[m603]

hey guys, i just moved to NY from Cali couple months ago. With all this snow coming down and salt being thrown everywhere and getting all over my car. What is the best way of removing the salt without damaging the clear coat?

THANKS

[Black_Jesus]

Touch less wash at a car wash or power washer at home

[3002 tii]

Touchless is good to wash the underside without doing too much overall damage to your paint. Do that after every few days after a storm and the streets look clean. I'll do normal hand wash few days later.

[fazman]

Originally Posted by m603

hey guys, i just moved to NY from Cali couple months ago. With all this snow coming down and salt being thrown everywhere and getting all over my car. What is the best way of removing the salt without damaging the clear coat?

THANKS

A word to the wise from a guy who relocated here from SoCal.

1) Every 10*F temperature change means you lose/gain one PSI of tire pressure. Always keep on top of your tire air pressure in the winter.

2) If you get stuck on ice, you can remove air from your tire in small increments to make it hopefully grab better traction on ice (Just make sure you fill the air back in once your un-stuck).

3) This region has shitty roads, I've been in 3rd world countries which have far better infrastructure. So please be very vigilant about potholes (in reality they are craters or whole sections of the road just missing). Some parts are like war zones (and that is on the freeways).

4) If you still have your Run Flat Tires, get rid of them quick! Reason being is the hard side walls on RFT's tend to bend the rims (especially when you add how crater ridden these roads are).

5) You are not on California roads any more, the worst roads in cali are still better than the best roads out here. Be very vigilant when driving!

6) Cops are not in marked cars and they like to hide in the cuts between roads on the grassy areas. try to keep your speeding to a max of 7 mph over the limit.

[jce92]

^good guy fazman lol
It's wise word of advice

[elthamer]

I just moved to the east coast from SoCal as well (6 months ago), and I agree with everything fazman said lol....cops here are sneaky as hell and you can't even tell they're cop cars.

Back on subject (sort of), is it really necessary to remove the salt? BMW doesn't put crap parts under the car, I am sure they take snow/salt into consideration during the design phase.

[BobS]

Buy a beater or daily driver:-)

My car is hibernating in a heated garage, but i know some people get a "winter prep" detail done before it gets cold, a nice coat of wax to help protect the paint, then don't wash it till it's warm enough to hand wash it. Use a two bucket method, lots of soap, and you may want to have two sets of wheels...keep the OEM's for winter(with snow tires) and buy a nice set of aftermarket wheels with summer tires. Also, if you fill the bucket with warm water and wear dish washing gloves, you hands will stay nice and warm.

Overall, winter sucks....once spring comes, everything comes alive!

[ny325]

Welcome to New York. I go to a self bay wash. Use the soap wash spray, than rinse wash spray. Make sure you get the undercarriage. They use so much salt in my town, it drives me nuts. Also, pothole season is coming up. Watch out, some are the huge, and will damage your car. Police here have very clever hiding spots. however I never had a problem with the law. So good luck, enjoy all the the good food, deli sandwiches, smelly subways, crazy cab drivers, dirty water dogs which I don't recommend you eat, diehard sports fans, and so much more. You are in the best city in the world, New York.

[fazman]

Originally Posted by elthamer

I just moved to the east coast from SoCal as well (6 months ago), and I agree with everything fazman said lol....cops here are sneaky as hell and you can't even tell they're cop cars.

Back on subject (sort of), is it really necessary to remove the salt? BMW doesn't put crap parts under the car, I am sure they take snow/salt into consideration during the design phase.

I've been here about 5 years now from santa monica/westside area. I never saw snow in my life till i came here. Avoid driving when its bad weather and wait a long while after it stops snowing to go out. Give them time to clear the roads.

The worst is when the temps change between freezing and snow melting and then back to freezing at night. Because that means all that snow became water and then became black ice.