[LeeAC]

Sorry if this has been discussed before!

I'm very conflicted on car washing...I know automatic car washes are a major NO NO on other BMW forums.

Here's my dilemma,

I live in VA, where they salt the roads for snow and while a hand wash would be IDEAL, its not realistic for me since:

A) I live in a high rise building so I cannot self wash in our garage.
B) I can't find a single self serve car wash around!
C) Its freaking freezing outside
D) Does a hand wash really get rid of the salt residue under the car?

The automatic car washes near me have spray that cleans the underside.

I have one feather scratch from a local automatic carwash and BMW told me to not go to those again, and to go to touchless carwashes. But now I'm reading those can be just as bad and cause swirls and electronics problems.

Suggestions? I could take it to be a place to be hand washed but that would be $$$ and time.

Interested to hear what you all do! My X3 is deep sea blue so it shows salt pretty bad.

[RhoXS]

Car washes are not the optimum solution but, like everything else in life, there are trade offs.

I have a choice, do nothing and continuously subject the car to all the corrosive salt and dirt that is used this time of year to deal with all the lake effect snow we get in NY or take it through a car wash that includes manual pre-cleaning with hot water high pressure sprays before the conveyer and undercarriage sprays in an attempt to keep the salt from causing rust problems. The salt, if I do nothing, will eventually cause destructive corrosion and the car wash will cause the paint to show mostly invisible surface defects. I easily accept the latter. The car also gets so incredibly and disgustingly dirty from the salt and sand I am thrilled to get it cleaned.

Its just a car, its not a piece of irreplacable art. Given enough time, no matter what, the paint surface is going to show defects if you look close enough no matter how well you take care of it. I certainly take good care of my cars (in many cases I have been called anal in this respect), and maintain them in excellent condition. However, I just cannot get so protective that I am willing to drive around in an absolutely filthy car that is also covered with corrosive salt because I am afraid of a car wash.

[LeeAC]

Originally Posted by RhoXS

Car washes are not the optimum solution but, like everything else in life, there are trade offs.

I have a choice, do nothing and continuously subject the car to all the corrosive salt and dirt that is used this time of year to deal with all the lake effect snow we get in NY or take it through a car wash that includes undercarriage sprays in an attempt to keep the salt from causing rust problems. The salt will eventually cause destructive corrosion and the car wash will cause the paint to show mostly invisible surface defects. I easily accept the latter. The car also gets so incredibly dirty from the salt and sand I really am just glad to get it cleaned.

Its just a car, its not a piece of irreplacable art. Given enough time the paint surface is going to show defects if you look close enough no matter how well you take care of it. I certainly take good care of my cars and maintain them in excellent condition. However, I just cannot get so protective that I am willing to drive around in an absolutely filthy car that is also covered with corrosive salt because I am afraid of a car wash.

Yea, the salt will do a lot more damage than a couple scratches that can be buffed out.

[mge92]

Touchless car washes are better than nothing but absolutely better than the automatic car washes. Just makes sure you get it things done like polish and wax to make sure the paint looks its best.

[colson79]

Same problem here in Wisconsin, at least 4 months out of the year hand washing is impossible and they salt the roads like crazy. I use the touchless automatic car washes all winter long and then give it a good hand wash and wax in the spring.

[RhoXS]

The car wash here in metropolitan Oswego, NY has both a conventional tunnel and a touchless tunnel. Its my perception the touchless tunnel itself does not do as good a job and they do not have the guys at the entrance to the short touchless tunnel hand pressure cleaning the car. The touchless tunnel also does not have the two, all important, IMO, undercarriage sprays the conventional tunnel has.

The conventional tunnel is much more expensive (about $15) and it does indeed have brushes that touch the car, but they do an excellent job. I have not actually seen the undercarriage sprays so I really do not know how effective they are but they do make me feel better.

I request no wax. IMO, the wax is really piss poor and it costs extra. It has no consequential longevity on the car, what probably adheres to the car is probably inconsequential, and worse, it causes the windshield to streak behind the wiper blades.

[TerraLvr335i]

Agree. Just wash the car and then enjoy it. Paint perfection is a unicorn, especially in snowy places with salt, bad roads, stones on the highway, etc. As the owner of two Jet Black cars previously, and a Carbon Black one now, trust me on this.

[The X Men]

After each winter, I run it thru the car wash once, that's it. I hand wash when its warm out. My philosophy is that the only way to keep a car in showroom condition is to keep it in the showroom.

[LeeAC]

Originally Posted by TerraLvr335i

Agree. Just wash the car and then enjoy it. Paint perfection is a unicorn, especially in snowy places with salt, bad roads, stones on the highway, etc. As the owner of two Jet Black cars previously, and a Carbon Black one now, trust me on this.

Thanks I appreciate the feedback from everyone. Some of the other BMW forums are intense about washing!

I think I'll just go through the touchless car wash after snow events and save the vanity washing for hand washes this summer.

[Want the thrill]

I hand wash it once a week in my garage that is not heated. I'm OCD about it. Can't wait for summer to roll back around where I can actually enjoy being outside washing the car.

[buze]

I use a pressure washer if the car is really dirty, to go into the weell arches, bottom/side of the car. No shampoo or anything by bad weather, just plain water. That removes a lot of crud from the car.

On the rare occasion it's clear and warmish, I now hand wash it. I do use wax, as it leaves a protective coat that WILL protect the car paint when meeting branches and other stuff on the side of the road. Also protects from bird drops etc.

[pokerface]

My X3 is a lease (first time doing this), and is intended to be my child transport. I had OptiCoat put on which seems to keep it cleaner and add an additional layer of protection but I have to accept that it's my wife's primary driver and it will never be subjected to the same amount of care on the outside nor on the inside (front or back seat). I'll do what I can but I try not to lose sleep over it.

Same thing with my A4 which is now a commuter vehicle.. no more time for OCD since it's now constantly exposed and with a new family to look after. Actually, when the wife went into labor and we were on our way to the hospital some suited up accountant smacked the side mirror and my B pillar trim with his laptop bag since I blocked the cross walk while trying to make it to the hospital. Yea the scratches hurt, but I had better things to worry about at the time.

Any way, I digress. The point is, if you can't beat mother nature / parking lot dings then the best approach would be to layer as much protection as possible... otherwise just make it a garage queen and drive something else.

[Snidely Whiplash]

I used to really stress over keeping a car clean, in and out, to the point of obsession. No eating or drinking in the car for wife and kids, couldn't imagine washing the car without waxing it, and spent a small fortune keeping everything I needed at home to hand wash my vehicles to perfection.

At some point I recognized that to the casual observer my cars didn't look much cleaner than the guy who just went to the car wash once a week, and dealers didn't give me one penny more than book value regardless of the care I took with them when it came time to trade them. Now I make things easy on myself and just visit the local car wash once a week or so where a handful of guys hand wash and dry my cars while I stand back and watch.

I'm still particular about family not eating in the car, but now water is allowed.

[Ziba]

In my area touchless car washes have also undercarriage hi pressure sprayers so it is good for getting that salt off from the bottom of the car. I use touchless washes all the time in winter time and never had any problems with my X3. Don't use regular washes. I'm afraid they would scratch the car. Funny though because my dealer has regular car wash at his place and they use it for the cars that they are servicing .

[LeeAC]

Originally Posted by Ziba

In my area touchless car washes have also undercarriage hi pressure sprayers so it is good for getting that salt off from the bottom of the car. I use touchless washes all the time in winter time and never had any problems with my X3. Don't use regular washes. I'm afraid they would scratch the car. Funny though because my dealer has regular car wash at his place and they use it for the cars that they are servicing .

Haha my dealer also has an autowash. I mentioned my scratch to him and he said he hates their autowash. People request to NOT have their car washed by the dealer.

[LeeAC]

Originally Posted by pokerface

My X3 is a lease (first time doing this), and is intended to be my child transport. I had OptiCoat put on which seems to keep it cleaner and add an additional layer of protection but I have to accept that it's my wife's primary driver and it will never be subjected to the same amount of care on the outside nor on the inside (front or back seat). I'll do what I can but I try not to lose sleep over it.

Same thing with my A4 which is now a commuter vehicle.. no more time for OCD since it's now constantly exposed and with a new family to look after. Actually, when the wife went into labor and we were on our way to the hospital some suited up accountant smacked the side mirror and my B pillar trim with his laptop bag since I blocked the cross walk while trying to make it to the hospital. Yea the scratches hurt, but I had better things to worry about at the time.

Any way, I digress. The point is, if you can't beat mother nature / parking lot dings then the best approach would be to layer as much protection as possible... otherwise just make it a garage queen and drive something else.

Yea, you're right. but I'd be so pissed about the accountant!

[LeeAC]

Originally Posted by Snidely Whiplash

I used to really stress over keeping a car clean, in and out, to the point of obsession. No eating or drinking in the car for wife and kids, couldn't imagine washing the car without waxing it, and spent a small fortune keeping everything I needed at home to hand wash my vehicles to perfection.

At some point I recognized that to the casual observer my cars didn't look much cleaner than the guy who just went to the car wash once a week, and dealers didn't give me one penny more than book value regardless of the care I took with them when it came time to trade them. Now I make things easy on myself and just visit the local car wash once a week or so where a handful of guys hand wash and dry my cars while I stand back and watch.

I'm still particular about family not eating in the car, but now water is allowed.

haha I am that food and water person. Good advice though.

[02420X3]

At this time of year, all that my car sees is the touchless carwash. The touchless wash does an OK job, but not a great job. With more time and resources available, I might do an occasional handwash, but in all honesty that's just not going to happen. Instead, I have a good detailer who will go over it in the Spring, and who hopefully will remove any sins that the winter has created.

[nonagon]

Originally Posted by LeeAC

Sorry if this has been discussed before!

I'm very conflicted on car washing...I know automatic car washes are a major NO NO on other BMW forums.

Here's my dilemma,

I live in VA, where they salt the roads for snow and while a hand wash would be IDEAL, its not realistic for me since:

A) I live in a high rise building so I cannot self wash in our garage.
B) I can't find a single self serve car wash around!
C) Its freaking freezing outside
D) Does a hand wash really get rid of the salt residue under the car?

The automatic car washes near me have spray that cleans the underside.

I have one feather scratch from a local automatic carwash and BMW told me to not go to those again, and to go to touchless carwashes. But now I'm reading those can be just as bad and cause swirls and electronics problems.

Suggestions? I could take it to be a place to be hand washed but that would be $$$ and time.

Interested to hear what you all do! My X3 is deep sea blue so it shows salt pretty bad.

If you're in northern Virginia there's a Champion Hand Wash on Rt 7 in Vienna/Tyson's - that's the only place I take my car.

[LeeAC]

Originally Posted by nonagon

If you're in northern Virginia there's a Champion Hand Wash on Rt 7 in Vienna/Tyson's - that's the only place I take my car.

I am, THANK YOU! I was going to try a touchless washer at Tysons.

[smytw]

Owned MB and BMWS...
Gone thru brush and brushless carwash thru the years.. no noticeable scratches, dings, swirls, or any defect/damage to paint. It is not the Porsche hi tech stuff paint.. but, works for me with no issues. I do hand wash and wax once every other month weather and time permitting.

[flavius]

I have been going to the same car wash for 13 years now and never noticed a problem with any of our cars. I'd probably notice since I do care.

This is our first BMW and I find myself having it cleaned more often, maybe every other week or so while it's still winter.

We got the car at the end of November and I can see myself hand waxing the BMW in the spring - something I haven't done since 2005 - the year I sold my Jeep, but that's as far as I'd go.