[OllyH]

Just wondered if anyone had any tips on washing/cleaning the black coloured MINI roof? I find that even after washing the car there can still be smears on the roof. I am also worried that any scratches show up really easily on this colour. I've noticed that under direct sunshine small swirls are visible, not necessarily scratches but they have always been there.
Any advice would be great!

[JG.26]

Hi,

Some Meguires Scratch X will remove any swirls, then use a good quality wax and a coating of Autoglym extra gloss to keep water run off to the max. I always hose the car before washing and never use a sponge, Meguires lambswool wash mit is better as any trapped dirt doesnt get wiped around on the paint surface causing swirls. Alternatively get a roof graphic

Cheers

[Aqualung]

I have a black roof and try to:

a) use a leaf blower to blow all the water off before drying
b) dry w/ high quality 100% cotton towels (same as I use when I Zaino)
c) never "swirl" when drying, just front to back

I'm pleased w/ how my black roof looks to this day (2+ years)

[OllyH]

Thanks - that's all great advice! Will be off to Halfords to get those cleaning products, but maybe not the roof decal yet!
Cheers!

[cooper-minx]

Hi OllyH ... I have a PS Cooper with black roof and guess which is the hardest part of the car to keep looking nice? You guessed it .... the black roof!!!

I am really careful rinsing before washing always worrying about grit etc but still had swirls and light stratches which I could see. Probably no-one else could, but I could. Anyway invested in a bottle of (hang on just got to pop out to the garage, back in a second ) .... back now .... Auto Glym Ultra Deep Shine. It says ultimate polish for modern paints and dark colours and I was really pleased with the result on the first polish. It brought back the black mirror-like finish.

It is not cheap at £11.99 for 500 ml at Halfords but I think the bottle will last a long time but hey when you have spent so much on your Mini I reckon it is worth it. If you try it, please do let me know how you get on.

[OllyH]

Hi everyone - you're so right cooper-minx - seems to be only me that can see the swirls! I went to Halfords before I saw the last message, but bought some car wax as suggested so think I will try that today. Also changed my Chamois leather as my old one was getting a bit ragged and wondered if this could have caused the scratching. Will try to keep this one in better condition. Will wash and wax the car this afternoon and see what happens. Any one got anyt tips on waxing? I have never done it before. Bought some Meguires applicator pads to put it on but have no idea on how much to use and how to polish it in.
Thanks, Olly

[retired00]

Try the Meguiars site, lots of tips, videos, car care advice: http://www.meguiars.com/

[Neil the Hat]

Firstly stop using a chamois!!!!

You will be hard pushed to remove swirls by hand!

To remove these which are put in during washing you will need to use a polishing machine.

A friend offers swirl removal for free for Minis if you can get your car to the south coast.

PM me for my email address if you are interested.

[Nick666]

Also, well worth a trawl through as these guys are car cleaning nutters:

Detailing World

I suspect what they don't know about cleaning a car properly isn't worth knowing

[OllyH]

Thanks for that Nick! Some useful stuff to keep the car looking great!

[OllyH]

Just cleaned and waxed the car! Followed all your tips and the results are stunning! The roof is like a mirror now, couldn't be happier with it though it took such a long time to do! So clean I didn't take it out today as the weather isn't great - will have to wait for a sunny day til I can drive again!

[Aqualung]

Thought I'd followup with a pic of my roof after the spring clean -- claybar, Z5, and 3 coats of Z2....'course Z6 in between and after washing....my '04 (Jan '04 build), been through two New England winters now.

[minibee]

simple answer

flash car wash........ works very good on black cars and mini roofs and no smear marks

Neil

[Parker]

Quote: Originally Posted by minibee

simple answer

flash car wash........ works very good on black cars and mini roofs and no smear marks

I couldn't agree more! It's great stuff! Can't vouch for the balck roof but It works great on my silver one!

[Serby]

Heres my Black roof after using the Flash Car wash stuff and a few Megs products...

[PW/B_JCW210]

I can recommend Autopia as an excellent source of information on car cleaning:

http://www.autopia.org/

pretty much everything is covered on that forum...

I have bought into the whole Zaino suite of products and can definitely recommend them.

My car has a black roof and it looks superb after 2 coats of Z5, two coats of Z2, and many intermediate coats of Z6/Z8!

Zaino is available in the UK from:

http://www.advancedcarproducts.com/

I would also recommend junking the chamois and using a microfibre drying towel which are very good at mopping up and can be easily machine washed each time thereby minimizing any chance of grit collecting in them.

[Ferroequine]

Quote: Originally Posted by PW/B_JCW210

I would also recommend junking the chamois and using a microfibre drying towel which are very good at mopping up and can be easily machine washed each time thereby minimizing any chance of grit collecting in them.

Could someone explain to me why using a chamois is bad? Even a high quality one?

[PW/B_JCW210]

a chamois can pick up dirt from the car and it is that dirt which when dragged across the rest of the car that will cause the small scratches which give rise to the micro marring that we are trying to avoid. It is not a good idea to put a chamois through a washing machine to get rid of any accumulated grit.

On the other hand a good quality micro fibre waffle weave drying towel can be washed between uses which gets rid of any build up of grit and minimizes the chance of causing the marring.

HTH.

[emu_p]

As roof changing frow white to black with next car will have to invest in a waffle towel

I use a silicon blade to remove excess water and then wipe over with the towel but white does not show up the marks!

[Nick666]

Yea, a blade's not a great idea either actually if anything gets in between the blade and the car, you'll just drag it along the surface and put a nice scratch in it ... just stick to the MF towel