I've made a deal to trade in my 05 Cooper for an 05 Cooper S convertible. The new one is also pure silver, but half the miles and 2 year warranty. The previous owner was not.. well a fussass and although the ad said mint it's not. I'm going to hit it with my detailing arsenal. I'll be sure to post before(dealer detailed)and after( OCD detailed). Has anyone had any success with getting scratches out of door handles or any of the other chrome bits like the trunk lip?
The paint and exterior plastic looks great, besides washing swirls and a few safeway dents that are being dealt with by the PDR guy.

The plastic is marked up inside, so they are replacing a few pieces fixing some and swapping what they can from mine, like front seats and chrome mirror caps. Fingers crossed It will be as nice as they say it will.
I know it is in dire need of Nero on the inside.

I've never worked on a fabric roof. I ordered some 303 roof cleaner and fabric guard. Any tips for application?

Thanks for the input.
Donna

 

I don't have a cabrio, so I have no input...but the above comment made me

That said, the 303 cleaner and protectant has a good reputation. RaggTopp is also supposed to be good. I know there are some folks here that can help you out.

 

Donna - I'm not sure where you are but ideally the canvas is best treated when the sun is hot as this aids in setting the product. In fact 303 recommends application in full sun when hot. I do mine in the summer and it mostly lasts a year (wear areas tend to loose beading faster).
The two tips I have are to wash the top only with water between applications and when applying 303 pour the bottle contents into a bowl and use a stiff brush to paint it on the top. The first tip is because soaps will degrade the waterproofing faster and they can also act to attract dirt to the canvas. The second tip is due to the tenacity of the product and elimination of over-spray as well as being able to work the product into the canvas.

 

I used to do our Cabrio top the same as described above, it worked great, and the top always looked great.

As to the chrome, there are many different polishes out there that can help make it look new again.

Mark

 

Thanks MiniMaybee, I'll paint it on for sure, great advice. I have a heated garage and I'll put the 1000 watters on it to help it set. It rains here a lot so I'll do the best I can now and again in the summer.

 

Thanks, Mark
Any metal polish will shine it up but there are scratches from probably a ring on the door handles and rear chrome strip. I've got some metal buffing wheels I may just give it a try.

 

I know that at least *some* of the chrome is chromed plastic...so be careful with buffing wheels.

I use Meguiar's All Metal Polysh on my chrome stuff (plastic or otherwise) and it works quite well.