First time washing my black M3

[angelman]

I finally got tired of my dusty car and decided to bite the bullet and give it a wash. Dumb things I learned doing this which are
- This is my first black car, don't wash a black car in the middle of the day in socal! Hard water and hot sun makes for double the work. I had to wash it a second time in the late afternoon.
- You HAVE to start by washing the roof first then the rest. On other cars I just started on the hood and worked my way back but with so much smooth, curvy, slippery glass you must start on the roof.
- Washing the car yourself will drive you crazy as you find all the imperfections. Although I was happy with my car when I inspected it on purchase, detailed inspection while washing revealed a few paint flaws (bubbling/blistering in one small area) and some areas that seem to have already suffered degradation of the clear coat (it's as if it had come into contact with bird *sugar* and yet I have not seen any in those places), also found a small chip where the kids opened the car door carelessly. But life is too short to worry about such things.
- The water droplets on the uv coated glass roof look amazing, get your camera ready for some instagram action.
- Car is pretty easy to wash given that there are no oily parts and barely any brake dust to clean off.
- some of those curvy surfaces have some very nice shapes to them.
- Within 5 minutes of washing my car it got dusty again from pollen and dust in the LA air.
- of course the next day there was a little wet cloud rain/mist

 

[Roentgen]

You never really get to know the (outside of the) car until you wash and wax it yourself.

Wash in the shade if you can! I wash and rinse in sections (also top first), and everytime I move on to the next, I'll spray the rest of the car again to try to keep the water spots down. Those "shammy" absorbent cloths are great for drying, and drying the car really is the only way to make sure you wipe away the water spots. If you have the time, waxing it makes every subsequent wash that much easier (you REALLY get to know every curve and crevice after waxing)!

Congrats!

 

[angelman]

Washing in the shade is ideal but I don't have access.. well I do have a garage but apart from being filled with junk it appears to be even more dusty than outside! I had read that on a brand new car one, there is not much point waxing since it already has the coatings from manufacture.. but maybe I am wrong..

 

[LonestarV]

Washed mine for the first time this past weekend too. Only noticed one paint blemish, but I can deal with it.

I love ONR and am so glad I went that route with the washing routine. Amazing stuff!

 

[RubberToe]

I love ONR and am so glad I went that route with the washing routine. Amazing stuff!

Second this, just did my second hand wash using this method. No going back.

RT

 

[SD_Engnr]

Washed mine for the first time this past weekend too. Only noticed one paint blemish, but I can deal with it.

I love ONR and am so glad I went that route with the washing routine. Amazing stuff!

ONR has been life changing since I discovered it 3 years ago. Now, with the Model 3, I keep a spray bottle of it (diluted to proper quick detailer ratio) and clean microfiber towels in the trunk. For those mornings where I've got a couple of extra minutes, and if there's not a lot of dirt on the paint, I'll give the car a quick detail. Then I'm on my merry way in my shiny 3 It's also nice to keep on hand in case a bird decides to use it for target practice.

Car is getting XPEL tomorrow, so it's about to get even easier to clean, and more worry-free!

 

[follow.johnny]

+1 for NOT washing your car in direct sun LOL (I'm in Socal as well and park outside for now)

I also wash with ONR and I prefer to wash it in the early morning like 6-7am. The water doesn't dry too fast so it's easier to wash the car from top to bottom starting from the glass and wash panel by panel and dry after you clean each panel.

I love having little to no brake dust since I hardly use the brakes (Yay!)

 

[WattsHappening]

Yep, ONR is magical stuff!

When you're ready for the next step, get some DIY ceramic coating and apply. There is a bit of prep work to do, but once you've done it, you will be amazed at how little dust and pollen stick to the paint!

 

[pdxev]

I washed, polished, and coated my car myself soon after delivery. There was so much dust on it on pickup that it really needed a wash!

 

[Wubbles]

Sorry to hijack this thread with some questions of my own. But I'm also planning on washing my Red Model 3 this weekend. I have Nanolex ceramic coating + Xpel PPF installed. Complete newbie when it comes to washing my car. I have an AR Blue Clean AR390SS 2000 psi pressure washer.

Is the general idea for someone looking to use their pressure washer to purchase a foam cannon, some soap (Chemical Guys Honeydew?), and then just spray the entire car so it gets nice and foamy, then proceed to rinse either with a garden hose for a gentle rinse or still using the pressure washer but keeping a reasonable distance? Then after rinsing hand dry with a high quality microfiber cloth?

 

[Promo714]

Sorry to hijack this thread with some questions of my own. But I'm also planning on washing my Red Model 3 this weekend. I have Nanolex ceramic coating + Xpel PPF installed. Complete newbie when it comes to washing my car. I have an AR Blue Clean AR390SS 2000 psi pressure washer.

Is the general idea for someone looking to use their pressure washer to purchase a foam cannon, some soap (Chemical Guys Honeydew?), and then just spray the entire car so it gets nice and foamy, then proceed to rinse either with a garden hose for a gentle rinse or still using the pressure washer but keeping a reasonable distance? Then after rinsing hand dry with a high quality microfiber cloth?

I just washed my red 3 this weekend. It has PPF and ceramic pro. I don't have a pressure washer but used a Gilmour Foam Master cleaning gun I got on amazon to foam it up. I watched a bunch of videos on washing a ceramic-coated car. Based on those, I moved the car into the shade, rinsed it with plain water, then washed the wheels with a brush using chem guys honeydew. I rinsed those and then foamed the whole car. After letting it sit for 2-3 minutes, I rinsed again. The next step was to hand wash the car with a microfiber wash mit. Rinsed again, then used a leaf blower to blow most of the water off (worked amazingly). From there dried what was left with microfiber towel. Pretty easy and took about 40 minutes.

 

[paulvinh]

This is my first black car and wow this thing is so prone to micro scratches and collects so much dust. I have routinely wash my car every two weeks with ONR waterless method. I plan to get ceramic coat so hopefully that will help keep it shiny and clean longer.

Tesla black paint is so soft.

 

[OptAdam]

As mentioned above a couple of times an ONR wash is definitely the way to go . So much faster, cheaper, safer and you don't have to worry about water spots as much!

 

[Lucy#?]

what about interior upholstery?

 

[Glamisduner]

I might have to try this ONR, but on a small vehicle like the model 3 I can't imagine water spotting would be an issue, I also have VERY hard water, the roof would need to be dryed extra fast I bet. On my current car I just use Meguiar's wash and wax, or even the regular gold wash, PH neutral soaps, or Chemical Guys Pink soap, spray the whole car with a foam cannon, then wash the whole car, then rinse and dry quickly. You shouldn't have to worry about spots while the soap is on the car, just after you rinse. I use an absorber to dry https://www.amazon.com/Absorber-349...&qid=1536108278&sr=8-5&keywords=carwash+towel.

 

[OptAdam]

what about interior upholstery?

The way that I did an ONR wash was to have a wash media and then have a microfiber towel soaking in the bucket. Take the towel out, ring it out as dry as possible and then use that to wipe down the interior. I think you will be very impressed with the cleaning power of it.

I might have to try this ONR, but on a small vehicle like the model 3 I can't imagine water spotting would be an issue, I also have VERY hard water, the roof would need to be dryed extra fast I bet. On my current car I just use Meguiar's wash and wax, or even the regular gold wash, PH neutral soaps, or Chemical Guys Pink soap, spray the whole car with a foam cannon, then wash the whole car, then rinse and dry quickly. You shouldn't have to worry about spots while the soap is on the car, just after you rinse. I use an absorber to dry https://www.amazon.com/Absorber-349...&qid=1536108278&sr=8-5&keywords=carwash+towel.

You should absolutely give ONR a shot. If you are using a foam cannon plus soap to wash a vehicle then it will save you quite a bit of money and time.

Not to mention that ONR negates whatever hard water you might have because it pulls all the minerals to the bottom of the bucket.