Over the years I (and many of us) have become intimately familar with washing R50/53 and found all the weird places water collects...you know, the places you have to dry well or risk drops streaming off as soon as you hit the road. So anybody got any tips about the peculiarities of R56?? Are there any?

Earlier we speculated that a good jet of water was enough to clean the felt wheel wells...how this working out?? I'm used to hand cleaning the plastic ones of my R50.

 

It has felt wheel wheels?

 

I noticed a lot of water builds up between the boot and the roof. Every time I open it after washing to dry the seals it poors water on the roof .

 

What I've noticed is that getting the water that gets stuck in the grill out is the biggest pain. The same thing happens with the back...

 

Yo gokart. Rain ... a good old heavy thunderstorm will always do the trick, especially if a twister in there to get the water going sideways

 

 

have you tried a leaf blower? I have a cordless one, but for the MCS
i pull out the shopvac and use the blower extension. works great.

besure to hold the blower nozzle while you aim so it doesn't fall off.

 

Thanks Ken, but living in a condo does not help my situation So my washing/drying options are limited at the wash bay. It's all right though b/c I drive off and finish drying the bottom of the bumper when I get home

Thanks for the suggestion though

 

Yeah, tried one of those today!!! I always had to wick water out of the base of the a-pillar of my R50...R56's is a very different configuration. Always had to do the same thing at the base of the R50 headlights and tail lights...or course R56 headlight configuration will change this all up.

Who knows that tricks this bad boy has in store. First wash should be Saturday!!!

 

I really do not know what I would do without using an air compressor to blow the water out of the nooks and crannies of Romi. The lower front grill seems to hold the most water. The outside rearview mirrors next, then the rear boot lid.

 

I use the blower part of my shopvac also. I do a round trip over the car, paying special attention to the front grill, rear grill, rear view mirrors, rear license plate. the gas cap, and all the seems.

 

^ Oooh...good idea! Can I vacuum the areas where the water is stored? I'm definitely trying that next time

 

The boot, definitely. And under my license plate but you really have to open the boot, wipe the entire inside frame area dry and then shut it and open it another couple of times to make sure nothing's continuing to drip out.

 

leaf blower gets the job done. it blows the water out of all the cracks and crevices.

 

I've washed my R56 Cooper a few times and I can see some differences. First of all the front and rear bumper profiles on the Cooper are much easier to clean and dry as they are much simpler. The chrome grill is deeper than on my R50 so one can reach way in there to dry it...although there appears to be fewer tabs holding it on so not as much water collects. It does collect on the engine bay shelf up by the wipers/battery compartment...that'd have to be dried off really well, so do check under the bonnet. Water does not puddle at the bottom of the front or rear lights as before...but the rear lights are more convex in shape so drying around the outer edge is a new thing. Water still seems to exit the lower a-pillar and I'm not sure why...just the same-same as before.

In the end it's all good...just places for the new R56ers to check during those first few car washes.

 

How about a high speed dry off? You just go really really fast.