detailing your car on a budget?

I want to detail gustav inside and out. I dont want to spend a lot of money on detailing supplies, and I dont know much about detailing... so what are the must haves to do a good job?

I already have a bucket and a shop vac with no attachments. I also have a large wheel brush thing

Things worth mentioning:

• the plastic exterior trim is fading, but I dont want to paint them
• black touch up paint was used in places, and the touch up paint is raised
• there are light scratch marks all over from when someone waxed the car without washing it well enough
• i dont have a sponge bigger than a dish sponge
• i have mesh wheels and my wheel brush wont get in there

Any thoughts?

I don't know about BMW exterior plastic but I've heard this rumor that a hair dryer or a heat gun and some patience can bring back plastic trim.

Sand touch up paint if possible without getting into good paint, retouch up.

For cleaning wash really really well use some Meguire's Deep Crystal, not harsh on paint and does a great job removing everything including wax with minimal water-spotting

You need to dry the car as soon as you've cleaned it so get some terry cloths (this is where I like Microfibre)

For paint refinishing at home for someone who's never done it you need to watch some videos on clay-bar and orbital buffing (HF has them cheap). Then use some Meguire's Ultimate Compound, it's far less aggressive than the Meguire's 205 or other cutting compounds for more experience hands, in other words it's forgiving for the less experienced. If you use it, you can do it in steps to slowly work out all the scratches and minimize how much clear/paint you remove. I did this to the Fiat and the result was fantastic...

Dunno about sponges, they're like micro fiber and can retain abrasives I use a banded towel mit for regular cleaning, but for detailing you might want a sheepskin wash pad, they're pretty cheap...

Get some more brushes, you can use plastic bristle brushes on wheels, old toohbrushes work as well but will take serious time. Otherwise there are some chemical cleaning solutions but tend to be harsh so I just use elbow grease and patience...

Try peanut butter on the faded plastic. Sounds stupid, but it was the best thing I tried on the E36 trim.

As for the wheels, you might try bringing it to a self serve car wash and using their wheel cleaning brush/solution.

BMW Wheels... oven cleaner + pressure wash + Wurth's Silver Wheel Paint + cheap clear coat will make them look brand new for under $30.

I have had great success with Autoglym bumper and trim gel. It makes faded and chalky looking black trim look like new. It is not cheap but works better than anything I've tried. Do not paint the trim black. It never lasts and will be flaking in no time.

Try an old toothbrush on your wheels. They're perfect for a BBS style basket weave.

You can wet sand the touch up paint blobs down to the surface of the factory paint. Go very slow and take your time. If you don't want to try that, use a dental pick to pop the touch up paint loose.

You need a good car wash product, clay bar system and a good cleaner wax to start. Get some Meguiars products from Advance/Autozone/Pep Boys. Buy a better sponge while you're there and at least one good towel to dry with.

I haven't tried it personally but some of the e28 guys use Plasti-Dip in an aerosol can to renew the black trim, and they report good results. You want to clean it very well to start, if anyone has used Armorall or any of those products in the past it will have silicone on it. I generally use Vinylex protectant for the trim and tires on my car, it leaves a dull sheen instead of that shiny wet look some other products have.

I wouldn't use oven cleaner on the wheels unless you intend on stripping the paint - for cleaning, use Simple Green and a toothbrush. It may be easier to take the wheels off and lay them flat on a bench or sawhorses.

Before I had my car repainted it had a lot of freckles on the front edge of the hood from road grit - I found a Turtle Wax product at the local auto parts store that's tinted, plus it comes with a little crayon thing you use to fill in the freckles. It's temporary, and close up you can still see the chips, but from 5 feet away it looked pretty good. I know it comes in red and black, they may have other colors as well but you'd have to check.

If you want to clean, and not rehab, you've got the kit. You just need some cleaners.

Shop-vac works great for clearing out debris from the interior. Also, a shop-vac works great as a poor man's carpet shampoo'er. Get a bucket with some sudsy soap, a bristly brush, and start shampooing. Dunk the brush in the soapy water bucket and then scrub. Once you've scrubbed the stain out of the interior use the shop-vac to vacuum out the liquid. I've shampooed whole carpets this way with good results. Seats too.

The wheels, if you have a pressure washer with sufficient flow you won't need a brush. Get some brake dust removing cleaner, spray the cleaner on, let it sit according to instructions, then pressure wash off. If you don't have a pressure washer you should get a cone or u-shaped brush and/or a cloth. The brush will look something like this.

Exterior is just cleaning soap and wax. Any repairs I'd leave to a body shop unless you're feeling adventurous. I've seen details guys wet sand cars and then buff with good results. Personally, I didn't do it. Too much margin for error.

Dryer sheets actually work on grimy wheels. Takes a lot of elbow grease, though.

Here's what I do:

• Wash with Dawn dish soap. This stuff is harsh, so don't do it very often. But it takes everything off.

• Clay bar.

• Buff with a cheap Sears/HF random-orbit buffer. I use a foam pad with a "final glaze" type compound, nothing too harsh. Unlike a serious buffer, it's pretty hard to hurt the paint with one of these. Still, don't be an idiot, don't push down too hard, be careful on edges, etc.

• Wash again to get rid of the residue from the buffing.

• Do any touch-up work, trim cleanup, etc.

• Apply wax of your choice. For years I used Zaino, but I have recently switched to Meguiars NXT 2.0, I think it gives a deeper shine, and it definitely lasts longer.

Miscellaneous thoughts: For black trim, I'm fond of "Forever black". I just removed all the body side moldings from my M3 and hit them with this stuff, and they look new. It's essentially black dye, so make sure you mask around it and wear gloves when you use it.

Cleaning wheels sucks. It just takes a stiff brush and lots of elbow grease.

If your windshield has hard water spots or other nasty crud from being 20+ years old, you can use a mild abrasive like Bon Ami or Bar Keeper's Friend to clean it up, then hit it with some Rain-X. I love Rain-X, but be careful using it on a car you will be racing at some point, it makes it very difficult to write shoe polish numbers on your windows.

I agree that a pressure washer will make quicker work of BBS type wheels. On older BMW faded black leather interiors I have found that a very light coat of spray can vinyl/leather dye (satin sheen only) will make those worn bolsters look like new

clay bars are cheap enough but art supply modeling clays do the same job for a few bucks less.

jimbob_racing wrote: I have had great success with Autoglym bumper and trim gel. It makes faded and chalky looking black trim look like new. It is not cheap but works better than anything I've tried. Do not paint the trim black. It never lasts and will be flaking in no time.

My experiences with this have had the opposite results. The trim when prepped meticulously (removed, cleaned, degreased and high spots knocked down) and painted with SEM trim black looks completely amazing and lasts seemingly forever.

ditchdigger wrote: clay bars are cheap enough but art supply modeling clays do the same job for a few bucks less.

Gold right here! Gold I say.

I think I bought a claybar kit.. But If I didn't I will just get art clay.

What is the Lube? Anything special?

ditchdigger, those seats look great. I dyed some old mustang seats back in the day and the spray stuff worked great. I had no idea it would work to rehab wear spots on older cars.

In reply to Xceler8x:

It works great on carpet too (black) that I've done...

nocones wrote: What is the Lube? Anything special?

Nope. In fact, I often just use leftover soapy water.

A lot of the VW Mk.2 guys swear by Kiwi black shoe dye for plastic trim. Make sure it's the dye, and not the polish. I never got that far on mine, I nailed some road debris and tore all the plastic up before I got the chance.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?1764515-For-those-doubting-the-magic-of-the-Kiwi-Shoe-Dye-d-bumpers...

Tom_Spangler wrote: Here's what I do: - Wash with Dawn dish soap. This stuff is harsh, so don't do it very often. But it takes _everything_ off.

I wouldn't, unless dish soap over here has a different composition compared to Europe. A lot of dish soaps contain salt as a thickener and we all know what salt does to steel...

BoxheadTim wrote:

Tom_Spangler wrote: Here's what I do: - Wash with Dawn dish soap. This stuff is harsh, so don't do it very often. But it takes _everything_ off.

I wouldn't, unless dish soap over here has a different composition compared to Europe. A lot of dish soaps contain salt as a thickener and we all know what salt does to steel...

Well, it isn't on there for very long, and like I said, don't do it very often. Like once a year. It's harsh, as noted, but it will take everything off, including old waxes and polishes. You want this so that when you apply your new paint sealant, whether that be carnuba wax, some kind of synthetic, or whatever, it can stick directly to your paint with no other "stuff" on there.

I've done this for years with great results. The "Dawn wash" is an accepted tool of many serious auto detailing geeks. Here's one thread discussing it:

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-101/35806-dawn-soap-wash.html

friedgreencorrado wrote: A lot of the VW Mk.2 guys swear by Kiwi black shoe dye for plastic trim. Make sure it's the dye, and not the polish. I never got that far on mine, I nailed some road debris and tore all the plastic up before I got the chance. http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?1764515-For-those-doubting-the-magic-of-the-Kiwi-Shoe-Dye-d-bumpers...

"shoe edge dressing" is a very thin liquid, comes with an applicator on the inside of the cap. i've used it with very good results on a lot of black plastic exterior trim on cars over the years. either wring out the applicator and only do a couple inches at a time, or use masking tape, to keep this stuff off the painted body panels.

Xceler8x wrote: ditchdigger, those seats look great. I dyed some old mustang seats back in the day and the spray stuff worked great. I had no idea it would work to rehab wear spots on older cars.

It is important to remember that all leather seats are PAINTED when they are made. It is actually a lacquer and lacquer thinner removes it easily. Finding enough perfect hides to get acceptable results on something as mass produced as automobile interiors is impossible so they paint the leather to make it uniform looking.

Don't feel bad about touching it up. You won't even feel it unless you use krylon or something.

I did this writeup a few years back

http://www.mk1vw.info/modules.php?name=Tutorials&op=viewtut&id=91

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In reply to ditchdigger:

So, you didn't lacquer over the seats again? I just want to make sure before I start attacking my car's seats.

Those porker seats were recolored with bryndana sprays.

For carpet I remove all necessary trim and the seats and spray them with a pressure washer. Make sure you have a good place to hang the carpet for a couple of days before you put it back in. No other method has yielded results anywhere near as good.

For cloth seats the same method works wonders. I have taken filthy junkyard seats and made them look nearly new this way.

While you have the console and trim out you can clean everything with warm soapy water. You also get a chance to get a good look at the floors of the vehicle.