Recommendations for car care products?

[kyle3481]

Hi guys i am new here.
what kind of care care products do you use or recommend to keep the car look like new and shiny? any recommendation?

[JamesInLV]

Originally Posted by kyle3481

Hi guys i am new here.
what kind of care care products do you use or recommend to keep the car look like new and shiny? any recommendation?

Prepare to get blasted with "do a search" and lots of opinions on products at the same time.

Zaino (www.zainobros.com) is a favorite of many M owners here. Klasse is also decent, although there are some newer products that are giving both a run for their money. These are for the exterior, and they are multi-step processes. However, done right you won't have to do a whole lot for a year and your car will always look 90% as good as the day you did the process. For the tailpipes, Eagle One stainless steel cleaner is great. Just buy some disposible nitrile gloves to use with it too so you don't get that on your hands. I use a basic car soap and a couple brushes to clear my wheels.

For interior, I like a variety of products, but Zaino and Lexol are the main ones for leather. Careful usage of the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser will help with scuffs you can't get off otherwise (usually from shoes). Stoner Invisible Glass is pretty nice as a glass cleaner.

Once a year or so I'll polish the car with a circular polisher and 3M professional products. I absolutely love the looks of a freshly polished car with a glaze and P21S wax, but it looks like crap after only a week compared to Zaino, which looks 90% as good ALL of the time IMO for months. So now I polish the car and just build up a nice Zaino application.

Even within the Zaino line, you can go different ways. I think the All-in-One is great, but since I also have the Z2 and Z5 I layered those on top of that, and the next day put down the Clear Seal.

[TahBOSS]

Zaino 9 then 10 for your leather!

[M VIOUS]

lexol is my vote for the inside. i still use zymol polish for the paint.

[keang24]

Buy all from this list to start with

[Laidback]

I liked what Alternative has done with his detail the only thing i noticed was the color didn't "pop" ...i highly recommend Zaino for lighter colored cars and a combo of Zaino, Menzerna and the like; for darker colored cars...ultimately it is how you use and how comfortable you are on using any product...alot of people will say Zaino but after the first detail, just thinking of doing Zaino again scares people off as it really takes alot of your time and patience, find out how much work, how often you want to detail your car and how far you want to go ( money wise on investing on the products )...Again prep work (before the detail such as claying) and maintenance after the detail is the key on making your car as good as new...hope this helps

If your interested on Zaino and would like to invest your time and patience on the detail...pm me i'll be more than happy to teach/ guide you...

Originally Posted by keang24

Buy all from this list to start with

[ALTANertive]

Hard to get silver grey to pop since it's not really dark or light. It's summer time so I actually switched to wax a month ago for better bird bomb protection. I used Victoriawax concours. Applied by hand, not pad or whatever. Definitely gives a much warmer and deeper effect than the sealants. Let me find the pics I took.

[ALTANertive]

All these pictures were in direct sunlight, so it doesn't really show off the depth as well.

[Laidback]

I agree but lighter cars are the hardest to get the color to "pop" and with the right combo you can give it a look that will stand out

Here are some sample pics of my work all done by sealant with the right combo...

There is Robar in the back checking my work (Direct sunlight)

Deknight's e63 M6 (Direct sunlight)


Danny0h's E60 M5 (direct sunlight)

(in the shade)

Originally Posted by ALTANertive

Hard to get silver grey to pop since it's not really dark or light. It's summer time so I actually switched to wax a month ago for better bird bomb protection. I used Victoriawax concours. Applied by hand, not pad or whatever. Definitely gives a much warmer and deeper effect than the sealants. Let me find the pics I took.

[mcvaughan]

For a protective polish I like Rejex. It just lasts a long time and provides excellent protection, especially for a daily driver like mine. I like Zaino as well, but I don't feel the protection is quite as good. For interior, I've been really happy with the BMW leather product. Other than that I like Lexol and Leatherique. That's the quick and dirty.

I have a number of other products like Menzerna, P21S, Klasse and Zymol but prefer those above.