First Time Detailer

I haver never detailed my car and am in search of information. I love this board and have picked up alot of good information. Just thought that I would get the opinions here before I dove in.

I have a bright blue BMW X5. It was bought used with 20k miles on it. It has never had any serious work done on it, just the cheap machine washes. I want to clean it up the best that I can, it looks great when clean.

I was wondering what products you guys would recommend (from start to finish):

1. General soap to wash the car.
2. A good wax. How many coats?
3. Tires?
4. Leather cleaner.
5. Interior carpet.
6. Other interior "stuff".
7. Any random tools (assume I have nothing). Towels, clay, etc.

Any insight is appreciated. If I am missing something let me know.

Happy 4th,
dan

Congrats on the Bimmer!

For normal washes we use wash 'n wax from 1st AYD although any car shampoo is ok. Just make sure to use the right amount of soap with a clean bucket & wash mitt. I prefer a shampoo that has a "wax" in it for normal washing, seems to leave less fine wash/dry micro scratches. The only time I use dish soap is before waxing/detailing paint surface.

Clay bars are a must for anyone waxing, polishing, seal, etc. their car. You will be amazed at how much is removed by the clay bar. Best way to feel is to stick your hand in a plastic baggies slightly rubbing the paint, after clay do the same thing.

I don't recommend "wax" when their are wonderful paint sealers to take the waxes place. Sealant can last 3-6 months while the best wax will only last a couple weeks. Not only does it last longer, it protects the surface much better. A coat of wax over the cured sealant will add depth to the paint.

Leather care we use Lexol cleaner & conditioner. I find the best way to maintain clean leather is with a damp chamois. Also the chamois works well for a weekly dusting of the dash, etc. I honestly don't like interior covered in vinyl dressing, it makes everything look cheap & attract dust. Solvent based products like armor all will do more bad than good if not used frequently.

For the carpets your best off taking it to a do-it yourself car wash with HOT foam or hot water carpet extractors.

Orbital buffer
Assorted brushed
Q-tips
MICROFIBER towels for removing sealant, wax, polish, etc

You can find sealants & everything else needed here - http://www.topoftheline.com/tolae/

I just used Meguire's Gold. They have a three step process for waxing: 1) Paint cleaner 2) Polisher 3) Carnuaba wax ---- I just used this stuff today.

I first washed my car at a local self car wash. Those are much, much, much better than the drive through ones because you can give your car a good deep down cleaning. I dried it using terry cotton towels. Then I just followed the three step Maguire's process. Each step is applied like wax so it's pretty time consuming. Once again I used two terry cotton towels per step; one to apply the stuff, the other to wipe it off. Then I switched to a new set of towels after I completed each step. All in all it took me abou 5 hours but it was well, well worth it. I have a 2002 Oldsmobile Alero. Its silver and this stuff works like no other on my car. Try it out.

Jeremy

I haver never detailed my car and am in search of information. I love this board and have picked up alot of good information. Just thought that I would get the opinions here before I dove in.

I have a bright blue BMW X5. It was bought used with 20k miles on it. It has never had any serious work done on it, just the cheap machine washes. I want to clean it up the best that I can, it looks great when clean.

I was wondering what products you guys would recommend (from start to finish):

1. General soap to wash the car.(SONUS (http://store.yahoo.com/cgi-bin/clink?autopia+yc5RwM+son-500.html)
2. A good wax. How many coats?SEALANT KLASSE TWINS (AIO SG)) (http://store.yahoo.com/cgi-bin/clink?autopia+yc5RwMkit-klscmp.html)
3. Tires? 1Z Einszett Tiefenpfleger (http://store.yahoo.com/cgi-bin/clink?autopia+yc5RwM+1z-972610.html)
4. Leather cleaner.1Z (http://store.yahoo.com/cgi-bin/clink?autopia+yc5RwM+cockpit.html)
5. Interior carpet.303 or Wutrz (http://store.yahoo.com/cgi-bin/clink?autopia+yc5RwM+icockpit.html)
6. Other interior "stuff".
7. Any random tools (assume I have nothing). Towels, clay, etc


Any insight is appreciated. If I am missing something let me know.

Happy 4th,
dan


Oh almost forgot to add [url=http://store.yahoo.com/cgi-bin/clink?autopia+yc5RwM+infwash-mitts---brushes.html]WASH MITT (http://store.yahoo.com/cgi-bin/clink?autopia+yc5RwM+index.html+[/url) to the list.