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Annoying Water Spots PLEASE HELP!!!

2557 Views 7 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  ElementaryEd
So I have a brand new black E and am trying my hardest to keep it clean. My problem is that after I wash it the sprinklers in our complex shoot the entire right side of it. Long story short I have a ton of water spots and Im having the hardest time getting them out. Any suggestions??? Ive been trying to find some more threads on this but am having no luck. How does claybar work? will this help? Thanks in advance.

~E
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Your best bet is to just park away from the sprinklers. Or put a cover over your E overnight, every night. Black + water = spots.
Get those spots

Mix a 50/50 solution of soft water and white vinegar. Use a spray bottle and spray on spots. Take an Absorber cloth and wipe off the spots. Clean again and you can focus on the local of the spots.

Or, get a garage, cover, or put plugs in the sprinkler heads.

Good luck.
Mix a 50/50 solution of soft water and white vinegar. Use a spray bottle and spray on spots. Take an Absorber cloth and wipe off the spots. Clean again and you can focus on the local of the spots.

Or, get a garage, cover, or put plugs in the sprinkler heads.

Good luck.
Great vinegar advise! That should work to get the spots cleared up, then make sure that you keep it waxed thoroughly! Wax really helps resolve the removal of some idiot sprinkler alignment spots in the future! Most important, if you see this occur in the future, get it washed before it sits in the sun with the hard water spots.... that can be the death of your surface!

I had this calcified sprinkler disaster happen this summer once, and I was fortunate enough to have just waxed it the week prior and that made all the difference getting it back to normal. A new discovery on black plastic with signs of water spots or hard water dulling, is to use the Turtle Wax Ice product. It is great on the bare plastic, won't leave any residue like regular wax, and really cleans up the surface. Used it on the side mirrors and now the bugs won't stick to them!

Sorry this happened to you man, you'll get it cleaned up, then park far away from any possible sprinkler area!
I was gonna advise the vinegar solution......should help out alot...Good luck.
The vinegar + water mixture will work if coverage of the spots are light. You'll want to wax the car afterwards, preferably with synthetic wax that will last longer. Carnuba doesn't last long in the sun. Better still is a polish with mild polishing compound before waxing if the water spot coverage is heavy. Plus, you'll probably want to let the vinegar/water solution some time to dissolve the spots. The spots are caused by minerals let behind once the water has evaporated. Vinegar is a base (opposite of acid) and has the ability to dissolve the minerals. Since it's caustic it could do damage if the solution is too strong or left on the car for too long.

For water spots on glass you can use this: http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2766870&kw=glass+cleaner&origkw=glass+cleaner

Megiuar's Plastic-X plastic polish will work on glass too.

Check out this thread too: http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12535

Diluted CLR will probably work too. Use with same caution as water + vinegar solution. http://www.shopclr.com/CLR-Cleaners-1/CLR-Calcium-Lime-Rust-Remover-28-oz

If you have to park outside, black cars are probably the worst in the SoCal sun. And, obviously, you don't want to do polish the car too often. Frequent polishing takes a lot of time and will wear paint thinner each time, plus every swirl mark will pop out in the black paint. Your best bet is find a more long term solution (park elsewhere or move to a place with a garage).
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Thanks

I appreciate the reply, I finally got a parking spot that is nowhere near sprinklers THANK GOD!! I have gotten the water spots out with vinegar and H2O and some nice wax got it looking like new!
Thanks for this thread. I have the same issue on my hood that I will try that solution tomorrow! Then re wax of course since I just waxed it last weekend:x
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