kigerka

I will never put a brush on mine. People clean their wheels and other stuff. Just don't want to risk it.

Jimbo

My dealer hires a guy to patch/paint rims so I know it can be done because one of my rims was chewed up when a tire was replaced and the service mgr. had it repainted. It looks just like new though when I clean it, the dirt doesn't come off as easily. Probably because the paint is not baked on.

gf366

There are some auto car wash don't have rails, all you have to do is just drive your car in, then those machine arms will move around your car, then you drive it out..... Try those....

I'd remember when I was in Toronto, some of the Esso's station have those kinda machines, but not sure where to find it in the States....

JDN

It ain't gonna happen unless I can use my own stuff and wash it myself. I'll do that on the road, but no way am I going to let some machine latch on to my baby and drag her through the muddle. [/quote]
This is what I do, I go to those self car wash places, I do one pass of high pressure water, one pass of high pressure soap, then I use the shampoo foam brush and go smoothly through the whole body, rinse and then I drive to the gas station laser wash. I go home and buff the wheels with the blue disposable towels.
It ends up being around 8 bucks but it works for me. [/quote]
I'm sure that you know this, but one word of caution on the foaming brush is that it can be loaded with dirt that can scratch paint, particularly if the last fellow to use it had a SUV or PU with muddy wheels and used the foaming brush to clean his wheels last. A precaution would be to use the high pressure hose on the foaming brush before you use the brush on your car.
Like I said, you probably do that anyway, but just in case.

Wiu-Bimmer

I always do that, I spray that brush with high pressure water for at least ten seconds to get all that dirt out

wolverine

Really sorry to hear about the wheel - that would kill me. I'll be carwashing my car this winter, and here's my plan:

First of all I'll make sure I have 4-5 coats of Zaino to protect the clearcoat from swirls. Then I'll go to the carwashes I plan to use and speak to the manager about their process. Most important is to have plastic guardrails, which most good washes do. Another good rule of thumb is the longer the wash, the better. A 200' carwash will be far better for your car than a 30' one at a gas station. Another rule will be NO BRUSHES. The cloth strips are OK if the water is filtered properly. Almost all carwashes use recycled water nowadays, but the good ones will filter it pretty well. I'll also ask about the wheel cleaner - some use highly caustic cleaner that will dull your clearcoat.

That's my plan anyhow - I'll report on the results later - good luck!

Iceman

I would love to do it myself, but it's illegal!
So I use a car wash without brushes, just textile. Works awsome and the car comes out like brand new. Just have to wait another week for them to reopen, since the place burned down.

E60Sim

I only wash our BMW E60 by hand, thats the best for the car.

If the car is almost clean I only use our K?rcher Pressure washers.

When we got our car we handed it in for a professionel DITEC paint protection (?), so the car is very easy to wash.

Reminds me that I have to wash it this weekend

Wiu-Bimmer

When I initially got it I also took it to a detailing body shop to have what they said it was a coat of "Teflon" on it, they mentioned it would last for a year... So far it still looks like it has been recently waxed, will post pics soon.

JDN

I was comparing my four plus month old RejeX to a three week old teflon job yesterday. The RejeX was slicker to the touch than the teflon treatment.