BMW Engine Detail

[VonLego]

I've cleaned engines before, but they were ford. Everything I've ever read has said that domestic engines are tougher to mess up, while vehicles like BMW can't take as much of a beating. What special things should I look out for besides the standard alternator/fusebox?

Long story shot, I'm detailing my aunt's car this weekend, a dark blue BMW. It has real soft paint that is kind of a pain to work on, and has serious swirls. Tough part is even 80 leaves marring behind. I believe my test spot ended up using cleaner wax or something to remove the last bit of marring.

I did most of the interior last night. It was really clean as it was fo a daily driver, which makes it a lot less fun to clean. An hour or two scrubbing a few tough spots on leather and vacuuming out the few shreds of light dog hair from the dark carpets takes some work, but doesn't show much improvement from the base.

The outside on the other hand is facing a world of hurt!! Swirl city. We've all seen it... Beautiful dark cars with a few years under their belt covered head to toe in swirls. (She just purchased this car, not my aunts fault!)

Anything I can do for my aunts car that will really wow her? Of course do a great job, but does anyone have a special or unique thing that they do to wow folks? I'd like to go the extra mile.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: BMW Engine Detail

Not to discount our forum, but one option is to join one of the many BMW forums and ask the in-house gurus for their tips and techniques as you will usually find someone that knows your specific make and model inside and out and they can probably alert you to any expensive components to watch out for.

Besides that, cover anything you're concerned about with plastic and then form aluminum foil around it and even tape this up afterwards to make it bulletproof.

Avoid spraying water directly onto any electrical component, down any air intakes, etc.

Look for things like polished aluminum or other coatings that could be damaged if too strong a chemical is used on them or left for too long.

Cover painted panels with plastic or keep them with a soapy car wash solution so any chemical that gets on the paint is diluted down by the soap car wash solution.

[Carfire]

Re: BMW Engine Detail

I did my neighbors BMW and he was impressed. If you do not know already BMW= lots of brake dust. I have noticed all the rich people have these black cars with swirls and are really dirty. It bothers me a lot. I can not help you with anything else. Sorry.

[H.E.D]

Re: BMW Engine Detail

i worked on a black 02' 750i what i did for the engine detail was
1. covered the oxygen sensor with plastic bag and taped it.
2. covered the air itake sensor with plastic plastic bag
3. put soap and wax concentrate on the all the paint where the APC could splash
4. sprayed it APC 4:1 ratio starting with the hood first then front to bottom followed by side to side.
5. air dry for with the hood open mean while i worked on the interior
6. dress with a water based dressing and wipe

the results were amazing i wish i had pictures. and if you want to go the extra mile place jackstands and also work the bottom of the engine were it is most neglected.

[Wolf-Strong]

Re: BMW Engine Detail

I work in a BMW dealership, so maybe my words can help ease your worries. We literally DOUSE the engine down with a degreaser or APC, and than use a regular old garden hose to drench the sucker down, while the engine is running or not, and they have been doing this long before I started working there. Heck, we have techs that have been there for 10, and even 30 years and never, not once have we ever had a problem with it. Being over such a long period of time, this obviously includes BMWs from the 70s, 80s, 90s, and the most current technological showcase cars. We even have a Saab dealership right next to use (use to be all one company) and the same story goes there.

So as far as BMWs go, rest easy in that it isn't easy to hurt them.