Originally Posted by Steved

Hey that sounds pretty modest to me, you must have taken the 'blue' pill :D

I tend to do the following:

- firstly wash the wheels ( I usually remove the wheels and use a good non-caustic wheel cleaner to remove brake dust, then I wash them, then I use a tar remover to clean remove tar and rubber marks inside and out, then I wax the wheels using wheel wax)
- soak the X5 with clean water for 5 minutes to loosen surface dirt
- then wash the car using a good car wash solution like Zymol's Auto Wash
- start at the front of the X5 removing bugs and road grime, then wash the roof and then the rear and finally the sides
- once it's washed I rinse with a liquid wax called 'ultra wax' diluted in water and sprayed on
- then dry with 2-3 clean cotton towels
- once dry, I tend to clay bar the rear of the X5 (including the rear window) which picks up tar very easily, I don't clay the whole car unless I can feel that it needs it
- then I use Zaino Z-2 and polish the bodywork
- I use a good quality chrome polish on the tailpipes
- then I apply wax (usually Zymol Titanium) and finish off with a microfibre towel
- the final touch is to use a liquid tyre detailer on the matt black portions of the bumper and wheel arches

I use a combination of bucket and hose, never use a chamois, use either a sheepskin mit or sponge (depending on which are of the car), polish/wax every 1-2 weeks, wash every week... oh and I've got four other cars to do as well... :bustingup

It usually takes me between 1-2 hours depending on whether I can get the kids the help :slap:

Originally Posted by IFlyX5

Hayaku - That's one beautiful black M5!
What do you usually use to polish out the swirls and spiderwebs?

Originally Posted by hayaku

you polish every 1-2 weeks? got any clearcoat left? polish is not the same as wax... polish means to rub down the swirls, cuts, scratches in the clearcoat to remove them (like fine sanding).

My routine is pretty standard and inline with what professional detailers use. I use a porter cable random orbit polisher for most things and a full porter cable polisher for the hard spots that i don't have the time for. My first detail on the M5 took 20 hours of polish by machine to remove every last imperfection... can't be done by hand alone...

I left the gory details on how to wash and what to use out. Chemicals and technique can become sort of religion and i rather not go there. Lets just say I don't use zaino nor terry cloth because it doesn't meet my requirements...