[Fireguy1]

Just bought a 2008 328i and trying to get some recommendations on wax and other cleaning products to use both on interior and exterior. The car is white with black interior. Thanks for all opinions.

[x3man1994]

Here we go

Exterior:

Wax

Hard Wax - Dodo Juice Diamond White Hard Wax
Soft Wax - Dodo Juice Light Fantastic Soft Wax

Sealant

Blackfire Wet Diamond with Polycharger

Glaze (will really make the white pop!)

Poorboy's World White Diamond

General Exterior Tool, Products and Equipment

Sheepskin Wash Mitt - this will cut down on scratches.

Tarminator - great for removing bug guts and tar on white finishes, which show tar and bugs more than any other color.

CG Citrus Wash and Clear - My favorite stripping shampoo.

ONR - Being so versatile everyone should have some, clay lube, QD , Rinseless wash and more... speaking of clay.

Clay Bar - Will work great to get those pesky contaminants out of your paint the you can see and a feel but cant seem to remove with a normal wash.

There are many more Items for the exterior I could suggest so if you have any other questions regarding exterior let me know but now we go to the interior...


Interior

Cleaner

Meguiar's APC+ - A great product becuase it can be used at so many dilutions and is a really great value.

Protection

Glossy - 303 Aerospace Protectant

Matte - 1Z Cockpit Premium

Leather

Deep Conditioning - Leatherique Rejuvenator Oil

Light Cleaning and Conditioning - Leatherique Prestine Clean

Leather Brush

Glass

Meguiar's Glass Cleaner - best glass cleaner I have used, great value and great scent!

Again If you have any other questions feel free to ask, I haven't even scratched the surface yet and I could do a hell of a lot more recommending of products.

[Fireguy1]

Awesome. Thanks. Now what order do u do everything in and what do u use to apply and take off each item

[x3man1994]

Well you said you had a porter cable correct?

1. First you would give it a good wash.
2. Dry down the vehicle.
3. Use your ONR and Clay to clay the car.
4. Apply glaze .... let it cure for around 30 minutes and then wipe off.
( you can use the porter cable and a white or black pad for this process)
5. Apply sealant on a black pad and let it cure for about 30 minutes to an hour.
then wipe off excess. After that you must let the sealant sit for about 12 hours before doing next step.
6. Apply wax, let it dry to light haze and then remove.

[Fireguy1]

Thanks for that info. Also I have some swirl scratches like the previous owner took it to the car wash or something. I was wondering if u had any ideas how to get those out.

[Fireguy1]

Also when would you use hard vs wet wax and vice versa

[Brian_TII]

To remove swirls you'll need a buffer. I highly recommend the porter cable (pc) and an assortment of lake country pads. You'll probably need a light to medium polish to get them out... A lot of people are liking meguairs 105 & 205 but Ive only used their older polish but got great results... Usually with a white pad on my pc. The pc is safe for amature use but powerful enough to actually accomplish something. It is the best investment you can make towards keeping your car looking new without going to a professional.

To avoid swirls in the future wash using the two bucket method and grit guards for your bucket. Also drying is very important... No beach towels. I use a CLEAN absorber, but most recommend a waffle weave microfiber.

Regarding protection I finally broke down and tried the blackfire wet diamond... And it really does work great. Unless you are a real detailing fanatic I'd think you would be happy with the following...

1) wash with something like meguairs gold class you can buy this stuff at most auto parts stores.

2) clay the car using meguairs, mothers, clay magic, or really any of the clay bars you can find on the various vendor web sites. I have only used the stuff from auto parts stores like meguairs and clay magic... They seem to remove stuff just fine to me.

3) To remove swirls you'll have to experiment with the least abrasive polish and move up until you get the desired removal. Start with say a white pad and m205... If that doesn't take them out... Try m205 with a yellow pad... Still not getting anywhere? Try using m105 instead. As you gain experience with your paint you'll have a better idea as to what combination works best for you. You will probably want to finish with something like m205 and a blue or black pad for the highest gloss... This would be a second coat after removing swirls with the m105. All product removal should be done with a high quality micro fiber.

4) I'd throw one or two thin coats of blackfire wet diamond on there for protection... Skipping the glazes and the wax... Simply not needed unless you are just obsessive about the finish. Most people could probably not tell the difference and it saves you a lot of work. Your results are coming from the polishing in step 3... Not in the wax, glaze, sealant whatever.

I personally think lexol works just fine for the leather. There are better products.. But to me it seems just fine given its ease of availability.

For the plastic bits meguairs m40 vinyl and rubber conditioner seems good for me, but a ton of people like 303. I'll probably buy that next time.

If you want to put a layer of wax over top of a sealant like blackfire wet diamond (bfwd)... You can, but you are talking about diminishing returns. Bfwd lasts longer than wax, protects, makes the paint feel super slippery, and is stupid easy to use. One of the few products I have tried that actually is noticeably better than the higher end auto parts store stuff. If you do layer you should allow the sealant to cure 24 hours before applying wax. Again unless you are crazy about this stuff... You probably won't notice any difference by layering.

Hard vs soft wax is kinda dodo juice thing.... Some people prefer one over the other. From what I can tell most say soft is easier to work with but may not last quite as long on the car. I have dodo juice purple haze which is soft... Its easy to work with for sure... But I'm not convinced yet that you really gain a lot by layering wax over a sealant especially on light colors. I am reserving judgment on darker colors as I haven't yet done a coat of purple haze on my extremely picky black car... Been practicing technique on my very forgiving silver BMW.

[droptop335]

Originally Posted by x3man1994

Matte - 1Z Cockpit Premium

Anybody know if this stuff is available at B&M stores? Id like to get some pretty quickly.

[Krells]

Originally Posted by droptop335

Anybody know if this stuff is available at B&M stores? Id like to get some pretty quickly.

I have never seen the stuff at a B&M store.