Taking delivery of `08 BMW 135i. initial detail question

[mrgoochio]

Would you have the dealer prep the car before you pick it up as any normal customer would do.. or would you request they not touch the car and take it home as-is and do it yourself? I still have a few weeks before my car arrives, please help me decide.



Pros- doing it yourself

you can make sure you do the job right the first time, your own products, car never gets touched by anyone else (besides the vehicle prep center your car went through before hitting the dealer)

Cons- doing it yourself

if there are any type of paint defects, you already took it home and the dealer will leave the blame on you. chances are slim, but it could have some type of defect from the factory that otherwise was hidden by any shrink wrap etc. time consuming when you have a brand new car infront of you!



edit: Ok heres the deal. I was going to ask them not to prep the car so I could do it myself, but I won`t have my detailing gear until a few weeks after I receive my car. What would you all do in my situation? I put my order in for my products a day or two ago, but the entire package will be delayed because they are out of stock on Flex`s right now. They plan on shipping the entire package together once the Flex comes back in stock.. which won`t be until May 5-9. My delivery is supposed to be last week of April. What a dilemma...

[NCZ13]

dont let the dealership touch it.



ive heard to many horror stories from people i know who used to be lot attendants. One of them i know used to work at a bmw dealership, and he said he watched one worker drop the mitt on the ground, and proceed to pick it up and put it back on the paint.



do it yourself. dont let the dealership destroy your paint

[azifukare]

they do have plastic film that when removed leaves a film of adhesive behind. . . also the have coatings thet need to be cut with a prep solve or high flash enamel reducer. Let the dealer do the initial prep no polish just wash then inspect if you can, because the factory, port and shipping locations use paint correction techniques that are correct, usually a 2" disc buffer/sand disc in combination with menzerna polishes to remove/hide defects that need to be completely corrected by a good prep deptartment unfortunately dealers don`t pay well so talented dealer detailers are rare. then make the call from there. . .

[cctxdetailer]

visit with the detail department and ask for the main guy. Ask him a few questions and then you`ll know if you should let them do it. Might even want to offer a couple of bucks to the team leader if he`ll take care of your car personally. That happened to me a few times when I was working for Honda.

[ptaylor_9849]

NEVER EVER LET THE DEALER PREP YOUR CAR. IF YOU DO, I PROMISE YOU WILL REGRET IT. I DON`T CARE IF IT`S BMW, MERCEDES, FERRARI OR WHOMEVER. THESE CAPITAL LETTERS ARE FOR A REASON. DON`T DO IT. REMEMBER THIS FACT OF LIFE. NO ONE WILL EVER CARE FOR YOUR PROPERTY WITH CARE AND CAUTION LIKE YOU WILL.



Patrick

[bwalker25]

NEVER EVER LET THE DEALER PREP YOUR CAR. IF YOU DO, I PROMISE YOU WILL REGRET IT. I DON`T CARE IF IT`S BMW, MERCEDES, FERRARI OR WHOMEVER. THESE CAPITAL LETTERS ARE FOR A REASON. DON`T DO IT. REMEMBER THIS FACT OF LIFE. NO ONE WILL EVER CARE FOR YOUR PROPERTY WITH CARE AND CAUTION LIKE YOU WILL.



Patrick



true that! Never let the stealership touch your car....

[Mark77]

Some let the dealer take the plastics off and do the rest from there. That is what I did with my last car, inspected the paint and it seemed ok, just a bit dirty.

I did this because I saw how the "detailers" there washed the cars. Dirty sponge, dry with a wiper blade and a dirty chamois.:eek:

[ducktail]

I was in the exact same situation a week back. I have no idea what BMW does to protect the cars for shipment. I got a honda and it was protected with plastic shrink wrap? that came off easy. Washing the car helped, seem to soften the plastic. Glue? along the edges came off with 3M adhesive remover. (Disclaimer) Now I have no idea what that does to cured paint but I had no issues. I also used duct tape to lift the plastic, some stuck on pieces came out that way not all hence the 3M. (End Disclaimer)



BTW nice car

[RedlineG37]

Bottom line, dealerships sucks! :)

[mhadden]

+infinity on not letting the dealership touch the car. Worst mistake you`ll ever make, unless you are an average day Joe-Blow, but there`s none of those here on Autopia! Another member just recently has issues with his 1-series after it was prepped by the dealership. He has to spend the time to correct it now...see this (http://autopia.org/forum/car-detailing/104978-new-jet-black-paint-scratched.html)thread for more info...

[SuperBee364]

Yet another vote for not letting the dealer touch your car. Let them take it off of the transport truck, then kick them out of your vehicle forever.



Congratulations on your new Bimmer! I`m green with envy.. that`s a sweet ride.



It`ll take a serious time/money investment to learn how to keep your new car looking it`s best. It may very well be worth it to hire an Autopian level detailer in your area to take care of it once every three months or so. Then as long as you educate yourself on how to wash it between professional visits, you should be good to go.



But then again, it can be a very rewarding (if not very expensive) hobby, too. :)

[mrgoochio]

Feelings seem pretty mutual here. Can someone with experience on NEW car detailing run me though some proper steps?



Remove film

3M adhesive remover (any recommended alternative products?)

rinse

foam

rinse

claybar

assess paint condition

menzerna SIP=>IP=>FP, IP=>FP, or just FP

clearkote RMG

souveran paste wax



If I got it wrong, can someone please help me out? Should I be rinsing/foaming inbetween any steps?

[imported_Denzil]

I`m under the assumption that your 135i`s paint is soft so I don`t even think you`ll need to bust out the SIP so you`ll probably just have to do IP -> FP. As far as your process goes, everything is good. Good luck!

[Thomas Dekany]

Feelings seem pretty mutual here. Can someone with experience on NEW car detailing run me though some proper steps?



Remove film

3M adhesive remover (any recommended alternative products?)

rinse

foam

rinse

claybar

assess paint condition

menzerna SIP=>IP=>FP, IP=>FP, or just FP

clearkote RMG

souveran paste wax



If I got it wrong, can someone please help me out? Should I be rinsing/foaming inbetween any steps?





Let them remove the plastic, in case there is an issue with the paint underneath.

After that.... drive away.



You just bought the worst paint on the face of the earth (if it is anything like the new 3 series):wall:wall:wall:wall:wall

[imported_Picus]

Feelings seem pretty mutual here. Can someone with experience on NEW car detailing run me though some proper steps?



Remove film

3M adhesive remover (any recommended alternative products?)

rinse

foam

rinse

claybar

assess paint condition

menzerna SIP=>IP=>FP, IP=>FP, or just FP

clearkote RMG

souveran paste wax



If I got it wrong, can someone please help me out? Should I be rinsing/foaming inbetween any steps?



I did new car preps on 60 BMWs last year; they are pretty much the easiest around.



Remove the film, it won`t leave residue. It *will* be attached to the top of the windshield gasket, so be delicate with that part or it will tear the rubber.



You won`t need adhesive remover. Any adhesive left will be from the door guards, and clay will take it off easily. In fact your wash probably will.



Wash, clay, spot polish any needed areas (I would not do the entire car with SIP, IP, 106, or FPII, no need). In my experience most of them are swirl free except for a few spots (door handles, right above the door handles, and sometimes the fenders from people brushing against them). LSP and you`re done.



Oh, on the inside there will be 7 stickers, some of them come off easily, a few don`t. You can easily clay off the residue they leave behind though.



Enjoy.



P.S: only the flat colors are particularly bad/soft/whatever. The metallics are normally reasonably durable. My sparkling graphite 3 series has harder paint than 95% of the cars I detail.