How DO you keep a black car looking good?Is it possible?
 

I've recently bought a BMW 330ci sport convertible in black.....when I got the car I used Meguiar's claybar, and then zymolled it, and it looked absolutely stunning...

Howvere that lasted about a day, before lots of sticky sap decided to stick to the car, and now it just looks dirty, even after it has been washed and leathered down!

Is there anything I can use to repel dust/crap from my car andkeep it looking good for at least a week at a time?

Any advice much appreciated.

Only ever had 2 black cars and both showed up every mark. My DBM Scoob is not much different and needs poliching after a wash......

You've done pretty much all you can really.

except to keep it garaged and don't use it on on rainy days or in winter :)

Wash. wax, and keep it in the garage. Or like me never buy another black car :)

Les

Swissol ;)

Black Galaxy.....more black than (insert any random gag from 1987) yet kept looking fine with a Flash car wash system.

Would ALWAYS own a black car - would never bother with expensive cleaaners again after buying FLash!

Buy this months EVO, its got the AM V8 on the cover. They have an article in there about a company that chargers £250 for s "treatment" but guarantee a spotless car for a year. One of the writers got his 550 done, IIRC.

Tiggs, how much does the flash wash system cost and how long does it take to wash the car using it?

Got a black WRX and a Flash car wash system, ignoring the wheels I can clean it in about 20-25 minutes. Spotless afterwards and no streaks. Wheels will add time on to that though.

Bloody well worth it if you ask me. Throw the chamois away forever!!

Around £20.

Its about 25 quid for the gun, shampoo and the important bit - the filter.

I don't bother with using their shampoo, I just wash the car with NXT shampoo and a mitt, hose it down to get the suds off, and then the all-important deionized water to remove the hard chalky water. Start at the top and work down, using the fine spray to displace the untreated tap water droplets. It works by leaving only water with no impurities on the bodywork.

No streaks, no water marks. Tinted glass will normally show the water marks like mad, but now the film of water simply disappears.

I believe there is an activator in the shampoo that come with the kit !
Do you still get it to work without that activator ?

There's nowt wrong with the Flash shampoo from what I have investigated (not bad for paintwork, etc.) Halfrauds do the system for £19.99 I think which will last about 2-3 washes.

After that refills are around £5 for the shampoo (8-10 washes)
& around £5 for the de-ioniser (between 7-10 washes, depends how much you use).

It's on this BB loads of times if you search, 50% love it, 50% hate it. My car is 1 year old and the Flash system is marvellous.

.... But being black it still looks ****e after 2 days :mad: Still better than anything else I know of around this VERY cheap price.

Oh... and you look a right dick holding the plastic "gun" whilst cleaning it... but I do it hiding behind a bush!

I drive a black Focus, live on an unmade street and the car park at work is all posh chippings! :D I washed it one day, dried it, left it whilst I grabbed some thing to eat, went back out to polish it and it had turned brown because of all the dust blowing around, I didn't even drive it! :D

Water marks aren't a problem here, we must have soft water or summat, would this Flash thing offer me any benefits over ordinary car shampoo stuff? :Suspiciou

heres what i do......bucket and sponge - add flash shampoo, clean car and rinse as i go with normal hose - far more pressure than the flash gun.

when finished i hook up the hose to the flash gun and rinse down with "magic" water.

clean the galaxy in 15 mins....and its fcukin huge!

First if you use Zymol you need to use their shampoo, only use the one called 'Clear' use very little or you will wash some of the hard applied wax off, before shampooing rinse the car thoroughly. I use an Ionic filter for the water to rinse the car before leathering, in fact its so good you donr need to leather it. Just let it dry.
http://www.ionicsystems.co.uk/cars/index.html

This is the site and these filters are truly mazing........

They always look good just after they have been washed and polished but black shows up any dirt the car picks up immediately.

Les

Was thinking of black for Mrs. V's next car.
Think I might have been put off.

Flash system is only anygood if u have soft water. Hard water areas annihilate the filters, and they only last 2 washes before they're useless.

Have had 5 black cars, very single time I swear never to have another, but......they look so good when cleaned and polished.

Haven't tried Flash system, may have to get one, however a wash, leather, and quick polish with NXT top up seems to do the trick most of the time.

Get it resprayed silver.

Sorry, that's a really useless reply. I think that Flash thing sounds good though so I am going to try it next week - is it on offer anywhere at the moment?

I live on the south coast and the water down here is really 'chalky'. I've always had dark cars and they sometimes look worse after I've washed them! :lol1:

Just read: Flash £19.99 at Halfrauds. Doesn't sound too bad. :cool:

Couldn't get on with it, tried a new filter and it still left spots, maybe I'm just in a hard water area?

Got a couple of Meguiars Water Magnets in conjunction with a water blade and they seem to leave virtually nothing, only takes 5 mins to dry the whole car.