[mjr24]

Curious....how do your guys' center consoles look in the interior where the piano black is? Dare I say mine actually looks great still...I am wondering if they changed something from previous years where that got really swirly, too?

[AiredaleDad]

While it can get a bit chilly in Southern Spain, it's never really Freezing. I go outside with a bucket or two of warm water and wash my cars that way. Then I rinse with the hose and dry. In WA I have a drive-on floor pan, and wash the car in the garage with buckets and then suck up the water with a shop vac.

Salt isn't really a problem in Washington when I am there. They use sand instead of Salt because of the environmental impact of Salt and chemicals. So that can make it better, and worse.

[aaexpert]

im in the N.east but i have a heated garage to wash it inside and dont even drive it during winter months. I was just pointing out harsh chemicals repeatedly (via car wash stations) used as the only cleaning solution is not the best choice(for reasons stated previously) and if maintaining the OEM paint is important to you, then add a layer of ceramic at a minimum. Bugs,etching, salt, etc. is best washed via any method than none at all so wash it to your best ability.

[AlteBMW]

Originally Posted by aaexpert

im in the N.east but i have a heated garage to wash it inside and dont even drive it during winter months. I was just pointing out harsh chemicals repeatedly (via car wash stations) used as the only cleaning solution is not the best choice(for reasons stated previously) and if maintaining the OEM paint is important to you, then add a layer of ceramic at a minimum. Bugs,etching, salt, etc. is best washed via any method than none at all so wash it to your best ability.

Ceramic is exactly what I did, and one of the huge advantages of ceramic is how easy it is to hand wash. As noted, in winter I have used a local brushless commercial wash. I'm happy with the results; the ceramic seems to do its job. But then I don't use the car wash very often as we spend some winter time in Florida. My 10 wash plan spread over 3 cars was bought two years ago and I still have 2 left.

[ToddRGuy]

Originally Posted by AiredaleDad

While it can get a bit chilly in Southern Spain, it's never really Freezing. I go outside with a bucket or two of warm water and wash my cars that way. Then I rinse with the hose and dry. In WA I have a drive-on floor pan, and wash the car in the garage with buckets and then suck up the water with a shop vac.

Salt isn't really a problem in Washington when I am there. They use sand instead of Salt because of the environmental impact of Salt and chemicals. So that can make it better, and worse.

I’m going to have a new house built next year, and I’ve been keeping an items list of things to consider. I think drainage would be a really useful addition to the garage.

[AlteBMW]

Originally Posted by ToddRGuy

I’m going to have a new house built next year, and I’ve been keeping an items list of things to consider. I think drainage would be a really useful addition to the garage.

Make sure it is real drainage into some kind of sump or your sewer system. We added a garage to our second home some years ago and the contractor put in a drain in the garage. But all it is is a grate to the soil below and a full indoor wash would overwhelm it. It is okay for dripping from a car that was washed outside and from rain, so not entirely useless, but if you want to do indoor washing you'll need to specify something more than I did. The walls of my garage are also unfinished and spray from a wash could be problematiic, not to mention that there is all kinds of stuff hung on pegboards on one side and shelves on the other. It's a 2 car garage with 2 doors so getting a car to the center is not practical. So if you want to do indoor washes it takes a bit of preplanning (or luck if you are buying a house already built).