San Marino Blue - Regular Cosmetic Maintenance

[lazyrhino]

All, looking for some advice with regard to keeping my pride and joy San Marino Blue M4 Competition looking smart and shiny!

Essentially I'm struggling to make some decisions on the regular maintenance of my car. I've had it from new (it's now 6 months old) and unsurprisingly it arrived with a few light scratches. The real damage though was inflicted when it went in for its running in service - despite my requesting that it not be washed, the dealership washed it, of course. It's now covered in light swirls now which need removing.

Fortunately I'm a bit of an amateur detailer (to the point where I'm competent with a DA polisher etc.), but the real challenge for me is the combination of the car's storage conditions and a severe lack of free time! I live in a new estate that's still being built and the car lives outside in our secure car park, in my allocated space. Two major problems with this:
- All car detailing work has to be completed outside, no garage access
- Constant hideous brown building dust, 24/7

Eventually I'll manage to find some space / time to fully polish the car and remove the light swirls, but when I do, I also want to protect it. I've always previously favoured the traditional wax option but I'm starting to hear great things from ceramic coatings these days. My biggest concerns about ceramic coatings when compared to wax are...
- Difficulty of home (outdoor) application
- Minor repairs of "daily use" scratches down the line (tough to remove / re-apply coating)

Ultimately my question is, what is going to be my best option here in terms of protecting the car, primarily against the cursed dust!

Any advice would be majorly majorly appreciated here, getting very fed up of my car permanently looking awful!

Thanks in advance!

[jdgamble]

You have a lot going on there.

I would say make the dealership fix the wash damage, but they would probably get some hack that would make it worse.

I would not try to polish the car in the environment that you describe. You should be in a controlled environment... like a garage. I know you can do work outdoors, but I wouldn't with the heavy dust.

I am a sealant guy, but for your situation with the heavy dust, I would consider a coating. There are many user friendly options on Autogeek. After coating, it would be easier to maintain dust accumulation. Sealants and waxes generally attract dust due to static, but that subsides after a wash or two.

Do you have access to a self service pressure washer? I do that a lot and then just blot dry the car. I have a great environment at home for car washes, but sometimes I just want to do the 5 minute version.

Hope that helps.

[N1rve]

You always just wrap the entire car in PPF so you'll never touch the paint

[lazyrhino]

Originally Posted by jdgamble

You have a lot going on there.

I would say make the dealership fix the wash damage, but they would probably get some hack that would make it worse.

I would not try to polish the car in the environment that you describe. You should be in a controlled environment... like a garage. I know you can do work outdoors, but I wouldn't with the heavy dust.

I am a sealant guy, but for your situation with the heavy dust, I would consider a coating. There are many user friendly options on Autogeek. After coating, it would be easier to maintain dust accumulation. Sealants and waxes generally attract dust due to static, but that subsides after a wash or two.

Do you have access to a self service pressure washer? I do that a lot and then just blot dry the car. I have a great environment at home for car washes, but sometimes I just want to do the 5 minute version.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for your reply, really helpful.

I'm not letting my dealership anywhere near the car after the damage they've done. During a more recent warranty visit they dented the door, so that gives you an idea of just how atrocious they really are. They've subsequently "repaired" this and scratched the hell out of both the door and the window in the process - it's one step forward, two steps back. I'm going to complain to BMW UK about them, but I doubt I'll get far.

Funnily enough, I have my own jet wash and water access below my apartment. It's unusual I know, but it allows me to at least do regular washes. I'm always very thorough with pre-rinsing due to the dust but it's still tricky.

I'll maybe look into coatings based on your advice. My only concern is how they're more "permanent" than waxes. Let's say my dealership damages the car when it eventually has to go in for its next service (which they inevitably will), I can't just polish and top-up with a coating surely?

[BzsBimmer]

1. Find a new dealer. May not be easy where you live but I’d try. They sound awful.

2. I’d contact professional detailers and get quotes. Sure you can do it but sounds like your setup isn’t quite optimal, currently.

3. I’d consider a full PPF (paint film) when detailing done and you can apply a ceramic coating on top to make cleaning easier. This would also help those occasional bumps into your car without marring the paint.

[louielouie]

+1 for the ceramic coating.

If you have any friends with a garage, I'd ask a favor to have the paint correction/application done there instead.

As for maintenance, if you have a leaf blower in your setup, I recommend blowing out the area you're going to work on before wash process as well as watering the ground also. This will help keep the dirt around your car and in the area from contaminating your process.

I also recommend ONR (Optimum No Rinse) to help with the wash/maintenance process. There's numerous tests online about it's emulsifying properties.