[KnowledgeMC]

Hey everyone,

I just got my MY2010 e90 exactly two weeks ago, and I'm LOVING it so far!

But this is my first car with dark paint (Monaco Blue). My two previous cars have both been white. I always heard dark colored cars were hard to maintain, but I never knew it was this bad!

So I've been doing a lot of reading on these forums and came across some suggestions for using a White Distilled Vinegar/Distilled Water solution to get hard water spots out from windshields and windows. I actually tried on the glass and it worked like a charm!

My question: Is it safe to use this solution on the paint too?

If I do use it on the paint, I should wax the car right? But then, I've also read that you shouldn't wax a "new" car. OTOH, I've also read that that's total BS and you really SHOULD wax a new car ASAP. So I'm really confused, can anyone help me out? What should I do?

Any help, tips, suggestions, would REALLY be appreciated.

Thanks!

[Envious Eric]

1 yes it can work on the paint, but I would wash it off immediately and also do it in the shade/garage and a section at a time
2 wax your car!!!!!! Its a must!

[JayKay335i]

You shouldn't wax a freshly painted car. By the time a car makes it to the lot its months old, at least. Go for it and wax it.

[KnowledgeMC]

Thanks guys, think I will do just that.

[JC316]

Yes it is safe to use vinegar on your car. A couple of months ago I had some deposits form on my vehicle. It looked like someone had poured concrete onto the paint and NOTHING would take it out. I read about apple vinegar and tried it straight out of the bottle. First I placed some napkins where the issue was and then just poured the vinegar and let it sit until it rubbed off without any difficulty. The paint is still looking great.

It will remove any wax that you had on your car. You'll def have to rewax after you use the vinegar.

[pander5]

I had a job a few months ago and tried something a little different. She had a dark grey Camry just covered with hard water spots/stains. I took a spray bottle of vinegar and water, my PC and a white pad and went to town spraying and buffing those suckers out. The hand method would've taken too long and the PC method worked very well. Some sections were hit 2 to 3 times with this approach but it worked.

Of course this was immediately followed by a good complete wash before next step buffing.

Yes, vinegar (even straight) on paint is fine but like others have said make sure you wash it off completely.

[zaxjax]

Vinegar is great on glass and stubborn road gunk as well. It also kills grass, yes I knocked over a bottle and it emptied out onto the grass near the driveway. Killed the grass within a day or two.

[KnowledgeMC]

Update:

So after a thorough wash yesterday, I tried using the vinegar/water solution on the paint, and it worked for some of the newer spots, but most of them won't budge. I think they got "baked" in to the paint by the sun.

But I'm so confused by the dizzyingly wide array of products out there (clays, polishes, glazes, sealants, etc.). As I understand it, you normally wouldn't use a "polish" on a new car right?

Can anyone suggest something stronger I can use?

Because the spots weren't coming out, I held off on the wax. I really should take care of the spots BEFORE waxing right?

Thanks in advance for your help guys.

[UncleWede]

polishing/claying a "new" car is just like the 3rd post above: unless you took it to a collision repair place, your paint is cured enough for whatever you need to do.

You COULD practice waxing by doing it every time you try something new to get the deposits off, or you may have to break down and take it to a pro to get you set up, then maintain it going forward.

[F32Fleet]

Vinegar is acidic which is why it dissolves the minerals left behind as water spots (remember those volcano's in grade school?). It's probably ok to be on the car but I don't know how well it would work if mixed with a car wash solution.