I've been camping nearly every weekend for a couple of months. My E has been very dirty. Last weekend I finally gave it a good washing, but I could really feel the paint gunked up. I had hoped to polish it, but decided not to apply anything at all as I would only be applying above a film.

Anybody have suggestions on how to begin restoring the "new car" look to the exterior of an over-neglected E? Is this where a clay bar comes into play?

1. Wash it really well

2. Clay bar it

3. Wash it again

4. Put a nice coat or two of wax on it.



It will be smooth as glass and will look like it was fresh from the showroom floor. I did it this spring and it looked amazing.

1. Wash it really well

2. Clay bar it

3. Wash it again

4. Put a nice coat or two of wax on it.



It will be smooth as glass and will look like it was fresh from the showroom floor. I did it this spring and it looked amazing.

What he said!
Claybar makes a HUGE diference
also..........don't neglect the inside, it needs a good cleaning after livin the "woodsie" life

*wash with DAWN dishsoap -- it removes any residue wax or film that could be left over.

*clay bar the painted panels, it helps remove a lot of the small "bumps" that you feel in the paint that get stuck to the clear coat.

now, depending on the shape of the paint after all that here are your options

if the paint is good, no major scratches in the clear coat etc. -- wax. i personally use a synthetic wax process called Klasse w/ a All-in-One Compound and follow that up with the Sealer. The benefit to synthetic wax is that it will say on for months on end(unlike carnuba based waxes that usually are gone in 6 weeks)

if there are scratches in the clear coat --> buffing compounds.

this is where having a friend w/ a buffer will come in handy. use some good quality buffing compounds prior to your waxing process.

you can find tons of QUALITY car care products here: http://www.autogeek.net/

it will beat anything that you pick up at a car parts store claiming to be a "good" wax.

hope that helps :D

Thanks for all the advice. Last week it rained most of the weekend, so the project got postponed. Just as well, as I had already bought the Turtewax ICE claybar and polish. After reading the threads, I returned both of them last nght, and now need to find something different.

The big problem when I washed it weekend before last was that the paint was so filmy, the drying towels would not glide across the surface. It felt REALLY yucky. I had washed with Meguiar's Gold Class. I'm thinking too, maybe because the car was sooo dirty, that perhaps I may have put too much carwash in the bucket. Could this add to the problem?

And yes--the E's inners were filthy too. I spent two hours cleaning all the stuff out, washing down the surfaces, vacuuming, etc. For the first time ever I used the armor-all interior wipes and they left everything so greasy feeling. I had to take a paper towel and wipe it all off. That actually left it okay. After all the cleaning, I was pretty ready to go out and buy a teardrop like Hiker Chick's!

first and foremost: w/ any car care products that you buy, you get what you pay for. i fought long and hard to understand why i should spend money on a wax system or a good carnuba wax. but once a friend helped me bring back my 91 oxidized car, i saw the light.

while i can't make ya get anything, just something to consider :) (ok, stepping off the soap box now)

-- in relation to your question. sounds like the car just has no wax on it. does it feel like your fingers just "stick" if you try to slide them down the paint? it just means that the car needs some wax on it. (the battle of synthetic vs. natural comes in, but that website i gave ya link for has a lot of good articles that describe the in-outs of car waxes)

--ps: might wanna pick up a chamoir to make getting that water off streak free a LOT easier :)