Machine Wash or Hand Wash? BMW

Never go through a machine wash, it will damage and swirl your paint. Touch less never truly get your car clean and the water must be filtered...how well probably not perfect which will marr the paint.

I wrote a blog about this if you need a little more in depth information.

http://www.incrediblydetailed.com/th...-your-vehicle/

I've made the mistake of going through a machine wash once... And one time only. I've tried 3 times to remove the swirls and scratches with little improvement. If you are incredibly OCD, only wash your car by hand, in your driveway, and properly or else you'll still end up with swirls. I recommend watching some of the drive clean videos on YouTube, the mans a pro and has a great process with a PDF you can download to learn his system.

I live by a simple phrase. "DEATH BEFORE DRIVE-THROUGH."

That, and I just wrote a $10k estimate for a nearly complete repaint on a 2012 X3 that went through a drive-through, Scratched every panel (except for rocker covers and rear bumper cover) down to the bare metal.

ONR, Foam wash > Touchless.

Originally Posted by scrace

Never go through a machine wash, it will damage and swirl your paint. Touch less never truly get your car clean and the water must be filtered...how well probably not perfect which will marr the paint.

I wrote a blog about this if you need a little more in depth information.

http://www.incrediblydetailed.com/th...-your-vehicle/

Good read

Pretty much my exact system. I was a detail guy for a local dealership when I was 16and all of that stuff stuck with me.

I live im MN so there are times when I will go through a car wash, but I make sure it is touch free and does not have those guide rails. I keep a few towels in my trunk and give it a once over when I pull out of the wash.

Originally Posted by klangford

Well said. I hand wash and I use the two bucket system. Bucket 1 is McGuiars Ultimate Wash & Wax. Bucket 2 is purely for rinse of lambs wool wash mit. Tires/wheels washed with separate scrubber as are wheel wells. Headlights and rocker body panels cleaned with yet another dedicated sponge. ANY sponge that is dropped is removed from rotation for fear or introducing rock, etc. Dropped sponges are put in washing machine with next load of clothes. Car is then California water bladed, followed by compressed air blown in and around mirrors, handles, seals, emblems, etc to get rid of pesky drips. Finally hand dried with micro fiber towels. Yeah - you could say its like a religion to me

The new wash may be well and all...its new. if the brushes dont get changed out on a regular basis, (and they are suppose to) or arnt cleaned then your screwed, it only takes one time. If you go through there as much as you said you do, its only a matter of time before something happens IMO. OP I know you said you did a walk thru and the person told you they clean the brushes every day, but they have a vested interest in telling you that. What happens if they forget one time or you get some punk kid that is a lazy ass that is closing and wants to get to his GFs house and skips the cleaning part. It only needs to happen just once, and it could be your car that goes through next...just sayin. When you take the YOU out of your detailing and place it in someone elses hands or someone elses machine, you are taking chances. I like to be the one detailing my car all the time cuz that is a way I can keep tabs on what is going on with my car on the outside. If I take it somewhere to do (very rare) I opt for the hand wash/polish/wax and not the tunnel or machine.

Hand wash over errthang!

Past two months I started washing my car by hand only.

- Initial rinse
- Warm soap and blue mitten
- Rinse
- Quick polish/wax