleche Wite. Wet the tire, spray that on, scrub the poo poo out of the tire with a stiff plastic brush, rinse, repeat. You may have to make two or three passes if you haven't cleaned your tires in a while, you'll know when you're done because the foam you work up scrubbing won't be dark brown. Your tires will look like brand new black rubber again, but without that awful tire shine that is a dirt magnet and splatters all over your paint. I HATE TIRE SHINE  Also, using a leaf blower to dry your car off? No. Here's how to idiot-proof the drying of your car. First, after you wash your car, take the nozzle off the hose and give the car another rinse with that. The water should mostly sheet off. Then grab your silicone water blade, and gently skim all the water off that you can easily get with that. Then grab your super-absorbent synthetic chamois, and towel up any residual drips. If you're really picky, like me, you can also grab a microfiber and dry out all the door jambs and trunk, hood, fuel door, etc. You always remember to wash those thoroughly when you clean the car, right? Right? RIGHT? 
Big Taint fucked around with this message at 17:16 on Oct 2, 2012 |
#
¿
Oct 2, 2012 17:13
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 19, 2024 16:34 |
|
|
Looks good, man. Black is beautiful.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 10, 2012 19:25
|
|
|
JerseyDevil, definitely try RainX, my experience with it has been extremely positive. I'm also a big fan of the new (and awfully expensive) Bosch Icon blades. They grip the windshield and are awesome if your stock ones have mediocre contact at the ends.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 26, 2012 17:21
|
|
|
The rubber coating on the E34 can be removed with a heat gun and plastic scraper, it's painted under there. You could try to find the plastic covers a la '95s/M5s from a wrecker and put those over it, too. Pretty easy upgrade. Otherwise, Back To Black works pretty well on black trim, or 303 Protectant.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 30, 2012 21:23
|
|
|
I like Nu Finish. I've also used Klasse in the past with good results, but when I ran out it was a lot easier to find Nu Finish on the shelf  . I use 3M Marine wax on boats, which is also a polymer wax.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 3, 2012 02:52
|
|
|
Rent a steam cleaner. What year is your E34? I had an '89 with black interior but my carpet was gray.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 5, 2012 16:15
|
|
|
I've used random foaming carpet cleansers in the past for spot cleaning, if it's in between 'just needs a vacuum' and 'tear out the seats and deep clean it'. I've owned two E34s, an '89 535i/5 speed (black on black) and a '95 540i/6 speed (Sebring? grey over black). Neither had black carpet, or even dark carpet. Black seats and dash/console, black door panels, but light grey above and below. Great cars.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 6, 2012 04:29
|
|
|
Just get a little rubbing alcohol on a rag, that rubber will wipe right off. Rinse and rewax after.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 5, 2014 19:07
|
|
|
LordOfThePants posted:What's a good product for cleaning up tires and making them black again? The tires on my C7 are dingy and brown and I want to get them looking good again. I need to get more waterless car wash ordered so I want to add in some tire prep products at the same time Bleech White, despite the name, is the best thing I've come across that doesn't give the tires a shine but makes them nice and black again. Spray on wet tire, brush with stiff bristle brush, and rinse off. May take a couple passes if they are really dingy.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 24, 2015 21:30
|
|
|
Sounds like a job for rust converter and Rustoleum and stop trying to fight nature.
|
|
#
¿
May 27, 2016 04:50
|
|
|
Looks like a habitual Burner's car. Dust gets everywhere.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 17, 2016 12:40
|
|
|
TopherCStone posted:It's modern, wood veneer with thick glossy coating. Is there any way to make it fingerprint resistant? Honestly, I'd like it to have more of a satin sheen than a gloss but I think that would involve stripping it and refinishing. Remove the trim, lightly sand it, apply satin urethane wood sealant.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 27, 2017 18:27
|
|
|
Red_Fred posted:Sorry more meant something to make tyres look fresh and new after a wash. Bleche Wite and a plastic scrub brush. Spray it on the tires when they're wet, scrub the hell out of them, rinse it off. Repeat until the foam you work up while vigorously scrubbing stops turning black. They'll look brand new, but not shiny and gross. Make sure you give the wheel/tire and surrounding surfaces a good rinse after.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 28, 2017 15:51
|
|
|
katkillad2 posted:Are there any microfiber cloths/towels that are best at not leaving fibers and dust bunnies? Even after washing mine twice, they still leave little pieces of fiber and I don't like it Maybe you need to clean your dryer hose? None of my vast variety of microfibers leave lint.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 24, 2019 03:20
|
|
|
BraveUlysses posted:sigh Detailing Thread: poop removal never ends.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 27, 2019 00:30
|
|
|
I used a steamer to clean a beater Mercedes I picked up. poo poo is magic on just about any interior dirt. Coffee stains on the headliner basically disappeared when I steamed them. Amazing.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 17, 2019 22:03
|
|
|
Sometimes you get lucky. 
|
|
#
¿
Nov 30, 2019 15:34
|
|
|
I have been replacing hoses with Flexzillas from Amazon and they have been nice to use and hold up well. And they are bright green which is cool. Paint chip repair is fun?
|
|
#
¿
Jan 19, 2020 19:16
|
|
|
I’d probably start with a heat gun and plastic scraper. Looks like some of the graphics are on metal and some on painted plastic?meatpimp posted:Let me, sir, introduce you to this little bit of magic (The cheaper versions work too, but official recommendation is 3M): I haven’t tried that on anything bigger than a pinstripe, will it work well on larger stickers?
|
|
#
¿
Mar 2, 2020 21:58
|
|
|
My advice would be to take the car for a good rip after rinsing the engine bay, to shake out any standing water and help it evaporate faster. Other than avoiding dousing the alternator I generally just go for it, anything modern has weathertight electrical connectors and fuse boxes. This is with just a garden hose, pressure washing is a bit more precarious.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 15, 2020 18:07
|
|
|
I’ll also recommend a steam cleaner, especially for the stained stitching. The seats on my beater Merc looked worse than that when I got it, tons of grease and funk built up, and the steamer took it off like magic.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 8, 2020 16:03
|
|
|
Agree, white crust looks like a combo of failing clear and aluminum corrosion. I’d probably scuff it up with scotchbrite pads and hit with some fresh 2k clear, should be able to get the black gunk off with that too.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 10, 2021 05:08
|
|
|
Aluminum-specific clearcoat exists, but I have never used it. You could also try an adhesion promoter, it’s clear so you can just clear coat over it. It’s a challenge to get anything to stick to aluminum, there’s a good chance that factory finish is a powder coat and it’ll be hard to match its longetivity, you might have to resign yourself to doing a fresh coat every couple years.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 11, 2021 18:11
|
|
|
Ive had a few Karchers over the years, they have been perfectly adequate for every task, if a bit slower than a big gas one could be. Im a careless ape so a more powerful one would just lead to me ruining more stuff.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 15, 2021 16:23
|
|
|
I always wash my tires with Bleche White and a scrub brush. Makes them look new, no gloss, nothing going into my paint.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 18, 2021 00:23
|
|
|
Pocket the cash and sell the car for $toyota regardless because it’s a Toyota.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 31, 2021 02:56
|
|
|
I’m sure I’ve said it in this thread and I’ll say it again: Bleche Wite is my favorite tire cleaner. Get the tire wet, spray it on, scrub, rinse, repeat until it stops turning brown. Makes tires look brand new. gently caress tire shine.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 9, 2021 15:39
|
|
|
taqueso posted:Your aluminum wheels are likely covered in a protective urethane paint. Ya I’ve never had a car with bare aluminum wheels, if they are painted it’s fine. Never noticed it doing anything weird to any curb rash or anything either. Maybe it would dull polished bare aluminum or something?
|
|
#
¿
Jun 10, 2021 01:30
|
|
|
No poo poo, I always thought that dry was a no-no, I guess I fail reading comprehension.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 20, 2021 04:45
|
|
|
I have 2” pads that I use on right angle die grinders (air and M12) at low speeds for tight areas and it works fine for those edge cases. Also for polishing headlights.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 18, 2021 01:50
|
|
|
It probably depends on what the stain is from, that plus whatever Folex cleaner matches the stain could work well. I picked up a little steam cleaner and it did an incredible job cleaning up all kinds of ancient crud on the $600 E320 I bought a couple years ago. It’s not really powerful enough to plow through an engine compartment but the interior was really transformed.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 21, 2021 04:05
|
|
|
The 3m wool pads actually have red yarns to tell you when they are worn out. I just keep cleaning and reusing them till those start showing through. Foam pads I use till they start to chunk and fall apart.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 26, 2023 21:09
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 19, 2024 16:34 |
|
|
Infinotize posted:What should I do with a little bit of peeling paint to prevent rust? Our car got beat up badly by hail. We fixed the glass and I don't care about the dents but a few of the large ones created cracks where the paint has peeled on the edge. It's a beater car with tons of mechanical life left so we'll just drive it like this, but I don't want it to start rusting. Depending on how old the car is the metal under there may be galvanized and reasonably rust-proof from that alone. If it has been a few days and it still looks grey and not rusty that's probably what you have. If it looks rusty then you will want to try your give it a similar coating, etching or cold galvinizing or rust converting primer, something like that. Knock loose all the paint that is no longer adhered so you can apply to the whole area. Follow the instructions for 'bare metal' prep and spray it on. You could also get a bit of touch up paint (spray or brush depending on the size of the area) to cover the primer/bare patches for extra protection and somewhat better cosmetics.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 24, 2023 23:59
|
|