You wanna gamble on which ones are kosher??? (archive)

There need not be anything wrong with an automatic carwash, but this is contigent on careful attention and maintenance by the Carwash owner. One of the carwash trade magazines has a wonderful story detailing the evolution of automatic carwashes. I read it about a month ago, and will try to track down the url. Anyways if the cloth/brushes are kept clean and in good shape you can get a fantastic wash with the automatic wash. But, if the owner delays upkeep, uses cheaper chemicals, or turns down the hot water - worse wash. I would also try to use the service that most people get...I recently took my girlfriend's car through a cloth tunnel (which I had brought my 528 through many times without incedent) and came out with these unusual straks which I think is the optional hot wax which did not get spread out correctly. I my area the new car washes are 'touchless' where the car gets sprayed with the various soaps, etc. with only fluid touching the car. These do an adequate job, but I find that the cloth wash routinely gives me a better wash, but with the caveat that if the owner does not clean the cloth correclt it can get embedded sand/rocks which can scratch your car's finish. We have gotten to the point where we use the hand-wand and wash it ourselves at the carwash, this is mainly because it is significantly cheaper than the automatic wash (and more fun), but we find it does take two people to feed the extra quarters and change the wand over from soap to rinse.
With the automatic washes I have found that you tend to get a better wash if you pay more, but that the cheaper washes may be alright if you do them more often.
I have taken my car through the car wash and have started to notice scratches, does anyone use the car wash, BMW says it's OK.

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