[BayDriverSF]

I'm going to wash my M5C myself. I've never washed a car before (other than spraying it off with the garden hose), because I've never had a nice car before.

I assume that if you don't have a good way to dry it off, you'll get the droplets of minerals showing up on your car, just like dishes that are rinsed off without drying.

What's the simplest car washing method? And which items should I buy from https://theragcompany.com/ for a minimal car wash on my driveway? Thanks for any tips.

[Oswiff]

I have found investing in a couple things goes a long way in making washing less of a hassle. I actually enjoy washing my cars on a Sunday. I wash my cars every other week and will spend an afternoon doing three cars; the time killer is my Raptor.

The key though to avoid water spots is don't wash your car in direct sun or if it's very hot as the water dries from evaporation faster than you can dry so it can leave mineral deposits. There is an expensive way to avoid this and that is buying a CR spotless which is a system that attaches to your spigot that deionizes water so that there are no minerals to leave behind. You can literally wash and rinse your car using a CR spotless and leave it wet and it won't dry with any spots. I have one but I don't like leaving my cars wet so I haven't used it in a long time. Plus you need to replace the resin.

Get a pressure washer - doesn't need to be a fancy one like Kranzle, I have a sun joe from amazon. Also can use it for other house chores.

Invest in a foam cannon, I tried the cheap amazon one but the MTM is a lot better.

For drying I bought a EGO electric leaf blower, cuts the drying time down significantly. I finish with Bead Maker on a rag company premium microfiber (item 11616).

For windows I use invisible glass - inexpensive and can get almost everywhere, I get it at Home Depot since it's the cheapest there. I use rag companies Korean Blue Glass & Window (41616).

My scrub mitt is also rag company "the cyclone" (10809)

Brake Buster for the wheels and tires, it's inexpensive and effective.

Adam's car soap in the cannon, it foams like shaving cream and also inexpensive.

I can do my m5 - if it's not crazy dirty - in about 30 minutes.

If you want to get an idea of washing without the pressure washer, I recommend watching Larry Kosilla at AMMO NYC on YouTube. He has numerous videos but one is quick washes on his family car.

[Slugsy01]

Phenomenal advice, never thought about a leaf blower for drying!

[Materhead66]

Originally Posted by Oswiff

I have found investing in a couple things goes a long way in making washing less of a hassle. I actually enjoy washing my cars on a Sunday. I wash my cars every other week and will spend an afternoon doing three cars; the time killer is my Raptor.

The key though to avoid water spots is don't wash your car in direct sun or if it's very hot as the water dries from evaporation faster than you can dry so it can leave mineral deposits. There is an expensive way to avoid this and that is buying a CR spotless which is a system that attaches to your spigot that deionizes water so that there are no minerals to leave behind. You can literally wash and rinse your car using a CR spotless and leave it wet and it won't dry with any spots. I have one but I don't like leaving my cars wet so I haven't used it in a long time. Plus you need to replace the resin.

Get a pressure washer - doesn't need to be a fancy one like Kranzle, I have a sun joe from amazon. Also can use it for other house chores.

Invest in a foam cannon, I tried the cheap amazon one but the MTM is a lot better.

For drying I bought a EGO electric leaf blower, cuts the drying time down significantly. I finish with Bead Maker on a rag company premium microfiber (item 11616).

For windows I use invisible glass - inexpensive and can get almost everywhere, I get it at Home Depot since it's the cheapest there. I use rag companies Korean Blue Glass & Window (41616).

My scrub mitt is also rag company "the cyclone" (10809)

Brake Buster for the wheels and tires, it's inexpensive and effective.

Adam's car soap in the cannon, it foams like shaving cream and also inexpensive.

I can do my m5 - if it's not crazy dirty - in about 30 minutes.

If you want to get an idea of washing without the pressure washer, I recommend watching Larry Kosilla at AMMO NYC on YouTube. He has numerous videos but one is quick washes on his family car.

Great advice and summary! I use exactly the same items and follow the same process. PPF and ceramic coat cause the water to bead and fly away with the leaf blower. I was installing a new pre-filter and water softener in the basement mechanical room so I had one of our outdoor faucets plumbed to soft water. Helps eliminate spotting.

[Oswiff]

Did the same thing Materhead with the soft water and I also have it plumbed for hot water if needed - comes in handy in the winter.
The MBB may be the best looking color when clean like in your photo.

[Ck00]

Easiest?
Probably look into a rinseless wash. Saves water. Saves time. No scratches.
Onr makes a great product. Pretty much an all in one for windows, paint, wheels. Besides bucket, microfiber towels, and sponge.

[FSHNGRY]

One thing not mentioned, which is CRUCIAL in my book:

2 BUCKET METHOD.

Bucket 1: clean water, and soap.

Bucket 2: CLEAN water

Get your wash pad soaked in suds. Clean sections/panels of the car (NOT THE WHEELS ) at a time. Place the wash pad/mitt into bucket 2 and shake, ring out, a couple of times before placing into the first bucket.

The concept behind this is you're not keeping the road dirt and tiny debris particles in the pad and dragging it on the car, essentially collecting and dragging shi*

For best results, use Fiji water


kidding

[Egrunt]

Great recommendations from other forum members. Living in SOCAL and dealing with the sun when washing my vehicles. I bought a CR Spotless DIC-20 Deionized Water System for a spot free rinse. The down side for the CR Spotless DIC-20 is that it only filters 300 gallons of water and at the pressure of my Harbor Freight Portland pressure washer I get about 8 hours of use. The cartridges are $119 to replace but it is worth it to me. As others have stated you do not have to go crazy with a pressure washer as I stated mine came from Harbor Freight and I paid $79 on sale and I have had it for over 4 years and it still works great. I bought a Sears battery operated leaf blower with a extra battery. At full blast setting I get about 10 minutes of use.

[Jocko78]

Originally Posted by Oswiff

I have found investing in a couple things goes a long way in making washing less of a hassle. I actually enjoy washing my cars on a Sunday. I wash my cars every other week and will spend an afternoon doing three cars; the time killer is my Raptor.

The key though to avoid water spots is don't wash your car in direct sun or if it's very hot as the water dries from evaporation faster than you can dry so it can leave mineral deposits. There is an expensive way to avoid this and that is buying a CR spotless which is a system that attaches to your spigot that deionizes water so that there are no minerals to leave behind. You can literally wash and rinse your car using a CR spotless and leave it wet and it won't dry with any spots. I have one but I don't like leaving my cars wet so I haven't used it in a long time. Plus you need to replace the resin.

Get a pressure washer - doesn't need to be a fancy one like Kranzle, I have a sun joe from amazon. Also can use it for other house chores.

Invest in a foam cannon, I tried the cheap amazon one but the MTM is a lot better.

For drying I bought a EGO electric leaf blower, cuts the drying time down significantly. I finish with Bead Maker on a rag company premium microfiber (item 11616).

For windows I use invisible glass - inexpensive and can get almost everywhere, I get it at Home Depot since it's the cheapest there. I use rag companies Korean Blue Glass & Window (41616).

My scrub mitt is also rag company "the cyclone" (10809)

Brake Buster for the wheels and tires, it's inexpensive and effective.

Adam's car soap in the cannon, it foams like shaving cream and also inexpensive.

I can do my m5 - if it's not crazy dirty - in about 30 minutes.

If you want to get an idea of washing without the pressure washer, I recommend watching Larry Kosilla at AMMO NYC on YouTube. He has numerous videos but one is quick washes on his family car.

Ha!!! I dry with my Ego too, love it!

[Oswiff]

Originally Posted by Jocko78

Ha!!! I dry with my Ego too, love it!

My only issue with the ego is the battery. I've had it two years and already have had to replace the battery with warranty when the turbo would only last for about a minute and drain the battery completely.

The new one just doesn't last as long as the original did when new. I used to be able to dry two cars with a combination of high and turbo and now I can barely make it through one.

Not sure what the issue is and while their warranty was easy, still an inconvenience.

[Jocko78]

Originally Posted by Oswiff

My only issue with the ego is the battery. I've had it two years and already have had to replace the battery with warranty when the turbo would only last for about a minute and drain the battery completely.

The new one just doesn't last as long as the original did when new. I used to be able to dry two cars with a combination of high and turbo and now I can barely make it through one.

Not sure what the issue is and while their warranty was easy, still an inconvenience.

Same here, I have had a few fail. We have a bunch of their stuff, works great but those batteries....eeek.

[A.dot]

Originally Posted by Jocko78

Same here, I have had a few fail. We have a bunch of their stuff, works great but those batteries....eeek.

Good info on this thread! Never thought about the leaf blower idea — just placed an order for an Ego via Amazon Black Friday. Thank you!

I picked up a Sun Joe power washer via Amazon Black Friday last year as well… good timing for me to stumble upon this thread. Just ordered the foam cannon setup from CG based on the tips here.

I have yet to ever wash my cars in under an hour… not sure if it's my OCD or just super old-school wash methods. I have a Matte Wrap on my F90, so I'm sure this leaf blower idea will shave tons of time off my process.

This'll be my first attempt at a "touch less" wash as I've always been accustomed to putting in the hand time.

Keep the tips coming gents! Much appreciated.

[TEGRITY]

Rinse less wash is a very good and fast option. I was not for it until I did ceramic coating on my wife's X1 when my detailing guy asked me try it out. I now use it even on my M4, which has just hard wax applied on the exterior. I use a local Australian brand, NXTZEN's products - nxtzen.com


Pros:
- Obviously, no rinsing. You just wipe of using a good microfibre or drying towel
- Saves a lot of time
- Avoids hairline scratches and watermarks
- finishing off with a product similar to Ceramic express pro enhances the ceramic coating applied and protects the base ceramic coating as well.
- if you give a damn about the environment, this is a soap & chemical free cleaner
- the car is more repellent to dirt, so less frequent cleaning as you are technically finishing off the clean with a temporary ceramic coating on top of your ceramic coating.
- The same cleaner can be used for your wheels as well and just a get a Swissvax or similar wheel brush to clean the inner sides.


Cons:
- tough grimes and dirt won't go as this is a mild soap free cleaner. You will need a super cleaner for occasional use to get those tough grimes out and works like a magic.

With the interiors, I go all in. Swissvax everything as I want to keep the interior pristine and preserve the interior is brand new condition as long as I can.

I have clocked my cleaning times: exterior 20-25 mins and interior 45 mins due to my OCD issues.

Hope this helps!