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      11-15-2008, 03:23 PM   #1
bmstyle71
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Wash (step by step pix)

Alright, I'm not a professional, far from it. I just decided to make this thread for people like me who don't live in a house and want to use a car wash station to give their car a good wash.

If anyone has any suggestions on my process I would love to hear them. After all, that's how we learn what we know.

You need:
- two buckets
- 2 grit guards (I don't have any yet)
- wheel brush
- Soap of your choice
- tire shine of your choice
- 2 sponges or mitts of your choice (micro fiber or sheep skin)
- 2 big drying towels or more (micro fiber)
- Wheel cleaner of your choice
You can see the products I use in the pictures.

1) Open your hood and vacuum your car thoroughly. (opening your hood allows it to cool minimizing water spots.)

2) Drive it in the car wash station, turn your car off, close your windows, DON'T retract your side view mirrors.

3) spray the wheels using any wheel cleaner you prefer. I've heard ENDLESS recommendations, but p21s gel seems to be the preference of most people. (I don't have mine, so I just bought some thing from auto zone for the mean time) Let it sit for about a minute.


4) As the wheel cleaner does it's work, pour 4-6 bottle cap full of zaino Z7 into one of the buckets.


5) Start the high pressure wash option and spray your wheels down with a GENEROUS amount of water.


6) Switch to the low pressure spotless rinse option and fill the bucket you put the zaino Z7 in.


7) Fill the other bucket (clean one with nothing in it) with water.


Now both buckets are filled with water. One is your washing bucket and the other is your rinsing bucket.


8) With the amount of time you have left on the low pressure spot free rinse, spray the car down.


9) Dunk the sponge into the wash bucket and let it absorb as much water as possible.


10) Place the sponge on the roof or any surface you want to start with and go back and forth (NO CIRCULAR MOTION). Do half the roof (or trunk or hood) then flip the sponge over and do the other side of the roof (trunk or hood).


11) Wring the sponge


12) Dunk it in the clean water bucket and wash it.


13) Wring the sponge again.


14) Back into the wash bucket.


15) Finish the side, trunk, hood, back (only as low as the license plate is), front (only as low as the front tow hook cover is). Make sure you clean the sponge as mentioned in steps 11-14 between each section.


16) As you do the sides, make sure you go only a little higher than the current position of the sponge in the following picture.


17) Clean the mirrors, windshield, window and back windows with the sponge. Also, lift your wipers and clean them (you will be surprised how dirty they are).

18) Clean the sponge and put it aside. Get the second sponge now and do all the lower parts. i.e lower sides, lower back, lower front.(depending on how dirty your car is, you might want to do another pass over all the parts to get them clean).

19) Pour the rest of the wash bucket onto the car.


20) dump out the dirty water.


21) Start up the high pressure rinse and rinse the car down.


22) Clean both your buckets as show in the picture.


23) Switch to low pressure spot free rinse and fill your wash bucket (No soap just water)


24) Optional: Give your dogs some water. This will add a good shine to your car. lol


25) Use the 'flood' technique to get rid of as much water as possible by 'flooding' each part separately and allowing most of the water to flow down.


26) Get your towel, Fold it in half and place it on the car. Don't go back and forth. All you do is place the towel down and gently tap it and remove it and move onto the second spot. I was skeptic about this until i tried it and works great and dries your car just fine. Don't forget your windows and windshield.


27) I like to clean all the small spaces on the car. Between the door and the body, between the trunk and the body, hood and the body and mirror and its casing. They get surprisingly dirty.

All I do is get my L.A ftiness tag


28) put the towel over it.


29) Insert the towel covered tag into the spaces and move along.


30) I did one door sill and this is how dirty it is.


31) Put your wipers down, open the hood and clean the inside with the damp towel. FYI: Some people actually use engine oil to shine the interior. Put some on a towel or whatever you want and wipe the engine bay down. It will not smoke and gives it a good shine as I have tried it on my e46 ///M not on my e92 ///m yet.


32) Use a wheel only designated towel to clean and dry your wheels thoroughly. Get your hands in there and just rub all over. I forgot to mention, if your rims are really dirty use a brush like the one in the picture below.



This is the towel after cleaning the wheels.


33) Get inside with a new slightly dampened towel and wipe down the whole interior including your navi screen and your front display.


34) I got this tire shine from autozone and I LOVE ITTTTT. It shines Wonderfully, no mess, and stays on for the whole week and looks like i just applied it after it's been on for a week.


35) Squeeze to get the product out onto the pad and wipe your wheel with it.



36) Get the damp towel and wrap it around each exhaust pipe and clean it by pulling each end back and forth.


37) Stand back take a well deserved deeeeeeeeep breath and smile and enjoy your face as you see it on your shiny car.






38) Dogs are exhausted. You'd think they were doing all the work. Nevertheless, they love the clean feeling and take a nap as you drive home with people at your car

Last edited by bmstyle71; 11-16-2008 at 03:35 PM..
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      11-15-2008, 06:18 PM   #2
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Fantastic thread!! Cute dogs as well!! Can't imagine an M3 being a dog friendly vehicle
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      11-15-2008, 06:43 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by noxredna View Post
Fantastic thread!! Cute dogs as well!! Can't imagine an M3 being a dog friendly vehicle
I've adapted the car to better handle them As you can see they have enough room to stretch and walk around and take a nice nap
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      11-15-2008, 08:58 PM   #4
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very nice job. love the 2 pooches too. doesn't the meguiars etch the caliper?
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      11-15-2008, 10:00 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by boynbeagle7 View Post
very nice job. love the 2 pooches too. doesn't the meguiars etch the caliper?
Yes it does and I learned that the hard way lol. Threw it out after. Thankfully though I was worried about that and sprayed it from the top and made it only touch the rim. I didn't spray it horizontally. I got a bit on the brake disc and it left a residue. After I drove for 100 feet and used the brakes, I got out and it was gone. But yeah DON'T USE MEGUIARS on your wheels!!!

Last edited by bmstyle71; 11-15-2008 at 10:27 PM..
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      11-15-2008, 11:26 PM   #6
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Good thread, thanks for the tips.
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      11-16-2008, 01:14 AM   #7
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wow! Nice sharing man.
One question, how much did u spend at the washing station?
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      11-16-2008, 07:26 AM   #8
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fantastic!
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      11-16-2008, 09:49 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Krueger///M3 View Post
Good thread, thanks for the tips.
No problem man.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Deda View Post
fantastic!
Thank you.

Quote:
Originally Posted by py0413 View Post
wow! Nice sharing man.
One question, how much did u spend at the washing station?
Vacuum= $2.00
Wash=$5.00

Total with vacuum is $7 without is $5
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      11-16-2008, 03:26 PM   #10
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Really good stuff, ganna have to keep this in mind.
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      11-16-2008, 04:07 PM   #11
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Great thread! Where did you buy your sponge/towels at?
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      11-16-2008, 04:13 PM   #12
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Job well done...will it make much difference if you go to a good hand wash centre?
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      11-16-2008, 04:33 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sedan_Clan View Post
Great thread! Where did you buy your sponge/towels at?
The sponges I got at walmart. Towels at auto zone. They have a variety of microfiber towels, washing, drying, interior. They all have a different texture so pick and choose for the purpose you desire.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Speedtrap View Post
Job well done...will it make much difference if you go to a good hand wash centre?
Not too sure what you mean by hand wash centre. You mean the place where they wash it for you? Sorry, explain please
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      11-16-2008, 07:50 PM   #14
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Nice Job! I need to wash my car sometime soon too...
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      11-20-2008, 01:52 AM   #15
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Those dogs are the stars of this thread.......so cute
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      11-29-2008, 10:31 AM   #16
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when you use a microfiber towel and the drying method you recommended, does it cease to make swirls on the paint ?
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      12-01-2008, 03:01 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DevJ View Post
when you use a microfiber towel and the drying method you recommended, does it cease to make swirls on the paint ?
Swirl marks will only come from doing a circular motion whether you are drying or washing. Avoid the circular motion and you will eliminate swirl marks. Tiny marks are impossible to avoid but if they are in one direction they are virtually invisible. By not moving the towel to dry the car you will not get any marks at all from drying.
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      12-01-2008, 03:05 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bmstyle71 View Post
The sponges I got at walmart. Towels at auto zone. They have a variety of microfiber towels, washing, drying, interior. They all have a different texture so pick and choose for the purpose you desire.


Not too sure what you mean by hand wash centre. You mean the place where they wash it for you? Sorry, explain please
Yep - the place where you go and they wash it for you...just wondering whether the way you do it will make much of a difference.
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      12-01-2008, 03:35 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Speedtrap View Post
Yep - the place where you go and they wash it for you...just wondering whether the way you do it will make much of a difference.
YES IT WILL DON't TAKE IT THERE. Have you seen what they do? slap a towel that has been used on 5 million cars and just swirl all over the place.....don't do it.
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      12-01-2008, 04:42 PM   #20
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its funny how you actually have a pic of you filling the bucket, wringing the sponge and washing the bucket...

it's almost like people using their hand to gesture to give them a call, as if people didn't know how to
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      12-01-2008, 07:15 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kronzprinz View Post
its funny how you actually have a pic of you filling the bucket, wringing the sponge and washing the bucket...

it's almost like people using their hand to gesture to give them a call, as if people didn't know how to
lol hehehehe hence the 'step by step' remark
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      12-02-2008, 03:57 PM   #22
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where can i get some of that P21s?
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