I have a brand new 09 MCS that I want to keep clean during the snowy months ahead in central New York. Locally we have Delta Sonic Car Wash that offers a brushless wash where you enter the wash by aligning your car wheels onto a track that uses rollers to push your car through various stages of the wash. I am not concerned about scratches, etc., from the wash itself. I am more interested in knowing if anyone has experienced (or not) clearance issues between the Mini's suspension and the car wash track in any similar type automated car wash given the very minimal road clearance on the Mini.

 

Stay away from the automatic car washes, touchless, or otherwise. Problem solved. Along with some other problems.

You're better off leaving the crap on your car until a day when the temp gets above 40 than you are taking your car to one of those things.

And if you go through a really long stretch of cold weather, take it to one of those self wash car washes with heated stalls. Just be careful not to get the wand too close to your paint.

 

Be very careful when you wash your car in the winter,only do it if the temps are above freezing no matter how dirty your car looks,if its very cold and your car is very cold the water hitting your car will freeze on contact giving your car the ice cube look,also weather stripping will freeze making getting back in the car or getting out a chore ,plus your keys wont open the doors as the lock mechanisms will inevitably get water in them and freeze solid.

 

My SA at the local dealer has told me he is seeing rear hatch handles going bad from water getting in them at touch-less car washes. They use a hella high pressure at those places.

In the winter I will go to the local self serve coin op wash. If you do, be careful with that high pressure wand & never use the brush at one of those places.

 

Go to www.griotsgarage.com and get yourself some of the 'Spary-On Car Wash' and Green Towels, an Oil-filled Heater for the garage will allow you to wash your car without you and your car being FROZEN!!

 

Now, to answer your question: I had an 04 Mini that I frequently took to the car wash. It never had a problem. Other than they did a lousy job getting the rear hatch area cleaned due to the steep drop-off. I haven't taken my 07 to a car wash, but I understand the 07+ have higher ground clearances.

Not everyone is OCD about cleaning. Jeeezzz.

 

I'm hardly OCD. But those car washes can & sometimes do beat the living carp out of a car. Lots of folks are perfectly happy using them & don't notice such things. Good for them. I do notice such things, but I'm far from OCD.

 

I hate using the car wash as well. But in my area, there are no heated-stall type of DIY car washes, and sometimes it will be months before the weather peeps back above freezing. If there's bird droppings on my car, I want those removed immediately. I work near the harbor, so droppings are inevitable.

The car wash we have here does not have the moving track. Instead, the track guides you to some sort of pad that you stop on. The car wash nozzles (it's a touchless) move around the car from there. My car ('04 MCS w/ Aero kit) just barely bottoms out on the plastic underneath. So far, no damage, but I go in as slowly as I can.

Bugs the heck out of me, but less so than the thought of bird crap eating into my paint. And don't get me started on the nasty grime that builds up on the car, most likely from the dirt mixed in with road salt. lol

 

Me too. But, I think we should at least answer the question, if we are going to lecture...

 

I take my '03 JCW with Aero kit to both the brushless and brushtype carwashes *collective gasp* and don't have any problem with it dragging on the track, I think a stock height car will be fine. They use a lot of salt and brine on the roads here and like the poster from Ak, I don't want to leave that stuff on the finish or the underbody, so I go ahead and wash it off. Come spring it gets a good detailing to atone for my "sins".........

 

Back on topic...

You are correct Lynn. I should a aswered the OP's question.

It may or may not damage your MINI driving into one of those automated washes. I once saw a lady get her Benz SL caught up on one. Seems the previous customer in a Land Rover Discovery had driven over the guide & bent it up, it then snagged the SL. I'm sure it's not a common occurrence, but it is a real hazard if it does happen.
Carry on.

 

Oooh, spray on car wash, interesting *rubs hands*

The only concern I would have is scratching the paint while trying to wipe off the dirt with this stuff. Are you supposed to rinse your car off first before using it? Or can I just spray on a dirty car and wipe off without issue?

Apparently there are no heated car wash bays in my vicinity

 

I'm pretty interested in that stuff too.

As far as scratching goes, I think it depends on how much dirt is on your car. If it is a lot the risk of scratching the car is much greater. If it is only a day or so worth of dirt it may not be bad. Also you'd want to be always using a clean side of the towel & have plenty on hand just to be sure. I think in the winter a trip to the coin op wash to blow most of the dirt off first probably would be the way I'd do it.

 

I have the impression from everyone's responses that there are no inherent undercarriage clearance problems taking the Mini through an automatic car wash. I concur with those who prefer a hand wash to a commercial car wash but winter dictates otherwise. I do have two classic cars that I only hand wash in the summer but the Mini will be winter driven and will need to get salt off it regularly so an automatic wash is the only viable method of keeping it clean in the winter. I am fortunate to park in a heated garage at work so the Mini will have a chance to warm up after it's cleanup to avoid frozen door locks, etc.

 

Try asking the employees at the car wash- there's one near my office that was aware of the low clearance. They told me that they know MINIs can rub the rail, but that they didn't know of any damage ever being reported. Even so, it's enough for me to use the bays there instead of the touchless.

 

I agree with CR&PW&JB stay away when ever possible. I live in central MA and where known for severe winters and I can attest to certain car washes not having proper clearance the the MINI. When I have to I use the self wash bays with the heated water and soap and that works out fine, it usually cost me ~ $7.00 for pre wash, soap application, rinse, and streak free rinse and I usually have ~ 1:00 minutes left.

One time when I was impatient I went to a car wash and as I entered the staging area I could feel and hear something rubbing the rear strut mount , so I had the operator back everyone in line so I could get the heck outta there, man was he and everyone else mad at me.... wel at least no damage to my MINI occurred.

 

I have used touchless washes with no track, you just drive into the bay, and never had any issues, except for a crappy wash. When it's to cold to hand wash, for me that's 32f, I take the MINIs to a wand wash, and just spray off the worst of the crap, and only dry the door jambs, windows. Does not look good, but it gets the salt off.

I have heard of some MINIs being damaged by the kind that pull the car along a rail, and have heard of others that have no issues. I guess it depends on the car wash.

Mark

 

I live about an hour from you, so I heartily concur about the need to get the salt and grime off. And I can't fathom waiting until the weather gets over 40, which may be next April. When I had my 04 MCS I drove it through the touchless car wash in Utica on a weekly basis, and there were no ill effects. I will do the same with my Clubman when I get my hands on it. I'm sure if you check around Syracuse you'll be able to find a touchless wash without a track. We have several in Utica, and I'm sure that Syracuse as the "big city" will have them all over the place.

 

The MINI/BMW dealer here in the Twin Cities has a touchless car wash at the dealership. We can wash our cars for a few bucks.

 

no problems on my 09 W aero kit. I use the type that has side rails, but no middle rail so as long as i dont hit the sides (for my rims sake) im good. Just pull onto a pad that starts the wash...

The aero kit also comes with those huge plastic panels underneath... but they seem to do fine FWIW

 

Check out the "Must be Winter, Quiet Here" thread those guys are pros on detailing their MINIs. Like I said I'm using it and love it. I refuse to put Molly through the torture of a Car Wash and I've always been OCD about my vehicles.

 

if you run your car through the carwash i recommend you run
taller winter tireset than normal...or find a place where their rails are
low.

the rear strut bottom scrapes along the rail on some MINI's.
in this case has nothing to do with suspension height... just total
diameter of the tire itself.