BMW 3 Series E30

since 1983-1994 release

Repair and operation of the car

You for certain paid attention as impressive the wet, just washed car looks. Covered with water drops, it sparkles and poured on light as new. Unfortunately, it lasts not for long, water dries, the body grows dull and there are noticeable all small risks and scratches.

Great variety of the most different medicines for care of a body and salon adding gloss and shine to both old, and new cars is produced. In movies and telecasts it is possible to see often how good-natured Americans or Europeans carefully rub the favourites to mirror gloss.

At our dirt on roads, especially in off-season, apparently, it is unreasonable to be spent for special shampoos and polishes and to direct a luster that in five minutes again to soil the car. Let's try to prove that autocosmetics at us is necessary not less, and it is even more, than in other countries. At least because it not only the shining purity, it first of all – protection against external harmful effects which in our climatic zone are enough: big differences of temperatures, "salt cocktail" in the winter, the dust, sand scratching paint as an emery cloth, stones leaving small cracks in enamel – in the summer. Add to it the acid rains which already became a reality, the ultra-violet radiation which is burning out color pigments from a paint and varnish covering and doing your car faded and dim, bad quality of coloring of domestic cars.

At anybody need of anticorrosive processing of the bottom and thresholds does not raise doubts. And if you want to keep appearance of a body and salon in original state, not to do without autocosmetics in any way. In particular it concerns new foreign cars. Enamels on some of them are made on a water basis – such structure is less harmful in production (the requirement of ecology). However they are not so strong as they usual synthetic, so, and are more vulnerable. Processing of the car begins with a sink. It will be hardly possible to remove with just clear water all eaten dirt, oil spots or traces of wood pitch though it is worth rinsing with water nevertheless to wash away small stones and sand which can scratch paint. What to wash with? Not laundry detergent, soda or house detergents, for example, for cleaning of a tile or ware. They "eat" dirt perfectly, but at the same time destroy paint not less actively and, getting through cracks, cause metal corrosion. So, it is necessary "to bathe" the favourite only automobile shampoo and obligatory a special finely porous sponge which detains grains of sand, preventing emergence of scratches on a body surface.

Remember, misters, remember.

The car shampoos which are on sale in the market can be divided into two groups conditionally: with small and high content of wax. The first contain the dissolved surfactants "extending" (extracting) from a surface dirt. Shampoo easily washes off, leaving a thin layer of wax. At the second the washing structure includes solvent, and the content of wax and polymers is higher much. In fact it is shampoo and the polish rolled into one. Such medicines are very popular in the Scandinavian countries, it is especially convenient to use them late fall, in the winter and in the early spring when because of low temperature it is difficult to apply strongly thickened polish, – washed the car and the body is already processed. However usability inevitably affects the price – such shampoo is usually 2-5 times more expensive than usual.

To prevent formation of spots at uneven drying and to raspolirovat wax, it is recommended to wipe a body with soft fabric, and best of all artificial suede which is on sale separately in a plastic case. It will serve to you not one year. After a sink it is possible to start processing of a paint and varnish covering. If the car was never processed by several years or at all, then, probably, it makes sense to apply a so-called reducer of color. The matter is that in process of enamel aging the top unprotected paint coat under the influence of the external environment is softened and grows dull. Reducers of color contain fine abrasive powder with the clearing structure which softly removes an external "dead" layer and at the same time levels a surface a little, helping to clear old spots of the eaten dirt.

If, at last having washed a body, you suddenly found traces of the beginning corrosion, you should not despair: small spots easily are removed rust solvents. They interact with a rust, leaving a film, steady against further corrosion, – passivate metal and, as a rule, do not demand special preparation of a surface. Though process of transformation happens directly in the eyes, everything depends on the sizes of a spot and depth of penetration of corrosion. For large spots processing should be repeated several times with small breaks. After processing the damaged site will need to be tinted.

Now, when the body is completely prepared, it is possible to apply polish to add more gloss to the car, and, above all, to protect a body from the hostile external environment. What to polish with? The question is rather difficult as this part of cosmetics for cars is presented most widely. Polishes for a body, plastic slips and bumpers, for chrome and rims, colourless and with the painting effect, liquid and pastelike, with abrasives and without – for every taste and the purse sizes. There are, of course, universal polishes adding gloss to the painted panels, bumpers, the chromeplated details, glass and even tires. They will interest the people caring first of all for appearance of the car and for the image more likely. But protective abilities of such medicines cannot be very high, properties of a surface of different materials strongly differ. For ideal protection each material demands processing by "the" certain structure.

So, body. For new or almost new cars colourless polishes are ideal, they are rather cheap and easy-to-use. Some of them contain the teflon and polymers of supersliding forming very smooth surfaces interfering dirt sticking after polishing. If the car resembled much and its paint is speckled by scratches from sand and stones or the wrong sink, it is more preferable color polishes. They are more dense, to put them a little more difficultly, than colourless, but they well fill and mask small risks and attritions on enamel. However you should not forget that polish – not paint and, in case of deep and wide scratches, will not be able to replace it. Polishes enter electrochemical reaction with a paint and varnish covering, it is necessary for their full "hardening" about days therefore they are put in a garage or under the open sky in warm weather and, of course, not in the rain.

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And about usefulness of cosmetics in our severe conditions. Agree, the dirty, dimmed later winters jammed by "janitors" of glass against the background of the shining body look as "the cataract in an eye" in addition to go with such glasses is unsafe: through them it is badly visible the road, especially at night or at the movement towards to the sun. Not to remove with one careful washing the infinite number of the scratches left sand, brushes of screen wipers and also at rise and lowering of side glasses. Voski and silicones, содержающиеся in usual polishes, can give a zamutneniye therefore it is better to use a special cleaner of glasses with the polishing and protective effect. It well clears a surface and at the same time smoothes small risks, doing glasses by more transparent. And if to process an external surface medicine from the anti-rain series, and in a washer reservoir to splash the all-weather cleaner, the world around from interior of the car will appear in other light at all.

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There are also other details changing over time the original form and spoiling shape of the car, for example bumpers and wheels. Black plastic bumpers already soon become gray, dirt easily gets into the porous surface of plastic, and any shampoos from there not to get it any more. Especially for such cases release the cleaner returning to a bumper "native" black color and at the same time covering with its protective film.

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For the chromeplated and aluminum details the means containing a small amount of abrasives, and polishing structures for gloss giving are on sale. Them it is possible to process also rims though the medicines are developed for them. For special fans there are even means for care of tires.

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Starting such "clear-out", a sin not to take care of salon, we go not on, and in the car. One vacuum cleaner and a wet rag it is possible to achieve considerable results, however everything has the predelea. For example, the forward panel, as well as black bumpers, has feature to grow dull and burn out in the sun and actually demands processing by some polish. It is possible to wash fabric seats and a fleecy upholstery of salon with water with laundry detergent, of course, if you have time and an opportunity to wait for several days until they dry, without using at the same time the car. Aerosol upholstery cleaners can serve as a good alternative to it. White foam is instantly absorbed, purifies fabric and very quickly dries, leaving a transparent protective layer, – it is rather simple to wipe incidentally spilled liquid. The only, perhaps, shortcoming – a big expense of means and respectively high price of processing.

In the end a loaded question – and whether costs? Perhaps and so will descend? The benefit of GAI not strongly carps at appearance, and purity of the car influences technical parameters a little. But imagine that the car should be sold. What first of all the buyer will pay attention to? Correctly, will look at appearance how a body – whether not "rotten"? It is worth spending 10–20 dollars a year for autocosmetics not to worry at least about it and, you see, it is much more pleasant to go in the pure, sparkling car. By the way, statistically, such cars have an accident less often. Why – I do not know, only the fact remains.