[Mark Sutherland]

New to the site. Just took delivery on my 2015 435i coupe. Manual says car automatically goes to park when you turnoff the engine. How do I achieve "neutral" when I take it to the car wash?

[Mike_L]

Don't turn it off. I've never turned my car off going through the car wash. Turn off ASS, put it in neutral. I believe its covered in the manual exactly what to do.

[alphapunk2]

just turn off ASS and press the P button on the gear shift, it's pretty much the same as neutral (unless you still want the car to move)

[KneeDragr]

Wash it yourself so you don't swirl up the paint in those machines!

[Falafel Combo]

1. Put car in neutral

2. Leave engine running

3. Go through car wash

4. Fiery explosion



Have a nice car wash!

[G30 B58]

Mark Sutherland Drives: 2015 435i M Coupe. Post a pic please.

Please don't use a drive through car wash, please. The paint and or wheels will never be the same.

[Blubaron79]

Originally Posted by F32 N55

Mark Sutherland Drives: 2015 435i M Coupe. Post a pic please.

Please don't use a drive through car wash, please. The paint and or wheels will never be the same.

Exactly. Drive through car washes destroy a car.

[34.50]

I'm also going to say don't use a drive through car wash. If you must use an automated car wash, use the touchless car wash - these are the ones where you pull into a bay, and there is a thing that goes over head and around the sides to do your car wash.

Ideally, if you have the time and equipment, wash the car yourself. It may not feasible year round, but at least, try to do it when the weather allows.

[smithf80]

I will never take my car to a carwash. I love it too much

[KGB_123_99]

Originally Posted by Blubaron79

Exactly. Drive through car washes destroy a car.

I am sure touch-free car washes that only use water jets are fine. Up here in the north washing the car by hand is not really an option in the winter

[CHCCubs]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Blubaron79
Quote:
Originally Posted by F32 N55
Mark Sutherland Drives: 2015 435i M Coupe. Post a pic please.

Please don't use a drive through car wash, please. The paint and or wheels will never be the same.
Exactly. Drive through car washes destroy a car.
I am sure touch-free car washes that only use water jets are fine. Up here in the north washing the car by hand is not really an option in the winter

Agreed, washing the car by hand isn't really an option in the winter so I use the touchless car wash whenever I can.

[Mike_L]

Theres nothing wrong with drive thru car washes if they're properly maintained. If they aren't, thats when you get scratches. A well maintained wash is no more likely to scratch your car than hand washing it.

[G30 B58]

Originally Posted by Mike_L

Theres nothing wrong with drive thru touch-free car washes if they're properly maintained. If they aren't, thats when you get scratches. A well maintained touch-free wash is no more likely to scratch your car than hand washing it.

FTFY. No matter how well maintained they are, anytime these carwashes touch your car you run the risk of a scratch. That Jeep that went through the wash before you.... he was 4 wheeling in a quarry. You wanna tell me those brushes are clean?

Touchless = no scratches and certainly not as clean as it could be. Using equipment at home at least you can minimize the exposure the scratches. I'll even use a leaf blower to dry my cars on occasion. Why? One less time the car gets touched.

'nuff said:

http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho...3&postcount=52

[AstonKarim]

Last week was the first time I used a touchless car wash. I was afraid to hand wash and make swirls due to all the dirt that accumulated. Sprayed some wheel cleaner and drove in. I reckon I will have to do this during winter months.

[G30 B58]

I understand climate and maybe HOAs will have a bearing on your car wash options.

OP is in SoCal.

[puma1552]

Touchless carwashes are perfectly fine, and in the winter months for those of us in the north, a requirement.

I can wash my car by hand in my heated wash bay all winter long, but I sure as hell am not going to drag my MF mitt through all the salt on the car, that would scratch the hell out of the car...I go to the touchless car wash first to get as much of the salt off as I can, then when I get home I very carefully hand wash the car as touchless washes don't get the car very clean, but they at least get it passable for a hand wash. Then a blow dry with my hand held blower and I'm good to go.

I would never, ever go through a brush carwash though. No way no how. I'll suffer with a not-very-clean car that went through the touchless occasionally when I'm too lazy or don't have time to do a hand wash as well.

[Mike_L]

Considering that one of the largest BMW dealers around (Rallye BMW) has their own drive thru car wash, I'm still gonna use it. If its good enough for a dealer to use on new cars, its good enough for me to use. What happens in little towns throughout the world isn't going to happen in the big city. Everything is maintained very well around here. If the car is too dirty it's not allowed through. I have zero fear of anything breaking. I have zero fear of the car getting scratched up.

[puma1552]

Originally Posted by Mike_L

Considering that one of the largest BMW dealers around (Rallye BMW) has their own drive thru car wash, I'm still gonna use it. If its good enough for a dealer to use on new cars, its good enough for me to use. What happens in little towns throughout the world isn't going to happen in the big city. Everything is maintained very well around here. If the car is too dirty it's not allowed through. I have zero fear of anything breaking. I have zero fear of the car getting scratched up.

Dealers always have brutal brush carwashes to get the cars clean enough for delivery, because touchless washes don't get the car clean.

I'm not sure what the difference between the big city and small towns are in regards to this, one dirty car through those brushes and all that dirt ends up getting abraded on the next car in, so unless your dealer changes the brushes for every single vehicle that goes in (the softness of which would be questionable to begin with), your car will get just as fucked up as a car in some "small town" as you put it.

[Mike_L]

The small town vs big city thing makes a difference because in the city, theres no off roading around for cars and trucks to get dirt caked on. Our streets are also swept on a weekly basis. Plus, with more cars going through, they have to keep up the maintenance on the cloths inside the tunnel. We don't have the gas station washes like they do in the small towns. When I go down to Florida and have to use the stupid drive in washes where the machine moves around the car, I cringe. Our car washes are separate establishments that do nothing besides wash and detail cars. Since its all they do, they can keep it running right.

[ATLBlue]

Scratches in the paint are nothing compared to other issues you may encounter at a car wash.
Here's what happened to my 335 just a few weeks after I got it. I had not been to a car wash for years and thought that this one exception would not matter At the end of the conveyor, a broken weld caused a trap door to come up and wedge between the fender and side skirt on the driver side

[Ali Shiralian]

I thought I was the only one who uses a leaf blower

[carzaddict]

Originally Posted by Mark Sutherland

New to the site. Just took delivery on my 2015 435i coupe. Manual says car automatically goes to park when you turnoff the engine. How do I achieve "neutral" when I take it to the car wash?

putting your car in neutral involves pushing the gear lever forward 1 notch WITHOUT pressing "unlock"