Re: Quick body cleaning in winter? (archive)

I live in Southeastern Michigan and I feel your pain! When I get a day over 32 degrees, I've been hand washing my 00 528i in my driveway - this winter, it's been about every eight days or so. I fire up the heater in my garage, and dry and detail the car in there. Prior to winter, I put on two good coats of Nu Finish, with a coat of Meguires hi-tech yellow wax #26 on top. I re-did the wax over Christams & am going to re-wax again today - in honor of Presidents day!

This gives me some peace of mind during the winter. You're going to get cold doing it, but I am totally against auto car washes!

Best of luck - Jack
2000 528i

While I'm planning the upkeep of my 'new' 540...
this is a question for any of you who live in sub-freezing climate zones as I do.

How do you keep you car looking decent in the winter? My former truck, I didn't care that much about. My BMW is different!

Here's the deal...its too cold to get out a hose (freezing hose bibs are bad), and you can only use so many buckets within reason. How do you get a fairly (not perfectly!) clean car without smearing the dirt around the car, possibly scratching the paint all the while? Car washes are uniformly bad, yes? If you can afford it, a trustworthy detailer is great (not me). Are there low-residue, low-rinse cleansers? What about the actual brush you use on your car for a quick wash? Self-serve high pressure car washes??? I'm looking to glean those special tips that some of you out there must have, so let's hear 'em. (Moving to Florida/Cali does not qualify)

Thanks for your thoughts,
Dave in Indy

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