Dingdongler

The arrival of the new car is about a month away and I'm thinking about some sort of paint protection. I've never done this before as this is only the second brand new car I've ever bought (out of about 15 cars)

I'd quite like to sell this car privately in 2-3years time rather than trading it in like I usually do so the healthier the paintwork looks at that point the better.

BMW themselves charge about £300 odd quid for some kind of polish but I've heard it's way overpriced and they usually get the garage dogsbody to apply it and so often isn't properly done.

Any suggestions on whether it's worth trying to protect the paint and if so how?

Cheers

Matteeboy

Mine was Supagarded for free. It's usually overpriced but works a treat on the BM. Easy to clean too.

zip106

If you're wanting to stop stone chips from peppering the front end then the only real solution is Paintshield or similar - http://www.paintshield.co.uk/ - loads of the Porsche chaps swear by it.

I've been told by many detailers that the Supaguard you have from a dealer actually costs no more than £40.00 - obviously won't stop usual chips etc.

It's one thing I'd never ever have applied to my cars for the simple reason it just won't polish up as well as one that's been properly detailed and waxed, and it's a rip-off. (ok, that's two reasons )

I wouldn't have it even if it's free.

One other thing Ding, is that keeping the car - especially from new - well waxed will ensure it looks good in 2 years time.

I'll be having our new one fully detailed within a week of getting it.

stilover

Never pay for it on a new car.

Always ask for it free as part of the deal.

DJ_Jon

iTrader: (7)

I wouldn't bother with Supaguard, its pants. You would be better off spending £300 on a pro detailer & having it machine polished & several layers of high quality wax applied.

Stone chips can be avoided if you want to apply a film, but personally I would not bother.

rb5_336

I can't see how any product is going to stop stone chips. When I bought my 135i new I just cleaned it thouroughly and applied a few layers of wax. Keeps it shiny shiny



Sean

fivetide

iTrader: (1)

If it was properly decent then the manufacturers would do it themselves. As above, mate worked at a dealers, its about 40 notes all in so sometimes they use it as a hook to 'give' people something that seems to be £300 for nowt, especially if it helps a sale.

Apart from a car bra it's just wwax and clean i'm afraid!

5t.

Devildog

Don't go near it with a bargepole. Apart from the fact that its not that good quality, if its applied by anyone who doesn't know how to properly apply any paint treatment, chances are more damage will be caused by its application.

Dingdongler

Thanks.

Getting it thrown in for free from the dealer is impossible now as the deal was agreed ages ago. Also as DD mentioned if its badly applied it does more harm than good.

On the whole is it worthwhile paying £300 to get a detailer to go over it in the first few weeks? Or shall I just go to the local car hand wash, take my own high quality wax and then get them to wash and wax it. They should do that for about £50 or less.

Thanks

Matteeboy

Ding - had two cars Supagarded for free. Both metallic. Sorry to go against the grain but I've been very impressed. Both easy to clean, both extremely shiny. The BM in particular just needs a quick wash then it really gleams.

zip106

Tell me you're joking about the hand wash!

If you're not fond of swirls in your black paint then I'd avoid and yes, IMHO it's well worth having it properly detailed in it's first few weeks.

I had mine done using Swissvax products last May (by the same chap Trout used) and all it takes is a gentle wash using good quality liquid and proper drying towels etc.
It still beads superbly after this time, but I'll get it done again in May.

The more layers of wax the better

Matteeboy

Ding - only use your own super clean lambswool wash mitt and keep it clean. Don't let the dealer touch it. They are notorious for stuffing up new car paint.

Jimpreza

I have had it on previous cars and I'd get it again but only if thrown in for free and applied to a brand new car. If you are into detailing a car properly I'd say don't bother. As I am lazy and always busy I don't tend to wash my car every week like some do and it helps when I do wash it.

As mentioned above it will never be as good as a proper detail. Just read Ding you've already done the deal so I'd say no unless it was £50.

Matteeboy

All of you - spend a bit of a decent pressure washer (e.g. Nilfisk E140) and get a snow foam lance. Not only is it great fun, it's utterly brilliant for making car washing very easy. It even gets the cack of my billion spoke BM alloys. Not even wheel cleaners (which often strip lacquer anyway) can do that. Not had to touch them by hand since I got the kit - just snow foam it, leave for 10 mins, then blast it off. Sparkly wheels, very little effort.

Bodywork and windows need a quick extra wash (with wash mitt and decent car shampoo) and rinse with the PW then a speedy microfibre cloth dry (super cheap) to avoid watermarking and hey presto, a gleaming car in less than half an hour.

zip106

Got a pressure washer - never needed to use it since my car was detailed.
Crap just runs off it with a normal hosepipe.

Matteeboy

Did they use the "forcefield" detailing method then?! Or do you only drive on "valeted" roads?!

Just a two mile trip to town gets my wheels dirty. Any further and it's often mud time - and that's avoiding country lanes!

zip106

I also live in farming country, Matt - seriously, that's all my car needs - it's like it's covered in Teflon!

Quality wax counts!

john banks

Black car = paint ruined by over 90% of people whether motor trade or car washers.

Dealer applied (by monkey) paint protection systems are the worst.

I don't let anyone wash a car I care about unless they've had the third degree on their technique which would make me appear like a nut job, so it is easier to ask them not to wash it.

I'm not a nut job, usually my cars are dirty, but the paint ages very well.

zip106

I never even let a Porsche garage wash mine.

Only me and my detailer touch it

Matteeboy

Zip - no problem with the bodywork, it's the wheels that are a bu99er. They seem to attract sh1te even after a short distance. And the back of the cars suck dirt onto it like it has a hoover attached.

Tried wax sealant (Poorboys) - took ages to apply, didn't make much difference. Smells nice though!

Dingdongler

Ok, I need to make some sense of all the opinions (which are greatly appreciated) and also what is practical.

1) It seems like paying £300 for what might be badly applied Supgard is a no no

2) I am happy (!) to pay £300 to have a one off detail done and perhaps to repeat this every 12-18 months.

3) I don't wash my own car and don't think I will to be honest, especially in winter. Call me lazy but I am what I am. My local car wash (hand wash Zip btw, not machine) seem quite good but I have no idea what chemicals they use.
Perhaps as a compromise I could take my own products to the car wash and get them to use it. If that seems like a reasonable thing then what products should I invest in?

I must say that none of my cars have aged well. My M5 in particular looks awful, I've been really stupid sometimes and left bird poo and other muck on it for weeks. I sometimes haven't had it cleaned for 4 months at a stretch.

I don't want to make the same mistakes this time and so need a plan right from when the car arrives.

Thanks

Matteeboy

I'd go option 2) - go to DetailingWorld, ask some questions, find someone good.

A well detailed car is head and shoulders above most cars and a good detailer will sort everything - even stuff you didn't realise needed looking at!

If you don't wash your car much, something like Nanolex would be ideal. Not many people have time to faff around constantly washing their cars.

But beware hand washing places - they use cleaning stuff often filled with grit and muck that will seriously stuff up your paint.

Hard to beat some good home kit (pressure washer, snow foam, car shampoo, lambswool mitt, decent polish all a good start) but it'll take time to do every time. And might not be convenient?

duckson

iTrader: (2)

Get a Pro detailer to give it the treatment, well worth it if you cant bring it up to scratch yourself.
I had my VXR delivered unprepped and i did it myself.

On my GB270 the front end is protected with 3M paint film, same as the Paintshield product.

Where in the UK are you?

zip106

Even the 'best' handwashes are not very good from a generic handwash place.

They hardly ever change the water so all the $hit and grit off the cars in front of you are splashed all over your car with the crappy sponge they use.

May as well chuck the sponge on the floor then wash your car - that's the equivalent of what they do.

Get it detailed first then find a local valeter with a good rep and use him weekly/monthly, who'll come to you at work or home.

Then get it detailed every 12 months and repeat....

hodgy0_2

love it when you talk dirty Mattee

Steve vRS

I enjoy washing the car.

I hate washing multi spoke wheels!

Steve

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

+1.

I've not owned a car worth more than about £4.5-5k (old Scoob) but I always washed it by hand after see imagery and reading comments on here.

Asking in the appropriate section (Car Care) would probably yeild a good response from Polished Bliss who, on here are the daddies.

When I had my last Subaru I would rinse it first with the Karcher pressure washer and then wash it with the '2 bucket method' and a lambswool mitt. This prevented grit coming back onto the car from a dirty bucket and the car was easy to wash with a mitt over a sponge (also a lot more soft). Give it a thorough rinse with the PW and then dry with a waffle weave towel - these are better than microfibre towels, were recommended by PB over microfibres.
A decent wax (Poorboys or the recent HD wax from Autoglym) was then applied with a good quality applicator pad and buffed off with a clean microfibre.

The above (with the odd polish before waxing sometimes) would generally see excellent results from a handwash perspective on a then 7-8 year old red car. I would not take any car worth the value of a Bimmer to a hand car wash unless they at least used the above 2 bucket method etc. On a black car the swirls will appear straight away and make the paintwork look terrible

Matteeboy

Any time for you Hodgemeister!

Great surf this week BTW - just surfed epic nearly double overhead Porthtowan. Half fun, half mildly terrifying!

fivetide

iTrader: (1)

Entirely the point. SupaGuard is no match for simply having the car properly done and keeping it well waxed.

I'd go with your second option. No issue for me to have the car looking a bit mucky, usually it is the washing process that puts the fine swirls on it anyway.

5t.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

My NSX had Supaguard applied to it; Problem is it wasn't new, and whoever did it didn't bother to remove the polishing/wear and tear marks (gritty sponges etc) before applying it.

So all it served to do was seal in the polishing marks, so was an utter waste of time and just created more effort required to sort out the said paint defects. I had to mop the entire car (removing said supaguard) with cutting compound so that I had a glass smooth mirror finish....THEN I applied the waxes and sealants. Took two days to do fully.

I'm not criticising the product; but moreso those that apply it for not doing the needed prep work. If its a brand new car; I'd expect them to remove the factory orange peal finish.