[evil-G-nius]

I always hand wash mine...clayed it once. Once i have a garage again I'll go back to washing my car like every 2 weeks or so. When I was younger I washed my car every weekend during the summer. Needless to say I HATE having a dirty car

[premier3is]

Originally Posted by XMetal

Once a month and in between? You guys are washing your cars way too often! I wash my cars every 2 to 4 months

I used to wash my car like every other week, and as much as I'd love to do that still I don't have the time and patience for that no more. Now it's like once every 2-4 months for me as well lol.

And cleaning the wheels is another task in itself. Getting into the wheels wells and scrubbing them down takes forever. Luckily in CA the weather is usually good so the car looks clean most of the time unless it's rained.

[wrickem]

Hand wash every week until the weather turns too cold, then it's to the free BMW car wash at my dealership until the spring.

[Pauldunlop13]

I run mine through a touchless car wash, then wipe it down with a couple of microfiber clothes in the gas station lot - then I try to get on the highway to finish it off

[Mosaud1998]

Originally Posted by evil-G-nius

I always hand wash mine...clayed it once. Once i have a garage again I'll go back to washing my car like every 2 weeks or so. When I was younger I washed my car every weekend during the summer. Needless to say I HATE having a dirty car

Same man. A dirty car makes me feel dirty

[G35POPPEDMYCHERRY]

I think that's an important distinction

Washing the car is whatever

Cleaning the wheels is major PITA

[Markr]

Always hand washed by me.

I spray the wheels with Valetpro bilbury first whilst I get the rest of the kit out, I pressure wash the car to get any loose dirt off, then cover with a ph neutral snow foam, after 5 mins or so pressure wash that off, then use the 2 bucket wash method using a ceramic coating friendly shampoo, and a final pressure rinse - I have a “fire extinguisher” sized unit that has some material in it that reduces our hard water down to 0 ppm for the final rinse, so no spotting etc. I then dry the windows with a blade, and have a unit that blows 30 Degrees C warm filtered air through a long hose to dry the car and all the shuts etc. When finally finished, I put the cover back on.

I know some will see this as a lot of effort, but for me, it is a bit of brainless de-stress time out in the fresh air. Normally takes about 2-2.5 hours, but in the current covid climate, I am not really using the car, so this is being done about every 6 - 8 weeks, rather than weekly.

Car will be 4 years old this year, and still looks factory fresh, in fact I would say it is better, as car was machine polished from new and ceramic coated.

[dmatre]

Originally Posted by G35POPPEDMYCHERRY

I think that's an important distinction

Washing the car is whatever

Cleaning the wheels is major PITA

With the right brushes & wheel cleaner, it's no more than 1-2 minutes per wheel, and your hands need never touch the water.

Trying to clean them with a mitt or cloth is definitely a PITA.

[MPOWER5266]

Hand wash or rinseless wash only but I am a car cleaning "enthusiast" and I have a washbay at my house.

Untitled by Nick Wood, on Flickr

[2000cs]

Originally Posted by HockeyDad

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the no rinse wash options such as Opti-Coat. I've got a 2018 M2 in Long Beach Blue and have been using Opti-Coat ceramic no rinse products for years. I did have Opti-Coat Pro ceramic applied when it was new back in 2018 and today, 3.5 years and 50,000 miles in, there are virtually no swirl marks on the paint. So little, in fact that it takes a bright light to find any swirl marks at all.

I was initially VERY skeptical about washing a car without the hose and bucket of suds, but I am a firm believer today. I only use 2 gallons of water, 1 ounce of solution, and can wash the entire car in about 30 minutes, regardless of the weather. In the wintertime I generally wash the car in my garage. This product and method is great for those that live in apartments/condos and don't have access to a hose and faucet.

Check it out - beats the crap out of using a hose and wasting tons of water!

I bought a gallon of ONR 12 years ago and I’m still using it 3oz at a time. I use a spray bottle (becomes detailing spray between washes) and two buckets just because i get a better result, maybe 4 gallons of water total for the wash. Around here, with all the salt in the air, I usually give it a quick rinse before washing just to get the top layer off.

I started this when I lived in a condo in snow/salt area. Didn’t have any nearby brushless washes and no hose near my car. Warm water from the tub and happy as a clam.

However, I rarely wash since my cars are garaged and i don’t care that much (actually a criteria when I buy a car is whether I’d have to be anal about cleaning it, and similar when buying wheels). I try to drive a bit in a rain storm as that really gets a lot off, then a hand wash as needed. Rarely, I’ll go through the car wash but they do such a poor job and really cost too much for what I get, so it is rare.

[3.0L]

First, I do a hand wash.

Next, I wash my car.

[Merlin_83]

Greetings,


I'll add mine to this mix.

'12 E92 ZCP - always hand wash, two-bucket method, and always do a final rinse with one of the spray-on ceramic maintenance products.

'08 335xi - regular car wash

'08 335i - regular car wash

'04 Lexus GX470 - regular car wash

'18 Lexus GX460 - regular car wash


Here in Oregon, we have Kaady Car Wash - they use the same system at our port delivery area, where Subaru's, Toyota's and many more brings cars in off ships and do final dealer prep (for local dealers) - the rest are loaded onto specialized railroad car carriers.


Cheers,
Merlin

[infinitekidM2C]

Handwash, but probably only once a month.

[lauriim]

I always handwash mine

[hubbahubba]

Laserwash weekly, give it the foam cannon once every 2 months or so, followed by the final coat. If you stay up on the Laserwash, it keeps crud from settling in, and the detail cleans it up enough so that the 2 month cycle works. At least for me. And wheels, those that have mentioned it are right. PITA. A couple weeks ago I tried Ultimate All Wheel cleaner by Meguiars on my home wash day. Did an ok job, , and much better than just manually scrubbing them, but would love to hear if anybody has a better suggestion.

[Nivarox]

I don't hand wash , too much time consuming and tiring job .

[M5Rick]

Hand wash always with Meguiars car suds, hose off and dry. Takes about 20 minutes for me.

[S1nner]

I don't have a good hand car wash around. I even haven't seen a decent hand car wash at all though. I've tried different ones, from 12$ to 80$, nothing crazy, just in and out. But even at 80$ hand car wash, I had to walk around the car with a guy and point him at water stains. So ended up paying 17$ per month for unlimited touchless, which is a few minutes away from my home.

[DonMakaveli96]

I hand wash my car at least 1 per week. I don't trust the automatic washes because I have bad experience with them. And I also don't trust giving my car to other people because they usually break something and don't care as much. Last time they ripped off my passenger floor mat...

[Glen e]

i have a great touchless wash near me that I use bi weekly….no problems….

[bosstones]

Originally Posted by chowser51

I'm lucky to have hot and cold water in my garage so I handwash.
Pressure washer to foam it. Hand wash with a bucket. Pressure washer to rinse. Leaf blower to dry.

A hot/cold spigot is something on my list to put in my garage. Do you have a drain in your garage, too?

[Burnt C6]

What no pics of women in bikini's washing your cars? This would be page 60 on the Corvette Forum.

I try and do the X as much as possible myself but we have a few good hand washes in Katy that deal with higher end vehicles. Prices aren't to bad around $45 for a wash and wipe. the problem I usually have is keeping them from putting all the tire dressing on it.