Never used a brush as no matter how soft they are they still leave tiny marks on the lacquer.

Woolen wash mitt all the way for me and autoglym wheen cleaner and then when dried use demon shine simples. My brake dust is very rarely red hot as i dont push the FF that hard. My other vehicles get that kind of abuse  FFRR MY06 facelift With TDV8 Alloys Zeros/ATR's
Mantec Sump Guard, Rigid Load liner, MY10 BT upgrade.

pld118 wrote:

Ceramic coats this and Techniqs that

It does all sound appealing to have an easy spray off solution and the car looks very nice when clean, not so when dirty... so I'm looking into it all (e.g the GTechniq C5 is about £22 for a small bottle/ eye bath size

If of any help Ryan? The process cost me a few hundred quid... Drop off & collect 4 days later

Dooka wheel Mitt made from lambswool

If you are going to use the C5 then you'll need the larger bottle for 4 20" wheels.
Comes with application pads too. You'll need a cloth to buff off the excess.

The small bottle will do but only the faces will be covered with that size. I may have been over generous though.

I use ph neutral cleaner from them too to although strong it doesn't eat away at the wheels like acid based cleaners.

I think it's about £50 for the large one but it'll last 12 months.


I had Alpina 21" wheels on my 7 series and like the other BMW and they were a nightmare to clean. Looked amazing on the car but the worst wheels I ever had for cleaning. Had I heard about Gtechniq then it may have been easier.

Thanks all.

Craig/ anyone,

Accepting that people might say it depends on nature and type of usage, where the car is kept and if you keep on top of it... If you have your car professionally detailed at a cost of several hundred pounds, what sort of time lapses before you start thinking, right, it's all wearing off now and needs to be done again?

The reason the cost is so high is normally down to how much paint correction and polishing is required.
Once the paint is corrected it is just a matter of topping up the chemical top coat that is applied.

For example if mine is done (paint correction and smooth all orange peel) I'd have the Gtechniq C1 and either Exo or Crystal Serum applied. Gtechniq guarantee the product life for 12-18 months.

So in 12-18 months time the paint surface would still be the same but it would need the C1 etc reapplied so I'd only be paying for that. Not a whole polish and paint treatment.

+1 on the demon wheels spray. very good results and not so abrasive as that Hot Wheels acid which should banned!!. Halfrauds often do 3 for 2 and thats the chance also to get demon tyres for the opinion dividing wet look and some AG alloy seal which does an excellent job particularly on the inner wheel area. The time to remove, clean and seal 4 wheels with the AG seal is well worth it as for a few months after, brake dust washes off very easy.

I use a soft wheel brush - pretty standard and does not appear to score the lacquer etc. 405 AB exec seats Baltic and Cirrus
93 RR Classic efi

Remember it's easier to get forgiveness than permission!

Gone in order:
4.4 TDV8 SE - gone to a good home
93 Classic hard dash Plymouth Blue
03 L322 Oslo Blue
2000 Disco TD5 ES Epsom Green
98 P38 Rioja Red
89 Classic Cairngorm Brown

pld118 wrote:

Thanks all.

Craig/ anyone,

Accepting that people might say it depends on nature and type of usage, where the car is kept and if you keep on top of it... If you have your car professionally detailed at a cost of several hundred pounds, what sort of time lapses before you start thinking, right, it's all wearing off now and needs to be done again?