Recommend me an outdoor car cover

[rturbo 930]

For those of you who keep your cars outside, what kind of cover do you use? Being on the east coast, it needs to be waterproof and breathable.

[Kershaw]

Wait till it's on sale, then use a 20% coupon, and pick it up for $160. I also put pavers down.

[dnguyen1963]

I bought mine from Walmart for $30 and have used it for the last five year without any problem. You need to buy the smallest one to fit E30.

[TobyB]

Paint.

Car covers rust cars worse than rain does.

Near the ocean? A garage.

t
who has seen 'waterproof' car covers do far more damage than weather can.

[rturbo 930]

Have a garage. Losing it soon, hence the cover. Temporary situation. Has decent paint, but all the shit that comes off of trees will get into all the nooks and crannies, and start causing problems since they hold moisture, and will start to cause rust. I had a car I let sit outside, cleaning it when it came time to sell was a nightmare.

I can see how a car cover would do damage, but if it's breathable, I would imagine it would be fine.

[george graves]

If there is even the smallest amount of dust/dirt on your car, the cover will grind it into the paint.

[BaltimoreBimmer]

everyone seems to be bashing car covers instead of suggesting options. We get it. A car cover is not the best option. But guess what, for some of us without access to a garage, it is.

My off street parking behind my house has a massive tree that sits over the car and drips tree sap and bird shit, among other things, directly onto my car. Having a car cover is invaluable to me. I use the e30 specific NOAH cover. I picked it up from ESC tuning and it fits great and doesn't fly off. I applied a liberal coat of wax before putting her under at first so the wax takes the brunt of the "grinding." I'm a bit nervous of the side mirror pockets breaking, but if you are anal about it, it should be fine. Worth noting the cover is designed for a coupe/sedan, but it does fit a convertible. I believe it was around $160-180?

Something of note, this is not my DD so I'm not putting on and removing the cover on a daily basis. I am however messing around with the front end so I take care when I do roll it back to do my work once or twice a week. Considering my car needs paint correction anyway, I'm not too concerned about scratches in th wax/clear coat. I don't live in a particularly windy area either so it may be noticeably worse if you do...

In any event, the cover features a window for the license plate so you can legally park it on the street. It has a bag that is permentnly attached to the trunk side of the cover. You store the cover in it while not in use (duh) but when it is on the car, you close the bag in the trunk and have the straps coming out. Works nicely.

There is a bold "BMW" on the nose of the cover and on the side of the bag. A bit showy for me, but the rest of the cover is solid.

The cover dries out extremely fast and seems to be of quality material that limits condensation between itself and the car. I would buy it again if I had another e30.

[Mr. Burns]

I store my car under a car cover in the garage over the winter.

no issues.

ever.

[BobombETA]

I have a NOAH cover for my e36 when I put it away for winter storage, but I have used it for a couple weeks at a time outdoors. I haven't noticed any damage but I've been sure to wash the car each time before putting the cover on.

[dnguyen1963]

You guys are way too serious about this. It is a 29 yrs old car. I drive it every day, wash it once a month at most, don't have any intention of selling it, so don't really care if there is a few scratches on the body. I put the cover on because it is a vert and don't want to have stuff like bird shit all over the inside.

[RenaissanceMan]

You guys are way too serious about this. It is a 29 yrs old car. I drive it every day, wash it once a month at most, don't have any intention of selling it, so don't really care if there is a few scratches on the body. I put the cover on because it is a vert and don't want to have stuff like bird shit all over the inside.

Here you go. I use this for my e30 race car (it leaks when it rains), and bought it on the recommendation from another e30 racer. It's cheap, and it repels water really really well. For $28, you can't go wrong.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemVersion&item=201099315576&view=all&tid=1387424561010

[rturbo 930]

FYI, I ended up getting BavAuto's NOAH cover. It was a little over $200.

[rcsoundn1]

ebay link is a fail

[e304lyfe]

I use the e30 specific NOAH cover.

+1. At the time i found a vendor on ebay that sold it cheaper then my dealer could match.

The benefits of a quality breathable fitted car cover certainly outweight a few light scratches on the paint.

[Aleman]

I just ordered the cover off ECS Tuning, but not to protect the paint (my paint is shit, but it won't be forever) as much as to keep the sun out of the interior and off the exterior plastic & rubber parts.