[shiner]

Hi, Anyone recommend something good please? I have some Autoglym stuff kicking around but would like something else to shine up my Sapphire Black F11.

Thanks.

[Balster]

Dodo Juice every time for me. Brings up a lovely shine on my Imp Blue F10.

[GMTRB5]

Bilt Hamber I find is fantastic for snow foam and wheel cleaner .. Autoglym car shampoo .. Autoglym aqua wax .. then Autoglym HD wax ..

That's what I use anyway

[Chrissy_bwoy]

The Auto Finesse range is very comprehensive with products for pretty much everything you want to clean/polish/protect on your car.

http://www.autofinesse.co.uk

Clean your car is a store i use and stocks pretty much all major brands. I have always had excellent service too.

http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk

Beware... It gets expensive quickly lol!

[shiner]

Do you guys reckon the "premium" cleaning stuff is that much better than off the shelf stuff from Halfords? If so in what way?

[Chrissy_bwoy]

Originally Posted by kirkster

Do you guys reckon the "premium" cleaning stuff is that much better than off the shelf stuff from Halfords? If so in what way?

Some of the Halfords stuff (Farecla and Megaiurs) is excellent. Some Autoglym stuff is good too.

It sounds ridiculous but you get what you pay for with some products like wax and polishes.

Shampoos and cleaners can be much of a muchness.

The tools are also inportant. Good quality wash mitts and wheel brushes are essential to a good finish.

Here is a good guide to wash technique.

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/foru...ead.php?t=4637

There are guides for almost anything on that site with plenty of product reviews.

[jakartakid]

Have a look at Cquartz, it's a product that 'bonds' itself to the cars paint and glass/lenses. Takes a bit of preparation before application but I am impressed with the results. Once this is applied that's it, no more waxing, it's supposed to last 18 months but I think that would be a bit unrealistic. Makes it a doodle to wash the car afterwards, good for alloys as well, have a look at their website.

[AP]

I recently bought Autoglym Hi definition wax (around £32) , very pleased with this. Easy to apply. Does require a very clean car first.
This is a wax as opposed to a polish.

Also worth having is Rain-x which is a water repellent for glass. Allows you to drive along at motorway speed without your wipers on.(Just beads off) Keeps the glass very clean.

[The Beast]

Originally Posted by AP

I recently bought Autoglym Hi definition wax (around £32) , very pleased with this. Easy to apply. Does require a very clean car first.
This is a wax as opposed to a polish.

Also worth having is Rain-x which is a water repellent for glass. Allows you to drive along at motorway speed without your wipers on.(Just beads off) Keeps the glass very clean.

I have this or Swisswax applied to my car, very good wax and lasts much longer than standard polish such as autoglym super resin polish. Tend to have it applied every 2-3 months

[teaston]

Sonax stuff is awesome! Especially their Brilliant Shine Detailer, use it after cleaning and it gets rid of any leftover dirt, water marks & tar spots, it gives protection like a wax but gives better shine & it makes water bead like a proper nano coat! Also makes subsequent cleans easier. One application lasts for about 3-4 washes.

Here's a link to it on THE best car cleaning product website: http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/detail...prod_1178.html

[Heavy messing]

The best person to speak to regarding detailing products is Kyle from Altus Car Care. A few of us have his products and his advise is fantastic, he is Aston Martins detailer on all their show and PR cars......

[fleeM5]

Unfortunately, nothing can be done once its faded. Have to fix it. Cost is for that kind of area from 50 to 75$.

[Russ200]

On my old E91 ( which was sapphire black ) a mate of mine used some G3 cutting compound to remove the swirls and I topped it off with some dodo juice purple haze it came up a treat.

[shiner]

I have researched this at great length.
This is what I did and I got fabulous results. Water beads like a champion and it is so shiny and swirl free I can see my reflection well enough to shave in it.

1. Thoroughly wash the car. The wash of its life. NEVER use washing-up liquid on a car EVER again from hereon.
2. Bilt Humber chemical decontaminant. Do two panels at a time, leave for 5 minutes and then wash off with hose pipe. Don't do this on a hot sunny day. a grey overcast day is what you want. You will see a ton of crap turn red and come off the car. TIP: This stuff stinks of strong chemicals and makes your hands stink for days afterwards, no matter how much you wash them afterwards. So use some rubber gloves for this step!
3. Do all the car as per 2. Wash the car again.
4. Clay bar the car down with quality clay and changing it every panel. Wash each panel as it's completed.
5. Wash - and dry - the car yet again.
6. Meguiars Ultimate polish with DA polishing machine. Note if the paint work has faded or the swirl marks are really bad (as they were on my Z4) then use a heavier polish such as Scholl S20 Black. After polishing the surface will be as smooth as glass. There are a ton of videos on this on Youtube. I watched the ones by Jon on the Forensic Detailing Channel. This step is what takes the time in detailing. It will probably take at least four hours to do a 5 series and even longer - much longer in some cases - if the paint is in a deteriorated state.
7. After polishing then Autoglym Sealant. Note - it MUST be allowed one hour to cure or else you are wasting your time. Buff off after the hour. This step does not take long, other than the hour curing time.
8. Dodo Juice wax. Do as many times as you want. Once is fine but after subsequent washes do another wax - it does not take long on clean, polished car.

To recap the sequence is WASH -DECONTAMINATE -CLAY BAR - POLISH - SEALANT - WAX

UPON COMPLETION, and after a lot of effort you will have a car so shiny it will attract people's attention and will be something to be proud of.

DO NOT TAKE THE CAR TO THE £5 CAR WASH EVER AGAIN. NEVER let the BMW dealer - or others - wash the car for you again; it will come back with swirl marks all over it.

From now on wash the car in straight lines, a panel at a time and using the two bucket method, rinsing with the hosepipe after every panel. NEVER wash in a circular motion with the wash mitt - always in straight lines.

[MrPogle]

This is top advice. My car was covered in £5 hand-wash damage so I bit the bullet and took it to a well regarded local detailer. Three days of his time and the car came back looking like it was made of glass. That was 12 months ago and I have tried hard to maintain the finish but I am secretly planning 1 more day of his time soon as a top-up.

[The Beast]

Agree very good advice, although you may want to be cautious with machine polishing if you've not previously attempted it...

Might be worth getting a cheap panel from a scrap yard to practice on

[JLR1969]

Originally Posted by The Beast

Agree very good advice, although you may want to be cautious with machine polishing if you've not previously attempted it...

Might be worth getting a cheap panel from a scrap yard to practice on

If you use a DA polisher it's quite difficult to damage the car