[GS2019]

My dealership just asked me if they should wash and detail the X5 for delivery. Any recommendations please?

These are what they normally do for new X5s:

Spray the engine bay down and clean it, run it through the wash, vacuum, clean and dress the tires, wipe down the windows, and use a spray wax on the paint

[Blown850]

[QUOTE=GS2019;28288232]My dealership just asked me if they should wash and detail the X5 for delivery. Any recommendations please?

These are what they normally do for new X5s:

Spray the engine bay down and clean it, run it through the wash, vacuum, clean and dress the tires, wipe down the windows, and use a spray wax on the paint


I would say no - I doubt they have a touch less car wash, maybe check and see? I never let them "run it through the wash"

[charlie fairmont]

Are you or your wife going to regularly run it through a car wash with brushes? If so, go for it and let the dealer clean it up. Are you going to go get it polished and wrapped or ceramic coated immediately after purchase? If so, go for it, because that detailer will fix any swirls. Are you going to maintain the exterior yourself, and obsess over every blemish? If so, no, don't let them drive it through a brushed car wash tunnel. It certainly won't ruin anything but it is likely you'll end up with a few swirl marks or minor scratches.

Also, no matter what, I'm not a fan of spraying down the engine bay. I know people do it, but I wouldn't.

[GS2019]

Why do they even spray down the engine bay for a brand new vehicle? Mine is 45e.

[omasou]

probably cosmoline

[thereef510]

Some folks here treat their vehicles like mint cashmere jackets. That's totally fine and good and I applaud them.

I am not that type of person. I cant control the elements that a vehicle can face in the real world on an every day basis, nor do I have the patience to have to meticulously try to mitigate and circumvent those intrusions. So, I made a choice: I can control the interior easily, but not the exterior. So the interior of my g05 is immaculate, but I use the dealer's whatever sort fo car wash at will to clean the exterior, and i've made peace with it. you have to decide which camp you're in. you can have both, but with the exterior looking immaculate will take a lot, lot more work and effort.

[dynamic]

Some dealerships do a nice detail spray of your new vehicle and some spray juice on the tires to make them look great for a couple of days.
There are many other retailers who have their crack head high school dropout "detail man" run your $100,000 new car through their sand paper car wash and then go over it with a dirty rag.

[soldes]

There are many other retailers who have their crack head high school dropout "detail man" run your $100,000 new car through their sand paper car wash and then go over it with a dirty rag.[/QUOTE]


Darn Dynamic, a graphic sort you are !

[dynamic]

Originally Posted by soldes

There are many other retailers who have their crack head high school dropout "detail man" run your $100,000 new car through their sand paper car wash and then go over it with a dirty rag.

Darn Dynamic, a graphic sort you are ![/QUOTE]

LOL!

[GS2019]

The dealership idiots already spray down the entire engine bay as soon as it arrived in their dealership. Shiit. I'm so mad now.

[charlie fairmont]

I'm sure you'll be okay. They likely have a history of doing it with no bad results. Go drive it, get it up to temperature so the water cooks off and enjoy. These days, most connectors are well sealed. If something is going to short out, it would do so very quickly. If you can make a 30 min drive without incident, rest easy and enjoy the new ride.

[GS2019]

Originally Posted by charlie fairmont

I'm sure you'll be okay. They likely have a history of doing it with no bad results. Go drive it, get it up to temperature so the water cooks off and enjoy. These days, most connectors are well sealed. If something is going to short out, it would do so very quickly. If you can make a 30 min drive without incident, rest easy and enjoy the new ride.

Thank you. Are there anything I need to check during my pickup?

[YuicyYumboYack]

Originally Posted by GS2019

The dealership idiots already spray down the entire engine bay as soon as it arrived in their dealership. Shiit. I'm so mad now.

It'll be fine. There are plenty of people who spray down the engine bay. The only thing I would be annoyed with is if they didn't properly dry it and there are water spots everywhere.

[taek]

"Run in through the wash" sounds like an automated tunnel wash, so absolutely not if you care about your paint.

Some dealers will have the detailing team do a proper wash for a new vehicle, doesn't sound like that's what's happening here.

That being said you don't have to care about the paint; it's not a requirement to enjoy the car.

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by GS2019

My dealership just asked me if they should wash and detail the X5 for delivery. Any recommendations please?

Originally Posted by taek

"Run in through the wash" sounds like an automated tunnel wash, so absolutely not if you care about your paint.

Some dealers will have the detailing team do a proper wash for a new vehicle, doesn't sound like that's what's happening here.

That being said you don't have to care about the paint; it's not a requirement to enjoy the car.

This & charlie fairmont's posts.

GS2019 I'm going to maintain the vehicle myself which is relatively fast & easy even without access to running water (i.e, ~20-30 min), and therefore not doing any PPF and/or ceramic ...

So assuming (a.) you want a usually shiny car w/o spiderwebs/swirls, and (b.) you're willing to do a wash every 2-3 weeks depending, then I'd definitely say no; which is what I did ... I also asked to unwrap the car myself. This is what looked like partially unwrapped & "dirty":



Now the interesting thing is, I found some light scratches here & there UNDER THE PLASTIC!. Here's a scratch on the hood, just to the right of the cell phone reflection, right after peeling up the plastic:



So it's gonna come from the factory with scratches ... they weren't big by any means, and easy enough to buff out, but just an FYI. I also did a iron/fallout remover on the paint right after I drove outa here, and it was pretty dirty from the factory, so that's a good best practice if you're planning on putting on an LSP like I did.

As multi-city person I don't have easy access to driveways, hoses, water, etc so I do my cleaning "rinseless" & mobile, which means it's easy for me to do an exterior detail just about anywhere. With the right tools & techniques I've found this method to be equal to ceramic and better than PPF in terms of look ... and certainly better than professional detailers. I used them for a few years but it's just never better than my 20 min of work.

Being able to easily remove bugs/tree sap/fallout on a roadtrip is pretty nice ... anyway, doing the initial wash, decon, prep, LSP took about 3 hours end-to-end being lazy ... if you don't know / are curious on the rinseless process, that's more/less here

All of that said, after having taken delivery of my car - while it was super fun to do the unwrapping - after having visited their detailers bays I would've been perfectly comfortable having them do it.

Final note, this is what it looks like when they truck them into the dealership:



Then they drive them off one-by-one:

[BobsM3Coupe]

X vehicles for US delivery do not come wrapped in plastic like in the video. They only have the plastic on the hood and roof.

[bozobozo]

Originally Posted by omasou

probably cosmoline

This is what my mosin nagant and ak 47 surplus guns came soaked in.