[GrussGott]

The northern West Coast / PNW is getting pounded with rain and, in Oregon, they had ice so I also drove through salt & sand and it's been almost 4 weeks since the last wash sooo ...

Had a break coming today so last night - in the rain! - I did a "rinseless" wash (not really, I used a foam cannon for a pre-wash first) and it came out awesome (though I didn't touch the wheels & tires which predictably look like crap (though the wheels look good for not being touched).

Process, Products, & Tools

1. Pre-contact-wash to remove road film
   Superior Product's Pink Perfection w/ 100 mils of Road Warrior (dirt cheap at O'Reilly's by the gallon) out of a foam cannon (MTM 22.2), dwell for 3ish min, then rinsed off, and 2nd rinse with de-i water (from whole foods) from a hydroshot 450. I also used the pressure washer gun to spray down the open door/tailgate jambs
   
2. Rinseless Wash
   Pulled it into the garage and used the Garry Dean method to do all panels with McKee's N-914. For the lower panels I had to do multiple passes with clean sides to get the bonded dirt off I used Rag Co chenille mitts for the extra dirty lower parts, but it took a lot of them, so I also used some Rag Co pads.
   
3. Dry & Seal
   Used Rag Co pearl applicator sponges to apply Turtle Wax Seal-n-Shine ($8/bottle) to the wet panels and then 12" Gauntlets to dry & buff, including all the door/tailgate jambs.
   
4. Final Flair
   After she was all clean & shiny I did another pass with Turtle Wax's ICE Spray Wax ($6/bottle) because I love the wet carnauba look it brings out. I think this stuff is gold on an X5 as even on dark colors it pulls out the lines of the X5. The windows & perspex got both sealants too.

Sunside (check out the sky, rain's comin back!)





You can see the brake discs rusting into the wheels but I didn't have time to hit the wheels/tires with just brake buster which prevents that.

The wheels are the BMW 21" square (rears have wider tires tho) set and they're coated with 2 coats of Car Pro DLux & one of Gliss. Amazingly they mostly sprayed off and look pretty damn good for not having been touched. I think I'll do that for the summers too.

And, yes, I get it that some like the X5s lowered & all blacked out, I do not