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SP 325i
02-13-2006, 10:33 AM
Ok, not posted for a long time as I don`t have a car that I want to keep spotless. I am however competing in road rallies (basically night navigational events along muddy lanes /tracks). The car gets dirty but I like the car to be clean when presented to scrutineering.



My old regime was claying, 3 bucket washing, perfect drying technique, handglaze (3M IHG), synthetic sealer(autoglym super resin) and a carnauba (P21S). Then use Meguiars NXT for the tyres and trim. This used to take a fair bit of time which I don`t have as I usually have to fix something on the car as well now.



So my question is what is quick, easy to use and durable (help speed up the process). The car has glass windscreen, rear screen and front windows which I use glassex on but the rear windows are perspex and at the moment I use fabric conditioner (antistatic properties). I am never sure what is best to treat the headlights (glass I think but maybe a type of plastic), aux spots(glass) and std spots (glass) with though, Rainex ? or is there something better as visibility is key.

The plastic mouldings are plastic and always look terrible, any suggestions ?



A few pics to give you an idea



http://www2.propichosting.com/Images/421549241/29.JPG

http://www2.propichosting.com/Images/421549241/27.JPG



thanks



Steve

imported_Neothin
02-13-2006, 12:37 PM
consider running the car through a touchless wash before you hand wash it. this 5 minute step will take off alot of the crap on the car, and soften up the rest of the dirt so that hand washing is faster and easier.

Try using a foam gun to wash. If your not too concerned about marring (which it seems like your not), you can wash the car more quickly with the gun than you could normally do using a multi-bucket method. you can even skp the soap bucket altogether.

switch to a more durable wax like a collinite, or maybe a sealant only. This should help the finish stand up to the elements better than the relatively weak p21s topper you use now.

try poorboy`s trim restorer on your plastic trim pieces. I don`t know if it`ll work on the plastic glass stuff, but your trim should look great!

SP 325i
02-14-2006, 07:39 AM
Thanks for the reply.

The regime I mentioned was when I had a low mileage BM. The cleaning for this car at the moment is

get back from all night rally at about 9am

get hosepipe, bucket of soapy water and a cotton mit 10 mins later go to bed.



As you can see the bodywork is scratched and dented, the trim is bolted on (to stop it falling off) but I would still like it to look clean and have certain amount of protection from the elements. AS we all know clean cars are faster. :LOLOL



These are some of the driving conditions



http://www.bg-photosport.co.uk/Greenleaves%20Rally%202005%20%20%20%20%20(c)%20Bri an%20Gilbert%20075.jpg



cheers



Steve