88 ix Out for a Bath (pics)

[Isostar13]

Beautiful weather in N. NJ today. What should I do? How about re-winterize my 88 ix? Sounds good. Here we go:

Body: wash/clay/wax
Glass: wash/windex/rainx

A few things I complained about to myself while outside working on the car: basketweaves are tough as hell to clean well. I notice brake residue is roughly double on my rear wheels when compared to the front. Something seems off there... I was under the impression that typically the front brakes do the majority of the work. Any ideas?

Pics:

Getting everything ready...


Pre-wash. Still looks decent from the last treatment about a month ago:


Working on the weaves:



Uh oh... look what I found under the front grille:



Front grille right side screw. Looks like that should be replaced. Anyone know what size that is off hand?



Another trouble spot under the front right high beam:



Original owner stuck these on to help ward off deer. Any suggestions for removal?



Either clay bars work really well, or I suck at washing:



Wax on:



Wax off... ALL DONE:



Nice and shiny (love those microfiber towels):



All clean:

[Joe G]

nice

[MaxBell]

Can you post some less edited-the-shit-out-of them photos?

[Vivek]

That claying is not your fault. No one can wash a car and remove all the embedded contaminants. If you are...you're washing way to hard. Always wash with zero pressure, your QD and bug remover and stuff should dissolve all of the things you would have to scrub off. Claying is for removing contaminants that washing doesn't. Feel free to PM me with all of your detailing questions :D

[Isostar13]

Haha, last three were run through camera +, if you want the originals I can post those too. I wouldn't call it "edited-the-shit-out-of-them" though. It's just one press of the thumb, hardly any work at all.

All photos were taken on my iphone though, so overall I'm pleased with the quality.

[Isostar13]

That claying is not your fault. No one can wash a car and remove all the embedded contaminants. If you are...you're washing way to hard. Always wash with zero pressure, your QD and bug remover and stuff should dissolve all of the things you would have to scrub off. Claying is for removing contaminants that washing doesn't. Feel free to PM me with all of your detailing questions :D

Thanks. I'm not a detailer, but over the years my system has at least kept my paint decent across my various cars.

I guess one day I should get someone to show me how its actually supposed to be done.

Anyone have a comment on the brake residue or the rusty screw?

[Vivek]

Umm...you may have low dust pads up front and normal/higher dusting than normal pads in the back. Just paint the screw. It's holding your grill on, who gives a fuck?

[325ix]

Umm...you may have low dust pads up front and normal/higher dusting than normal pads in the back. Just paint the screw. It's holding your grill on, who gives a fuck?

Dude, keep your opinion to your fucking self if you are gonna be an ass about it. He obviously cares about his car a lot more than most R3V members and doesn't want rust, no matter where it is, on his car.

OP Love the ix! 88's unite! For the screw, you could go to the local hardware store and look for a similar replacement.

[ZM Blue Devil]

He is being modest, this is one of the cleanest e30s we've had at the shop.

Its 60k miles clean car.

Which reminds me... Suspension work paperwork...

[TrentW]

You've got a very clean looking ix there. Good that you're in close proximity to Guten--Levent will always treat you right.

As posted previously, you can get those grille screws at the hardware store--don't bother painting over the rusted ones, that's not gonna last.

Those deer whistles in the brake ducts should just be held on with self-adhesive tape, so just use a heat gun on low or a blow dryer and carefully heat the base up and peel them off. You may need to use some 3M Adhesive Remover to get off the residue and then polish.

Get yourself some touch-up paint and take care of those rock chips, but make sure you clean any wax off beforehand.

The clay bar is doing it's job, so don't worry about that.

[StreetMafia21]

props clean ix

[Isostar13]

Thanks for the advice guys. I wasn't sure about how to remove the deer whistles with minimal damage, but the hair dryer sounds like a great idea.

Home depot for screws it is.

Yes, I'm lucky living close to Guten. Levent and Joel have already helped me out with a lot of small items. Levent's shop is like a physical amazon store for e30 parts. Looking forward to the suspension paperwork!

[Killacortes]

Some serious cleaning! Nice work

[330i ZHP]

very nice iX

[Vivek]

Sorry for suggesting to just paint the screws. I don't know what I was thinking to be completely honest and I agree that if it was my car I would want it completely perfect down to every detail.

Sorry about that guys...


Oh and about the rock chips--unfortunately they are in a very tough and tight place to polish. The ideal solution would be to clean it out with like alcohol and sand out any rust (1000ish grit, but make sure that doesn't touch your paint), then put in some touch up paint, let it mostly dry, and then sand it with about 2000 grit then 3000 until it's level, and polish it all when it's fully dry. It will be fully flush and almost perfect this way. In this situation, however, if it's too hard to polish that area, just sand out the rust and carefully apply thin layers of touch up paint until it's about level and let it dry.