jk479

Will I be safe takign my car to a brushless car wash. Should I just measure out the wheel diameter? Anyone else with 530i sport wheels use a car wash, or do you handwash. It's 10 degrees out there now, so I am thinking i'll just keep the car dirty rather than scuff the wheel.

thanks

JK

KAF

10 degress, that is positively balmy...........................oh, I guess you mean F not C

Seriously, use your hands, a pair of rubber washing up gloves will stop your fingers dropping off.

spareone3

I REALLY would not recommend it...Use a Jet wash carefully but a "roller type" car wash will not only have a high probability of damaging your wheels through the guides if you get it wrong! Not only that the brushes will make light scratching to the top coat (and you don't want that either). I personally wouldn't dream of taking a car through and would rather leave dirty..

PS 10 degrees is warm...! Get out there!

SolanNo1

What? You want to take your baby through a commercial car wash? :thumbsdown:
If it is 10 celsius it is absolutely positively balmy. Time for some elbow grease.

needforspeed

Lifes WAY to short to handwash a car.

Find a 'conveyor' car wash that way, as long as you don't kerb it on the way in U don't need to worry. I've used these plenty of times in my e46 coupe and am about to take my 530d for it's first bath (and I have 19inch rims).

oh .. and the brushless car washes don't work IMO.

JStraw

I take mine to a brushless carwash (one attached to a gas station) every so often just to get the salt and some of the dirt out. Yes it doesn't clean as well as a hand wash, but it's good enough for me for the winter.

Most gas station (Or similar) car washes don't have a guide rail for the wheels. They have a sensor that one of your wheels will "climb" to start the machine.

If you are taking it to one the conveyor type brushless washes, you may want to check the tire width to be safe it will fit in the wheel guide. Not sure what measuring the dia of the wheel will do to help.

By the way, please update your location in your profile so that everyone will know which part of this planet your car is located.

doug_999

Should not be a problem. Make sure you go to a high quality car wash.

Having just spent $70K on a car, I loath the idea of taking my car through a carwash. However, as I get older, I'm starting to believe in what needforspeed said and yes, I will probably run my baby through a carwash in the near future. While I love washing the car on a summer day, this winter stuff sucks!

jet190rs

Word. Just do it. I've been using automatic washes for years.

Here in NYC handwashing is tough....it may be illegal to dump dirty water along the sidewalk without a license, or you gotta find a friend who lives out in the suburbs.

tab545

In Chicago there are lots of hand washes, where the guys use rags and do it all by hand. I wish they used microfiber instead of terry cloth, to minimize scratching. But it's too cold to do it myself in winter. It just means I'm dying for some warmer weekends so I give it a glaze with very mild abrasive to rub out some of the hairline scratching.

sapkan

I have had my wheels damaged on a roller-type carwash in London. They were lower profile, however, 205/40 rather than 245/40. I suggest you speak to the staff beforehand