[S2K&CooperS]

WOW, tonight I washed my car for the first time since I took delivery on Monday. We had heavy rain this morning and the Cooper (especially the 5-stars) was looking pretty gosh darn dirty this afternoon. It is very easy to wash, practically took me no time at all except it did because I wanted to be extra thorough .

I am waiting for more Zaino to arrive before I begin the quest for the "ultimate shine" . I'm a detailing freak and use Zaino Show Car Polish. If you've never heard of it before or don't know much about car waxes/polishes, DO CHECK IT OUT! Go here: http://www.zainobros.com Zaino is a 3-step (or however many you want to do) process and is very easy to do. It is only available through mail order (basically by word of mouth) and not available in any store. The results are AWESOME! The smoothest finish and glassy mirror-like shine you've ever seen. Highly recommended. Most of us in the S2KCA use it as well as the Viper Club of America and the Corvette Club of America.

Just wanted to mention this: TWO thumbs up for the black molded wheel arches and lower body cladding . Whereas many vehicles might get scratches or chips easily on either side of the wheels or at the very bottom of the car, the MINI has these great pieces which take all kind of abuse but come away unscathed. Good thinking MINI/BMW!

Now have about 250 miles on her........

[tcmini]

Wow! What incredible timing. I spent this afternoon poking around Google looking for someone who might have used Zaino on a Cooper. You must have been posting at just about the same time. I'm picking up my Cooper on Sunday, so I'm going to place a Zaino order pretty soon. I do have one question that maybe you can answer: Do coopers have a factory clearcoat? I think not, which means I should use Z-3. I've never used the stuff, but I've read one incredible rave review after another.

Tom

[kcmini]

S2K&CooperS,

Thanks for the info on these products. Which are you getting or would you recommend? Looks like Polish lock and Z-2 would work. What else...

[DaveNagy]

Hmmm, I thought MINIs did have a factory clearcoat. I read a nice article that detailed the entire assembly process... Lots of pictures. It went into some detail about the multi-step painting process. Alas, I don't recall exactly where I saw it. It may well have been linked off of this site.

I'll hunt around for it a bit.

-Dave

PS. Can anyone with "clay bar" experiance, comment on them? The concept is new to me.

[DaveNagy]

Here's the article I was talking about. It was in the News section of this site.

Link to the article

-Dave

[S2000&CooperS]

Yes, MINIs come from the factory with clearcoat.

To start, I would recommend the following:

Z1 (Pre-Cleaner)
Z2 (Polish)
Z6 (Gloss Enhancer Spray)
Z7 (Car Wash)

If you want to go the "extra mile", then also purchase the Z18 ClayBar and the new ZFX (AWESOME!!) which makes the polish dry MUCH faster when it's cold as well as give it even more shine.

[MadAboutMINI]

I've heard good stuff about Zaino, but I have a hard time using something called polish on a regular basis on my car. Am I just kidding myself that something like the Zymol HD-Cleanse (or any other reputable pre-wax cleaner) is less abrasive than anything called a polish?

Also, if I use a clay bar to remove old wax and contaminents do I still need to use the polish step?

Thoughts or comments?

[tcmini]

Thanks for the info on the clearcoat. Time to place an order I think... Which brings we to my next question -- Bonnet Stripes: anyone think I need to be carefull around the strips? Can I clay bar them?

[S2000&CooperS]

Quote:

Originally posted by MadAboutMINI
Also, if I use a clay bar to remove old wax and contaminents do I still need to use the polish step?

Thoughts or comments?

Yes, you do because the clay bar strips the old wax and contaminents....leaving your paint fully exposed to the elements. This is the first step in the detailing process. Only your paint and clearcoat will remain, which is bad as your need something on there to protect it in many ways. The nice thing about the Zaino polish is the UV protection it provides. It's basically filled with "car sunscreen" which will keep the paint from fading (especially over the long term) and make it MUCH easier to remove dirt and other buildup. The combination of protection and shine is terrific, better than many other products, IMHO.

If you read the info on the Zaino website, he says that most new cars collect "rail dust" on the way from the factory to the dealer - basically, metal particles from the train (assuming it travels by train) or truck. Sure enough, my S2000 had some very tiny black particles on the front bumper when I took delivery (less than 20 miles on the odo). I used the ClayBar and it removed virtually all of it. Honestly I couldn't tell much difference on the rest of the body but it worked very well on the areas most exposed to dirt and grime.

[MadAboutMINI]

OK, so Zaino's polish is like the wax step with Zymol. You use their cleaner or clay first and then the polish.

Thanks for clarifying.

[aperez49]

Claybar will make a HUGE difference later on. Go rub a brand new car,(notice the smoothness!), now go feel a car a couple of years old, that gets a normal wash every now and then (feel the tiny rough little bumps!, just not as smooth) Claybar will rid your car of those tiny bumps that don't get taken off with normal washing!


This is just what i've noticed anyways! when I did it on my car ('86 BMW 325es which doesn't even know the meaning of WAX..lol), the claybar made an amazing difference it made it feel like i had gotten a fresh paintjob.

[Kinster]

Just used Wonderwheels this weekend and my alloys look brand new

[dhanley]

In response to the first post, i tried zaino myself. At first i thought i was going crazy, because i didn't see anything special it did. Then i tried it out, 1/2 the hood with the whole zaino process, and several layers, the other 1/2 clayed, polished, waxed. No one could tell the difference, and they lasted the same amount of time. This is a $80 zaino kit vs two $4 bottles of wax and polish that can fo on faster and easier.

Zaino distributors have been known to post on the web acting as satisfied super-enthusiastic customers. Like a lot of high-end waxes, i think it's a bit of a scam, albeit with more 'aggressive' marketing than usual.

dave

[cas]

I have just bought a product called Hydrowax as ssen on Sky shopping channels.

It takes 30 secs to apply to the whole car using a garden hose and adapter supplied.

After a couple of minutes the water dries leaving a layer of wax which is easily buffed within minutes.

This really works well in little or no time taking away the arduous task of application and buff.

The glass and plastic trim are also covered without leaving any white residue. Hydrowax also claims to have very good protection against the elements etc.

I have tried it and it works. So easy!

10 mins from start to finish and a good result.

[Kinster]

yeah, I've seen those things on Men & Motors and Halfords

[GadgetGav]

Just thought I'd post my results of using Zaino...
When we took delivery of our Red/White Cooper, there were some machine polished swirl marks on the passenger door. Not so bad you could see them all the time, but when the sun was at the right angle, they showed up.
I was going to take it back to the dealer and have them re-detail it, but this weekend I got tired of waiting and decided to do it myself. I had the whole set of Zaino products from a previous car (a 2KSE Miata which got really badly swirled by that dealer), so I thought I probably had better stuff than the dealer anyway. I skipped the clay step since the car had been washed weekly anyway and I wanted to see what I could do for the swirls first. I started with the polish lock then one coat of the swirl remover polish (I think it's Z5). Finished up with the gloss enhancer spray over the roof decal and the whole body.
The result... It looks amazing. The shine is better than it was before and I think even with one application, the swirls are gone. There was enough sun on Saturday for them to have shown up and I couldn't see them. It's rained ever since, so I haven't had another chance to look, but it looks promising. I think I'll do at least another two coats of swirl remover just to be sure and then switch to the regular Zaino polish. AFAIK the swirl remover is *not* a T-Cut type product, so I'm not removing anything from the clear coat so the extra coats won't introduce any problems.

Zaino is the business..!

[noahe]

Okay Zaino fans,

I am interested in protecting the paint on our Cooper S when it arrives. A long lasting, chemical resistant, UV blocking wax is much more important to me than the ultimate shine. Is this product right for me?

Is there some other product better suited to long lasting protection, albeit with less car-show shine? Or is Zaino the one to beat?

I tend to be meticulous in the summer months, taking great care of the finish, putting one last coat of wax on for the winter. Then, sorry to say, it's pretty much automatic car wash time. With the MINI, I will endeavour to find coin-op DIY wash bays in the winter. But ultimately, a few swirls are better than an all-out salt attack if I did nothing.

Then, in the spring, I polish it all up, re-wax and see what the winter damage was.

I have previously used "Rain Dance", which was a one-a-year wax, and was pretty happy. But it's been awhile since I've looked into this stuff.

So, shine aside, what 'protects' the best?

[GadgetGav]

Zaino says it has UV40 protection in it's products. I think the gloss enhancer spray actually contains more UV protection so you get the best of both worlds. Check out their web site for all the info (someone posted the link earlier in this thread).

[Steve 555]

If you don't mind a Scooby owner joining in. Try this thread in Scoobynet. Of particular interest is Mark Underwood's knowledge of waxes. Mark supplies many Scooby owners with Swissol products and is currently running a group buy.

See what you think click here to go to thread

Steve

[suprchrgdmini]

I USED TO USE SPEEDBEAD ON MY NEON BEFORE I SOLD IT. IT IS A VERY NICE AND QUICK WAX. IT COMES IN A SPRAY CAN AND TAKES ABOUT 20 MINUTES TO WAX THE WHOLE CAR. IT ACTUALLY FEELS LIKE YOU WAXED THE CAR THE OLD FASHIONED WAY. TRY AND GO TO WWW.SPEEDBEAD.COM. I KNOW PEP BOYS HAS IT BY ME IN NY SO MAYBE YOU CAN GET IT THERE