I've seen people asking here and there about the question of winterizing a Mini (or, really, any car that we want to remain beautiful), and thought I'd put up a separate thread. As cold weather approaches, I know that more and more people will need this info, so I figured it's a good idea to start now. Hopefully, the pros can post their tips in here and maybe we can sticky this, at least for the late summer and fall.

Here's the question:

Assuming that we live in an area where it's below freezing for months at a time, how would you recommend prepping the car in the late fall for the next few month's bombardment of road salt, grime and cold? As most of us probably lack a spacious, heated garage with a drain, proper bucket washing and detailing is going to be difficult if not impossible (I personally don't relish the idea of detailing in mittens and a scarf ), so info on getting the most protective seal on the delicate paint is, I'd think, of prime importance. I searched the forums and did find a few threads like this "How do I wash in the wintertime?" one, but what if we know that our washings will mainly be spray-offs in the extreme part of the winter? Do you recommend a paint sealant, followed by a certain wax application, to best seal the paint?

I assume the answer will be something like do a thorough clay barring, followed by a certain sealant/wax combo, but other tips I've heard, such as removing the wheels and wiping down the entire interior of the wheel wells with WD40 (cleans the summer's grime plus makes it hard for snow to stick in there later on) are also the kind of tips we'd all appreciate.

Last, all you cold weather warriors, what pitfalls have you experienced, maintenance-wise, with the Mini in cold weather and what, if anything, have you done that you'd now do differently? I'm sure that some of us (probably me) will go out and do exactly the wrong thing which I'll be cursing myself for when the temp. plummets to near-zero.

 

Every fall, I'll wait for a warmer day where it is at least 50 degrees or so, then put on two coats of zaino (with longer drying time due to temperature). Save you claybarring and polishing till the spring.

My cars have sat through several horrible winters, outside 100% of the time, with nothing more than coin-op pressure washes, and in the spring the zaino is still beading water better than any other car in the lot. Proof that it is still protecting your paint.

 

What did you do tp prep the surface before applying the wax? I've read that if you don't clay away the imbedded contaminents first, that they will continue to erode the clear coat as well as the underside of the wax, shortening the life of both. Sounds like it's holding up, though, if it still beads when you pressure wash it.

 

I do claybarring/polishing/etc in the spring (and maybe once more later in the summer). Wash every few weeks, zaino once every month or two. No need to remove the zaino and clay and polish every time you want to apply another coat of zaino.

 

Griots told me on the phone yesterday that if you use their claybar and their speed clean as a lubricating material, you wont be removing the wax but you will be cleaning the surface.

I duno if that is normal advice or unusual.

 

I'd still wash first with Dawn to strip off any remaing wax, then clay bar the freshly exposed clear coat. Logically, anything that gets between the abrasives in the clay and the contaminents would, I'd think, lower the effectivenes sof the process. Once you complete claying (leaving you with a contaminent-free clear coat), then you can put on either sealant or wax to seal it against future contamination.

I've read conflicting info here on whether or not the "sealant" goes directly on the clear coat, topped with wax, or if in fact it's wax THEN sealant, though. Octeneguy (who I know knows his stuff) said wax THEN sealant in a different thread, but I wonder if he's talking about a specific product that works that way, as opposed to a different kind of sealant that's designed to work against the bare clearcoat.

 

Griot's stuff has sealant and then wax. They told me though that the wax only is best option for someone who could do keep reapplying it year round.

I personally am not going to seal it as wax is good enough if you can get to one of those rentable outdoors things.

 

not sure wat you read, but i would do sealant then natural wax
over the sealant, not the otherway around.

 

Here is my winterizing process:

Exterior:
Wash with regular car wash (NOT Dawn, it dries out plastics and rubber)
Clay paint and glass
Polish out swirls
Polish glass
Apply Klasse All-In-One and allow at least 3 hours for curing
Two coats of P21S courcous carnauba wax
Feel free to Rain-X (or Zaino) the glass -->this will help with snow removal

Wheels:
Pull 'em off the car
Mix a STRONG batch of car wash solution and wash in and out
Use ph-balanced wheel cleaner, scrub and rinse
Wash again
Klasse AIO (yes, that's right)
No need to wax unless you are really psychotic (naturally I put two coats )

NOTE: While the wheel is off, give the wheel well a thorough spray down and wash. Then follow that up with a plastic dressing (I use Sonus Tire and Bumper dressing gel, good stuff)

Interior:

Vaccuum and dust
Treat dash plastics and vinyl with sun/weather protectant
Clean and condition leather/leatherette
Tell everyone who gets in your car to leave their shoes outside the car



That should protect the car for most of the winter. Klasse AIO is good for 4-6 months. I will probably reapply the P21S about 2-3 months after I do this just as a refresher coat.

Any questions feel free to PM me.

 

Oh and traditionally it is sealant and then wax. However products are always changing. OctaneGuy may have been referring to Meguiars Speed Glaze in the previous thread which can go on top of a wax. I'm sure he will chime in at some point.

 

Yes, that's what I've heard as well - I assumed he was talking about a specific, last-step product designed to be used atop wax, but I wanted to be sure.

 

Not really part of the detailing process but a tip/trick to keeping the interior in great condition is to purchase rubber mats.

I bought a full set of OEM Heavy Duty Rubber Floor Mats. They will keep the salt and wetness on the mat and out of the carpet. When you need to clean it, just remove, rinse, dry and back in the MINI to take more abuse. I have carpet ones for special occasions .


Right now I am seriously thinking of just using some painters tape and some heavy duty vynil and wrapping my car in it till spring. What has me worried is the spots that see to never see daylight, such as the sunroof joints, door jams, and all the crevices under the car.

 

I know that mini has reall cool S version matts. I am considering them for when it snows. I think though that they will get sloshy and the gunk will spill more than get caught. I will test them though. good idea to save the carpeted 95 dollar ones for going out

 

Sorry guys, but it's threads like this that make me glad that I'm in an area that doesn't have a real winter. Whew!

 

That's OK... we don't have hurricanes that wash our cars out to sea or earthquakes that open the earth and pitch our beloved cars into a dusty chasm, there to be driven forevermore by Morlocks... So, it's a fair trade.

 

HAHAHA... I am in a whole different country, literally that doesn't have summers, rains ALL the time, and is lucky to even have more than 2 sunny days in a row. If you have ever seen Band of Brothers, then you know what my winter is like.

 

We have both winters AND hurricanes :p

 

Josh, newbie question here--

When you say Zaino every month or two--are you referring to Z2?

I just did the full base coat--Dawn, Z7 wash, clay bar, Z7 wash again, 1 coat Z5, 2 coats Z2, then Z6.

For maintenance, I plan to Z6 after every wash. Does this sound right? And then Z2 every month or so?

Thanks in advance!

 

Yes, Z2. Everything else is just extra...

 

To winterize, I advise the following:

-Clay
-Paint cleanser (like P21S GEPC, Prima Amigo, Zymol HD Cleanse, or Meg Deep Crystal)
-Synthetic wax/sealant (Zaino, Prima Epic, 4* UPP, Klasse SG)
-Treat seals w/ protectant (303 AP, etc)

If I had to cut one step, it would be the claying. Of course, this would depend on whether or not the paint really needed to be clayed anyway. If I've clayed somewhat recently, I wouldn't bother repeating it. In this case, it's a step that certainly wouldn't hurt and would help, but may not be essential if you've clayed recently. If it's been awhile, you really ought to clay.

For a paint cleanser, I use prefer the Amigo (but I'm biased!), but any old paint cleanser like, P21S Paintwork Cleanser or Zymol HD Cleanse would also work well. I don't think this step needs to be very product-picky, at least for winterizing. Your main goal here is to properly prep the surface to get a good bond with your sealant. If you try to use with a sealant without stripping the paint of all the gunk on there (aka cleansing), you won't get a good bond and you'll lose major durability. Obviously, you want to maximize your durability as much as possible before the loooong winter.

For a synthetic wax/sealant, I would again focus on durability and resistance to mag chloride/road salts. Although I normally love Klasse AIO at other times of year, I don't think it has enough durability for the long winter. It's durable, but there are more durable sealants out there. I would use Zaino, Four Star Ultimate Paint Protection, Prima Epic, or Klasse Sealant Glaze. (side note: I think Sealant Glaze is much more difficult to work with than the others so not my first choice- but it's very durable). Any of the above products are also going to be much more resistant to mag chloride/road salts than many others.

I would not bother with a carnauba or carnauba based wax at all in the winter. It will come off so quickly that it would be a waste of my carnauba, in my opinion!

Someone else mentioned putting a sealant on the wheels. YES! I definitely do this without fail. (I do it in the summer too though) You can pull the wheels off and clean/seal the whole area, but at least seal the surface. The wheels see so much of the road pollutants. They really need this protection.

Some people like to top their wheels with a carnauba or use just a carnauba on their wheels. The problem with this is that carnauba comes off even more quickly with heat. The wheels generate so much heat that a carnauba will offer only short-term protection at best. Also, carnaubas will attract dust, as opposed to the sealants which repel dust. These are reasons why I never use carnauba wax on my wheels, even if I'm using carnauba on my body surface. (my car's body, not mine of course!)

Last, I would treat all my rubber seals with a protectant like 303 Aerospace Protectant, or something similar. This will hydrate and protect the rubber from hardening and cracking during the winter. Usually, the rubber won't crack in just one season, but over time it will catch up! Best to protect them as part of your regular maintenance.

Oh, and I agree with what everyone else has been saying about the order of waxes... you can't use a traditional carnauba wax before a sealant or synthetic wax. You won't get a good bond due primarily to the oils in the wax. Thus, you'll lose alot of durability. However, you can easily go the other way- sealant or synthetic then the carnauba wax on top.

-Heather

 

Good info Heather - Thanks!

Chuck

 

i've used zaino for 2 years now on my mini, but i seem to find it doesnt stand as well as it does in the summer.... this time i intend to try out Klasse twin and see if it is as others say, more durable in exchange for a bit less shine

my winter process is simple:
-Wash with Z7
-Clay
-no polish, i go straight to Z2, 3-4 layers depending on my mood
-Clean interior, apply 303 to all interior plastic, namely the interior rubber mats, then wipe dash board, clean out all airvents using some vent cleaners found at autoparts stores, treat the leather shift boot/ebrake boot, then vaccum the dirt out, finally, i give a good layer of 3M fabric protectant on the carpet beneath the rubber mat, and my racing seat
-clean my summer wheels inside and out, clean my winter wheels inside and out, apply rubber dressing on both
-brake cleaner and clean the brakes
-antiseize the hub
-while wheels off, i use the power jet setting on my garden hose and give it a good whack, i might spray some QD in there or maybe even more aggressive, an engine cleaner on the wheel arch plastic and the exposed metal in the wheel arch, same as the rear

-hope this helped

 

Hm. What if one clayed and carnauba paste waxed 6x a year and did this throughout a rough winter? would it still be not enough?

I actually think that road salts do nothing to the upper visible body. Well, I know that actually unless the car is made like crap. The majority of rust is on areas that are unseen and under the body near bumbers, edges of things and edges of doors.

I really dont see how these under areas would ever be protected anyway. I can see that a sealant would make life easier in the winter keeping things off the clear coat.

would a wax last 2 months in the winter? I probably couldnt get to it more often than that realistically, but I would like to if I could figure out how and where to do it.

 

Yeah, I worry about that as well, but shy of doing the whole "strip off the dealer's sticky sealant and re-seal the entire underbody" thing I've read about (which I don't think I can pull off - looked like you need a LIFT to do it properly) I don't think I can help with that much more than by hosing the underbody off with a pressure washer as many times as I can.

Oh, and I've been reading here and there that some people spray WD40 all inside their wheel wells when they have the tires off for their Summr -> Winter rubber swap. After you wipe out the well really well, you spray the area liberally with WD40 then let it dry before driving around - apparantly it keeps snow and ice from crusting up in there. has anyone tried this?

 

I wonder if like theres a gross under carriage spray to buy. I definitely have little care for engine, undercarriage and wheel well looks. I read the cosmoline site and saw that they have an even more powerful coating to be used but I know little of either .