Keeping Clean

  • Thread starter Thread starter Puppethead
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What are you favorite tools for keeping the inside clean? Mainly the dust that builds up on the dashboard and other surfaces. Microfiber cloth? Does the main 8.8” screen scratch or is it pretty durable to wiping clean?
 
GvilleGuy said:
What are you favorite tools for keeping the inside clean? Mainly the dust that builds up on the dashboard and other surfaces. Microfiber cloth? Does the main 8.8” screen scratch or is it pretty durable to wiping clean?
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Swiffer dusters are what I use most. I don't touch my touch screen. My last car was not touch screen and I'm much more used to the idrive system so I use that. Cannot help with that. I don't even use the volume knob in the center, just the wheel controls.
 
Lainey said:
I hate the snow that comes with it too, but this is why we washed both cars yesterday when it was in the low 60s.
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I just don't understand why you would live in a place that snows if you hate the snow. I'm in Syracuse, and we get 10+ feet of snow on most years (this year, I think we barely got 5'). Lots of people complain all winter, but there are plenty of places to live that don't get snow.

I love the snow. Winter is my favorite season. Snow is beautiful and watching it fall is peaceful. Plus I'm a skier so it's also recreational!

Right now is my least favorite time of year. The snow is melting - in fact most of it is gone. All that is left is mud. And instead of snow, we get rain. Cold rain. I'll take 30F and snowing over 35F and raining any day!
 
GetOffYourGas said:
I just don't understand why you would live in a place that snows if you hate the snow. I'm in Syracuse, and we get 10+ feet of snow on most years (this year, I think we barely got 5'). Lots of people complain all winter, but there are plenty of places to live that don't get snow.

I love the snow. Winter is my favorite season. Snow is beautiful and watching it fall is peaceful. Plus I'm a skier so it's also recreational!

Right now is my least favorite time of year. The snow is melting - in fact most of it is gone. All that is left is mud. And instead of snow, we get rain. Cold rain. I'll take 30F and snowing over 35F and raining any day!
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My family is here and my spouse hates the heat. This is a compromise. We at least don't get lake effect snow so rarely massive storms, just a little at a time to accumulate.

Our snow already melted weeks ago. We warm up faster as we also get really hot come summer. Best of all seasons here. I'm only unhappy 1 season and same with my spouse. It was sunny and 70 today. Just beautiful! Our winter is definitely much shorter than upstate NY
 
Puppethead said:
I'm curious about everyone's opinions of keeping the SE clean, starting with the exterior.
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Well for one , don't park under a cherry tree:D
(note: not an SE)
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There is sooo much with that pic... but I'm kind of speechless (my apologies to the owner)
 
GvilleGuy said:
Would love to see a pic with the Mini brand rear flaps. If they look good I might add them if they help keep the back end cleaner.
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I got the MINI mud flaps, the regular F56 ones just mounted right on. I was wrong in my memory of them, they work great to keep the front sides clean. And the backs work great too, but I still get dust on the rear window due to the nature of air flow on a hatch back design.

No noticeable change in range, so I'm super pleased. My life includes daily gravel road driving, so I need them. Here's a photo that shows both front and rear, I've been waiting for decent weather (and time!) to get better photos.

setalon.webp
 
@Puppethead - Did you use the foam pieces on the rears, or leave them off?

I also installed front and rear MINI mud flaps and my findings are the same. The rears help reduce dirt buildup on the boot, but certainly don't eliminate it. (And they are far more effective with the stock 7" wheel & tire combo than my wider aftermarket wheels with meaty tires.)
 
Puppethead said:
It's not feasible to wash the SE by hand in the winter
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I go to the 8-quarter DIY car wash in the winter. It's cold and I suffer, but it's for my MINI Cooper. I have knee-pads (that I usually forget) so I can get down and blast away at the underside. I trust MINI's engineers to have waterproofed everything under there.

If it's a sunny day, I use one of my microfiber towels to dry the side away from the sun first and hope the sun will keep the water on the other side from icing up. However, if I end up with a thin coating of ice on part of the car, it doesn't bother me--it's like short-term PPF, right? It tends to sublimate away in all but the coldest weather. The last thing I want is to scratch the paint because I tried to dry the water just after it turned to ice.
 
Puppethead said:
Dealer put them on when I had my summer wheels put on, so I don't know. Is there a way to check?
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Probably easier to show images from the installation instructions than try to describe with words:
FlapInstall1.webp
FlapInstall2.webp

If you look in that area, does it look like there's foam in there? Or is it just the gap?
 
MichaelC said:
If you look in that area, does it look like there's foam in there? Or is it just the gap?
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Looks like a gap, no foam that I can see. Although in the real world the foam might be hidden behind the actual flap, the fit is quite snug. The gap runs across the trim a shown in the last image, so maybe the foam is just used to block the front part of the gap (see second image) and is hard to see when the flap is mounted.
 
Puppethead said:
Looks like a gap, no foam that I can see. Although in the real world the foam might be hidden behind the actual flap, the fit is quite snug. The gap runs across the trim a shown in the last image, so maybe the foam is just used to block the front part of the gap (see second image) and is hard to see when the flap is mounted.
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Thank you for reporting!

I believe the foam's purpose is to fill that small gap, likely to keep water from collecting behind the fender liner. The foam pieces included in the kit were much "deeper" than shown in the illustration, so they protruded much more. I have tried compressing them, but they eventually re-expand. If I were to do it over again, I would either trim them down or leave them off altogether.
 
MichaelC said:
Warm Weather Maintenance Washing
When the weather is warm enough to wash my car in the driveway (shaded), I basically use the two-bucket method with minor embellishments. (Note: Since I took delivery of my SE in late fall, I haven't actually done this yet--it's my plan.)
  • Spray whole car with garden hose to loosen the lightest debris and begin soaking.
  • Spray on foaming shampoo to pre-wash. Wait a few minutes for it to soak and loosen/lubricate.
  • Rinse car off with garden hose.
  • Hand wash with the two-bucket method and microfiber wash mitt, working from top to bottom.
    • Bucket 1 has the car washing shampoo (and a grit guard in the bottom).
    • Bucket 2 has clean water for rinsing/cleaning the wash mitt (and a grit guard in the bottom).
  • Rinse car off with garden hose.
  • Blow dry with a car dryer.
  • Clean windows with a waffle weave microfiber towel and ammonia-free cleaner (safe for the tint on the inside of the windows).
  • Finish with a ceramic booster (spray on; wipe off with microfiber towel; buff with clean microfiber towel)
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An update with some lessons learned today.

Instead of full-blown two-bucket method, I adapted the Garry Dean method - I used the same plush microfiber towels I normally use for rinseless washing, flipping and folding to (gently) wipe with a clean quadrant, then setting the towel aside once all quadrants have been used.

For drying, I quickly learned that blow drying with a car dryer REQUIRES a rinse aid or drying aid. The water from my garden hose is clearly too filled with minerals, and blow drying just resulted in millions of tiny water spots. <sigh> Since I didn't have a rinse aid/drying aid, I just re-rinsed the car and gently dried with a microfiber drying towel.

That said, the blow dryer is great for coaxing water out of all the nooks & crannies that a towel can't get to - the mirrors, side markers, panel gaps, wheel bolt holes, etc. Blow the water out, gently pat with microfiber drying towel.

My appreciation for the rinseless wash method has really grown as a result. It uses significantly less water, takes significantly less time, has significantly lower risk of water spots, and it can be done in the relative comfort of my heated/cooled garage. Moving forward, I think I'll save the hose & bucket method for scenarios when the car is really dirty like after driving on country roads, first deep clean after winter, significant build-up of bugs after a trip, etc.
 
Anyone use a touchless auto wash? I typically hand wash but would like to supplement that a little. I have a ton of waterspots on the (black) roof that I'll need to correct soon as a result of neglect.
 
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