[Billfitz]

Touchless washes get the winter road salt and sand off my car. If I recoil at the thought of brushes I positively cringe at the thought of using brushes on a car covered with salt and sand. You might as well scrub it with sandpaper.

[CajunBMW]

Originally Posted by chowser51

OP will do as op wants in the end. It's his car.
I installed a hot water tap in my garage specifically for winter hose off.
Not sure why last person only installed cold. Next house I will build and will make sure I have heat, air, hot/cold water and a lift.

Just live in Louisiana and even cold water is always hot....as is the air, the roads, the swamps..hahahahaha. Actually our home builder had as one of his things a hot water tap outside for that it exact purpose. I have to admit that having an outdoor hot water tap is very useful. Since we only have a few cold days, the cold water tap is ok, but if needed it is nice to have hot water. That way I can ask my kids to help; they won't touch cold water, but with a warm bucket of water I have many helpers - until one gets too wet and mad at the other one...and then it is just me again.

[cognetic]

I use our local chain-vendor (Crew CW - Indianapolis & surrounding area) nearly 5-7 times a week (sometimes multiple times a day) at multiple sites (same vendor) on my 2015 F30 328 iXDrive. They don't use brushes per se, rather strips & touchless processes that are in good repair and that get daily maintenance. After several years of use on this particular car, I can discern no significant negative impact. I have an unlimited package with all the extra detailing services for a monthly fee. In the past, I would have only hand-washed personally or used a reliable detailing service - then again these CW vendors never had such good processes and quality to warrant my trust! YMMV depending on your vendor options and comfort.

[jdg54]

Wow this thread hurts. Please folks, don't let a bristle touch anything but the rubber of your tires or the leather on your seats.

[VWAudi2BMW]

I try to avoid the automated washes at all costs. That's not to say my cars have never been in one, I just try to avoid them. Some are better than others. There is one in the area that has these big microfiber noodle things and it is much gentler than the bristle ones.

There is a place right by me in Encinitas by the coast that has a few stalls with the soapy timed power washers, and then the last stall is touch-less. It has a bristle thing on top and another on each side. The noise it makes when it touches a car is like tooth drilling at the dentist. It is the thing bad dreams are made of and I would NEVER go near something like that.

I started using something during the drought here in CA and it is really good for those of you with winter. Go on amazon and buy the concentrate of The chemical guys eco smart waterless wash. You mix some with water. I bought a dual action sprayer, so it sprays when you pull and release the handle and makes spraying easier and quicker.

If you use it right with clean and soft micro fiber towels, and change your rags a lot, it will not swirl. I have used on black cars plenty of times. If the car is just caked, do a regular wash, but for in between or just somewhat dirty cars, this stuff is quick and nice in the garage or outside in the shade.

My neighbor has a black 911 and he's like: you are just crazy doing that. I said, yea, try some... He's like yea right! I said try your fender and if it swirls I'll buff it out. It is the only way he washes now!

https://www.amazon.com/Chemical-Guys...1973224&sr=8-9

[Elvisfan]

For heavens sake. It’s a car. Leave the car running. If you care,hand wash it. If you’re like most people,find a good car wash and use it. I like the car to be clean. It’s exposed to the elements. It going to get dinged. Some people on here are fanatics. Not me. There are even people who clip the nibs off tires. I didn’t even know that was a thing.

[That340i]

Originally Posted by Elvisfan

There are even people who clip the nibs off tires. I didn’t even know that was a thing.

That's a thing?!? I'd never go that far. However, some will and if that's their thing then that's their thing.

[That340i]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

Don't do that, you'll ruin the paint. If you use a car wash only go to touch less. It doesn't do a great job, but it's sufficient to remove road salt and sand. When it warms up do it by hand. Keep using a brush wash and before long you'll be posting asking how much it's going to cost you for paint correction.

I know, my neighbor (details cars) constantly gets on my ass about taking my car through a brush wash. The only reason I go through the brush wash is that the road to my job has recently been under construction and mud gets ALL OVER the car and the touchless does nothing for 2-3 weeks worth of caked-on mud.

I've had the paint properly corrected and detailed before and then slowly but surely my car started getting more scratches and dents, so now I've given up on trying to keep it pristine.

Plus the carwash gets free floor mat clean and vacuum so that's part of the reason I keep going back. I have a membership to this place and so I get my car washed as often and as much as I'd like. Apparently, the wash applies "paint protection" as well but I don't believe it

[paidnfull]

At the end of the day, its your car so do what you think is best. Personally, I never take mine to a car wash because of the brushes and scratching. The touchless wash is cool in a pinch, but I have a garage so I often go out there and wash the car by hand.

As for winter washing here in Cleveland, if its too cold to use the hose & pressure washer, I tend to use the Frothe foamer from AMMO NYC and a bucket with warm water & towels for a rinseless wash. If the car is caked in salt, I go to one of those self service wash bays and use their pressure washer to spray that off. Then I take it back to the garage to finish the job.

[Chriske92]

This automatic car wash is like giving Eva Mendez some worn off lingery 😂 Nobody likes used lingery with holes in it Just car wash you car by hand and when summer hits, you will have carpaint with lesser imperfections on it. It will let tour car stand out between the other cars with scratched paint.

[Livetodrive]

The guide rail at the local Shell station car wash ripped the valve stem out of my tire, causing a flat. To avoid damage to the run flat tire, the car was towed to the dealer. That's the reason the manual states the guide rails should be no higher than 10cm., about 4 in. As far as damage to the paint, my BMW dealer runs all its cars through their own car wash, so depending on the car wash, it can be gentle enough.

[Desertnate]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

Touchless washes get the winter road salt and sand off my car. If I recoil at the thought of brushes I positively cringe at the thought of using brushes on a car covered with salt and sand. You might as well scrub it with sandpaper.

This is my answer too. If it's too cold to hand wash, I'll go to my local touchless car wash. It doesn't do a great job, but in the dead of winter, removing most of the salt is all I can expect.

The one nice thing about several touchless places in my area is in the underbody spray. It has a row of high pressure jets which fire straight up and a couple more aimed at the wheel wells. Rolling over those REALLY slowly does a great job of rinsing off all the built up salt on the underbody.

[CajunBMW]

Originally Posted by Livetodrive

The guide rail at the local Shell station car wash ripped the valve stem out of my tire, causing a flat. To avoid damage to the run flat tire, the car was towed to the dealer. That's the reason the manual states the guide rails should be no higher than 10cm., about 4 in. As far as damage to the paint, my BMW dealer runs all its cars through their own car wash, so depending on the car wash, it can be gentle enough.

Our car washes have a giant belt you drive on, so there is nothing to hurt the wheels/tires unless you manage to do something spectacularly stupid. I can only speak for me, but our car washes have those microfiber hanging strips and water jets, so although as I said I often enjoy washing the cars at home with kids and have some family bonding fun, sometimes there is no time and the 5 min car wash is needed to get the love bugs, the flock of bird poop or other crap (pun intended) off the car. My current BMW is silver and my 2002 330 e46 was silver and it went through plenty of car washes until totaled at almost 16 years old and the paint looked really good.

[Gen13 F36]

This thread keep running😂

Someone wash my car pretty please

[CajunBMW]

Originally Posted by Gen13 F36

This thread keep running😂

Someone wash my car pretty please

It's raining here, so free car wash!

[PhizzurpF]

Got a few inches of snow last night. The Feels like temp is 1 degrees. Car is covered with dirt and salt from the commute.

You better believe I'm hand washing my car downstairs tonight.

[That340i]

I just want to clarify that I do (regardless of how badly I speak about it) care about my car's paint (even if it's in the slightest bit) I have hand washed my car multiple times before but I don't have time to do a hand wash every week. Considering I'm at the hospital for over 40 hours a week working and not to mention I'm on call for 24 hours so It doesn't help that I'll randomly get called in at 3-5 AM and not leave until 10 PM so when I do have time to relax the last thing I'm worried about is washing my car which is why it gets taken to a quick brush wash once every 2 weeks (if that). It's better than me going 8 months without washing it as I've done in the past (I went almost a year without washing my old A4). Luckily I have a nice relaxing 4-week vacation coming up and that'll leave me plenty of time to hand wash my car.

I'm not a stickler about keeping the paint in pristine condition because the car is parked at the hospital for hours on end and wether its parked in the parking garage or outside the parking garage hundreds of people are moving in and out around it daily so I expect dings. and scratches at this point...I just wanted to post this to clarify why I don't hand wash my car, its simply because I don't have the time but when I do washing it is the last thing I'm thinking about. So the automatic car wash has become my best friend which is much better than leaving it dirty for 8 months.

[Brett530]

I took my 340 to the local brush wash for about a year out of convenience, I did notice an increasing amount of spiderweb type scratches in sunlight. What I noticed is that the initial rinse and soap application was far too minimal to get the grit off before the brushes started hitting it. It isn't a huge deal, and I'm sure a paint-correction session would restore it, so I'm not sure why people stress it so much.

I canceled my wash subscription and bought a pressure washer. In the winter when temps get up near freezing or above, I just use the local wash with the spray wand. It does ok, but leaves a film. When it is really dirty, after spraying it down, I use the spray wand to clean the foaming brush and then gently do some brushing. I use spot free rinse and let it air dry.

[johnung]

Originally Posted by Brett530

I took my 340 to the local brush wash for about a year out of convenience, I did notice an increasing amount of spiderweb type scratches in sunlight. What I noticed is that the initial rinse and soap application was far too minimal to get the grit off before the brushes started hitting it. It isn't a huge deal, and I'm sure a paint-correction session would restore it, so I'm not sure why people stress it so much.

I canceled my wash subscription and bought a pressure washer. In the winter when temps get up near freezing or above, I just use the local wash with the spray wand. It does ok, but leaves a film. When it is really dirty, after spraying it down, I use the spray wand to clean the foaming brush and then gently do some brushing. I use spot free rinse and let it air dry.

I downsized to a condo complex without any ability to wash my car- no outside water connections! But ceramic coating on the black paint handles car washes pretty well and our new high tech local car wash seems better on paint. $12 to run it through which helps keep the winter salt off!

[VWAudi2BMW]

Originally Posted by johnung

I downsized to a condo complex without any ability to wash my car- no outside water connections! But ceramic coating on the black paint handles car washes pretty well and our new high tech local car wash seems better on paint. $12 to run it through which helps keep the winter salt off!

I'm in a similar situation, we are just not allowed to wash, despite having a connection. Don't you just love HOA's..

Seriously, check out the Chemical Guys Ecosmart wash. Get the concentrate and mix your own. It is a much better value that way and you will never look back!!

[John in VA]

Originally Posted by Brett530

When it is really dirty, after spraying it down, I use the spray wand to clean the foaming brush and then gently do some brushing.

If you saw what previous customers were using the brush on you'd think twice, even after spraying the brush!

[Icarium81]

Lazy/exhausted/whatever you want to call it,you're better off using the power wand DIY bays to clean your car better than the touchless auto one.
I can rinse,soap, wax and rinse again within the 5 minutes that we get for 3 bucks and still do a pretty decent job spraying the crap out from inside the rims.
If your car color is darker,it's much easier to see the difference between clean and CLEAN.
Which is to say, use a power wand when your cars got some grime on it, keep the wands nozzle back about 2 feet, you're going to hit the car... you can't miss right.... then do the same thing with the nozzle a foot or less away from the car.... you're still definitely hitting it, but you can see how much crap the further away spray left behind.
You should be able to easily do your entire car adequately with this option. It may even be shorter than the auto bay.

Personally I find it relaxing to wash my car,so I take my own stuff to the DIY bay( no outside hookups where i live either) throw in 3 bucks, fill my bucket with soap with wax (meguiars I believe),then I rinse and soap for 90% of the rest of the time. Switching to the tire/rim cleaner for the remaining bit and leave them to soak.
Then I hand wash with a microfiber glove, then scrub the rims properly with a different rougher glove.
3 more bucks, rinse the car and spray the rims a lot, as well as undercarriage now.
Huge microfiber towel the car dry (I'd recommend a medium size, the large gets heavy lol)
Wax the car (meguiars for sure here)
Wait a bit, or do rain x on the windows....
Bitch at myself for signing up for such a laborious arm workout when I get the wax and rain x off.
Stand back and admire the job.
This option takes about an hour all told.... or maybe it was 45 minutes plus 15 for clay bar ... I haven't done that more than once since the bought the car, didn't notice any difference after claying,