[RicardoSwe]

Not sure if this this the right forum section for this, but I'll go ahead.

My 335i will arrive shortly*. I am very into maintaining a clean, well polished car with the best products. I am planning on having this car immediately coated with Opti-coat. Probably won't put on a clear bra on the front for road rash.

Anyway -- any ideas about what I should ask the dealer to NOT do or to DO upon delivery? I've heard one place to ask that the protective shipping white plastic not be taken off. I don't think I'll go that far, but I'm looking for ideas ---

Thanks.

* Mineral Grey Metallic, Sport pkg, leather black/red highlight seats, anthracite wood trim, etc.

[puma1552]

Do NOT let them do any exterior prep. Some 17 year old kid in the detailing department will use terrible products (probably a water blade, *shudder*) and dirty towels and you will end up with a badly swirled brand new car that will need paint correction.

Happened to my Jetta, my black car came off the truck with plastic still on it and I was foolish enough to let them prep it, worst mistake I ever made.

And, god help you if they give that kid a rotary to apply products, which in the wrong hands does far more harm than good.

Honestly just save yourself the stress and tell them to leave it covered in plastic and be there to take it off yourself, do not let them wash or detail the exterior or you might be correcting paint and removing clear coat right off the bat to fix it, which will ruin the new car experience completely.

Not trying to scare you or sound paranoid, and maybe it would come out fine, but letting some unknown person prep your brand new expensive car and do one wash on it isn't worth picking it up clean, when you could just as easily drive it straight home and give it a proper wash and seal and wax and know that it won't be damaged/swirled in the process.

After my Jetta, I'll never ever let a dealer touch the exterior of my car again. I've even seen dealer body shop guys use waterblades on cars, that's scary as hell.

[BavarianFanatic]

Originally Posted by puma1552

Do NOT let them do any exterior prep. Some 17 year old kid in the detailing department will use terrible products (probably a water blade, *shudder*) and dirty towels and you will end up with a badly swirled brand new car that will need paint correction.

Happened to my Jetta, my black car came off the truck with plastic still on it and I was foolish enough to let them prep it, worst mistake I ever made.

And, god help you if they give that kid a rotary to apply products, which in the wrong hands does far more harm than good.

Honestly just save yourself the stress and tell them to leave it covered in plastic and be there to take it off yourself, do not let them wash or detail the exterior or you might be correcting paint and removing clear coat right off the bat to fix it, which will ruin the new car experience completely.

Not trying to scare you or sound paranoid, and maybe it would come out fine, but letting some unknown person prep your brand new expensive car and do one wash on it isn't worth picking it up clean, when you could just as easily drive it straight home and give it a proper wash and seal and wax and know that it won't be damaged/swirled in the process.

After my Jetta, I'll never ever let a dealer touch the exterior of my car again. I've even seen dealer body shop guys use waterblades on cars, that's scary as hell.

This is just a bit overblown. Your single experience is hardly sufficient grounds to make such a suggestion. Especially since you have no idea the level of competence the OP has with respect to detailing (no offense intended if the OP DOES know what to do). There's a 99% chance that everything will be perfectly fine. As it is, MG isn't really a color that would even show much in the way of swirls, etc.

I'd suggest letting them do what they would normally do and leave it at that. The shop doing the Opti-coat should be properly prepping the paint anyway. I'd also suggest you reconsider the clear bra. The front profile of the F30 exposes quite a bit of paint to chips and road rash. But again, MG would be fairly easy to correct if you did happen to get a random chip.

[puma1552]

Originally Posted by BavarianFanatic

This is just a bit overblown. Your single experience is hardly sufficient grounds to make such a suggestion. Especially since you have no idea the level of competence the OP has with respect to detailing (no offense intended if the OP DOES know what to do). There's a 99% chance that everything will be perfectly fine. As it is, MG isn't really a color that would even show much in the way of swirls, etc.

I'd suggest letting them do what they would normally do and leave it at that. The shop doing the Opti-coat should be properly prepping the paint anyway. I'd also suggest you reconsider the clear bra. The front profile of the F30 exposes quite a bit of paint to chips and road rash. But again, MG would be fairly easy to correct if you did happen to get a random chip.

I disagree, but then again I've been detailing for 15 years and cringe whenever I see the way most people wash their cars. I still kick myself for letting the dealer prep mine since I knew better.

Most likely it will be fine, but personally, I don't see the point in taking the risk just so the car can be clean for the moment of delivery; seems like too much risk for very little reward since even if the dealer washes it, the car will be dirty in a couple days. Only difference is it might be dirty and also in need of paint correction.

That said, I agree the OP may not be any better than the dealer at detailing, at which point it's a wash anyway.

[BavarianFanatic]

Originally Posted by puma1552

I disagree, but then again I've been detailing for 15 years and cringe whenever I see the way most people wash their cars. I still kick myself for letting the dealer prep mine since I knew better.

Most likely it will be fine, but personally, I don't see the point in taking the risk just so the car can be clean for the moment of delivery; seems like too much risk for very little reward since even if the dealer washes it, the car will be dirty in a couple days. Only difference is it might be dirty and also in need of paint correction.

That said, I agree the OP may not be any better than the dealer at detailing, at which point it's a wash anyway.

I've been detailing since before it was called "detailing".

Depending on the OP's locale, there's a chance that the there is an accumulation of rail dust and other contaminants on the paint and glass surfaces. The majority of BMW dealers have qualified personnel in their detail shops.

[Dan_335i]

Dealer preped my car before delivery. I washed it yesterday no swirls looks brand new like it just came from factory

[RicardoSwe]

Thanks -- good ideas.

I think I will ask the dealer to not remove the shipping white plastic*. Easy enough to ask and, since I plan to take a high level of care of this 355i, I'll start with this.

I am torn on the clear bra --
I have a 2002 Audi TT (Aviator Grey - great color; great car) with clear bra only on the headlights and my wife has a 2008 Toyota Highlander (silver) with full frontal clear bra. Between the two, my ~12 year old TT is in much better shape. The Audi attracts fewer rocks and dings for some reason (low profile?) but the Highlander with the clear bra looks, in my opinion, much worse. No road rash, but just dull looking. I hate the partial hood clear bra line, and I would not cover the entire hood of a car with a clear bra (hides the beauty of the paint, I think, especially a metallic).

So, partially driven by the relative ease of repairing road rash, I'm leaning pretty strongly toward not putting on a clear bra. However, I know from experience (3rd car -- replica Porsche 550 Spyder in metallic blue Lexus color) that minor touch up of a metallic paint is quite difficult -- the metal flakes just won't cooperate in appearance.

Thanks for hanging in through this --- I appreciate others' opinions.


*Only worry with asking for special delivery treatment --
The dealer gave me an absolutely great price (thanks to USAA insurance method of having three dealers bid) -- but other than that, the dealer is rather unresponsive to my inquiries and, since they are not near where I live, I won't be back there for service --- so I have only moderate faith that they will heed my requests about delivery.

[armanm]

Yes as mentioned above DO NOT let them wash your car or do any detailing. Every time the service dept washes my car it ends up introducing more swirls and my 328 is jet black so swirls can be seen very easily.

[m6pwr]

A couple years ago I took a two-day detailing course. The instructor said something that struck me: even though high-end new car dealers spend substantial time and money training and supervising techs and other dealer personnel, they do virtually nothing of the sort for the porters and lot boys who wash and dry cars in stock (sometimes several times a week). The result (and I can vouch for this) is new paint with very fine hairline scratches, and, yes, sometimes swirl marks, in the clear coat. Nothing very obvious - - you have to look just at the right angle in good light - - but the damage is there, even if the paint overall is very glossy. My experience has been that this minute scratching happens to the interior wood trim too.

I just took delivery of a new 3 series mineral gray metallic. The car was ordered so I picked it up the day after the dealer received it from the vehicle preparation center. For the first time in my BMW ownership experience, I asked my CA specifically NOT to have the car washed or cosmetically prepped in any way, exterior or interior. He was happy to oblige and only took the plastic off the morning that I picked the car up. No fuss. What I got is a car with no minute scratches anywhere, and that includes the interior wood trim. The paint and wood is perfect. Glad I did this and will definitely do it again if I ever order another BMW.

[Christos]

Originally Posted by BavarianFanatic

This is just a bit overblown. Your single experience is hardly sufficient grounds to make such a suggestion. Especially since you have no idea the level of competence the OP has with respect to detailing (no offense intended if the OP DOES know what to do). There's a 99% chance that everything will be perfectly fine. As it is, MG isn't really a color that would even show much in the way of swirls, etc.

I'd suggest letting them do what they would normally do and leave it at that. The shop doing the Opti-coat should be properly prepping the paint anyway. I'd also suggest you reconsider the clear bra. The front profile of the F30 exposes quite a bit of paint to chips and road rash. But again, MG would be fairly easy to correct if you did happen to get a random chip.

I picked up my MG 428i last night. I specifically told them not to buff the car out. The car did have several clear coat blemishes and upon my inspection they spot buffed them out. Other than the couple blemishes the car looked fantastic, most likely and partly because it did not have any exterior prep (buffing) The dealer actually asked me before delivery if I wanted exterior prep. Of course I said no.

MG looks like it will be prone to scratches and swirl marks quite easily. Had only one night and its dirty as hell already. But I love it

[Mobster1983]

Find a really good detailer that you trust in your area and take the car straight to them. My dealer prepped the car and also left light scratches on it. Very fine and only seen in certain light, but can still be seen.

I would highly recommend a clear bra. I had one installed earlier this week after only having my car for one month. I already have at least three chips on the front bumper and hood from driving. Get a high quality clear bra, the extra few hundred bucks is worth it, and cover the entire hood so there isn't a line. The high quality ones should not dull the look of the paint, I personally think mine looks better now.

[BavarianFanatic]

Clear bra is intended to protect the paint from impact damage. It does weather and wear over time however. The solution is to simply replace it or, if your driving habits are such that there is no longer a probability of damage, remove it. I don't think I'd intentionally bypass the idea with the justification that you can touch up the chips. I'd rather avoid the need for repair all together.

[pbjr]

On my delivery I asked for no prep and no front plate. I had opticoat and xpel done. If you're going with opticoat don't have them wax the car. It will have to be removed anyway.

[Radari216]

Skip the opt-coat. Find out who the dealership uses for clear bra installation and have it done by them yourself and save the dollars. A clear bra will protect the vehicle from rock chips, etc.

Have a friend who has one on his car and he would never get another new car without putting one on the front end and other areas prone to getting dinged.