[rickyvig]

I have a black beamer and my brother tells me that it's very necessary to dry the car off with a "shami" which is a special type of cloth that sucks the water off of your car while you wipe it. Alot of my friends tell me that the most important part of washing your car is the drying off part. I have always driven an old piece of shit car from where I don't care about drying it off or so.

Now that I have an expensive BMW car, I want to make sure I am cleaning/drying the car off properly.

Any suggestions??

[UltraRacer13]

go here for the answers you seek.

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9145

[bolty]

For wash; I use 2 buckets and a grit guard.

For drying; I use a waffle weave microfibre towel.

This is the guide I have been following: http://www.detailedimage.com/Auto-De...ng-and-Drying/

Also, check out the detailing section of this forums. Theres lots of good info there.

And its "bimmer" not "beamer"

Welcome to the fourms

[Marcus-SanDiego]

Originally Posted by bolty

For wash; I use 2 buckets and a grit guard.

For drying; I use a waffle weave microfibre towel.

This is the guide I have been following: http://www.detailedimage.com/Auto-De...ng-and-Drying/

Also, check out the detailing section of this forums. Theres lots of good info there.

And its "bimmer" not "beamer"

Welcome to the fourms

Same method I use.

And maybe he has a motorcycle

[rickyvig]

haha thanks for all the support guys, I will call it "bimmer" now, my apologies.

Thanks again,
Ricky

[rickyvig]

Originally Posted by bolty

For wash; I use 2 buckets and a grit guard.

For drying; I use a waffle weave microfibre towel.

This is the guide I have been following: http://www.detailedimage.com/Auto-De...ng-and-Drying/

Also, check out the detailing section of this forums. Theres lots of good info there.

And its "bimmer" not "beamer"

Welcome to the fourms

Is it okay to use microfibre towel for drying your black car? wouldn't that do any damage to the paint?

I have been using a shami for the past couple days only when drying my car off, is that bad?

[TeutonicDan]

I have a Jet Black 3er, paint code 668 (the worst ever - confirm with PICUS) and if you wish to talk to PICUS or myself we can give you tips. PM me and I'll forward my number to you so we can talk.

[jefj335i]

I use a "California Squeegie" ( about $30 bucks from Canadian Tire) to remove water from my car and use a microfibre towel to remove any remaining water. The squeegie is designed to be safe for cars. This works for me.

[w2]

In my experience, and from the sounds of it, the experiences of others, Chamois don't really work. A microfiber towel and/or silicone water blade are the best drying tools. If you are willing to invest a lot of time and money, there are some pretty elaborate washing rituals you can go through, but if you have a black car, it's going to get dirty pretty quickly, unless you only drive it indoors.

Most of the scratches and swirls in your paint come from washing, but if you're going to drive your car on a daily basis and not keep it indoors at the first hint of bad weather or unfavourable road conditions, the paint is going to get scratched, swirled, chipped, and even dented no matter what you do. Remember, though, that you will notice the defects in your car more than anyone else will. Most people seem to have trouble telling a dirty car apart from a clean one, let alone detecting scratched and swirled paint.

If you really enjoy cleaning your car and want to put a few hours a week into it, there are a lot of guides (visit autopia.org). Even if you just want to keep it clean and reasonable looking, there is a lot of good advice there. Personally, I like to to a decent job and I enjoy washing my car once every week or two (less in the winter) but I don't go anywhere near as far as the people who have made it into a hobby. Twice a year, I'll do a reasonably thorough detailing of the car, which takes all day and is fun for maybe the first half. The rest of the time, I generally just use Optimum No Rinse with a microfiber mitt and waffle weave towel and (*gasp*) a single bucket. What's most important is that you don't try to dry your car while it's still dirty: that will just grind the dirt into the paint.

In general, just make sure you use soft cloths/sponges/mitts and apply gentle pressure. Don't grind the dirt in. If you do that, you're going to do far less damage than any automatic car wash, or the dealer when they wash your car for you when you take it in for an oil change.

Alternatively, you can get a silver car and save yourself a lot of headaches. But it is my feeling that the world does not need any more silver cars on the road.

[victor328]

I use a leaf blower to get most of the water off the car, and then just use a microfibre towel to get the last few drops. The leaf blower is amazing in getting all the water from all the little gaps in the car. The water just flies off especially after you wax the car.

[cfabluenose]

Originally Posted by victor328

I use a leaf blower to get most of the water off the car, and then just use a microfibre towel to get the last few drops. The leaf blower is amazing in getting all the water from all the little gaps in the car. The water just flies off especially after you wax the car.

That must entertain the neighbours.

[picus]

You can wash JB bmws without marring them, it just requires a lot of patience and the right technique. I personally use quality microfiber drying towels (eshine.ca , of course).

[ryanful]

Plus...

there is nothing that looks better than a clean JB BMW

[SGxi]

I blot out the water with my microfibre instead of wiping, this seems to work well, if you don't want to use a leafblower to blow the water off (My neighbor does this)

The California blade requires you to have a very clean surface to squgee... that means when you wash the car, it MUST be free of ANY speck of dust... otherwise, it will scratch the paint.