My Mini is really really dirty and I need to wash it. I wanted to know if I could bring it to a DIY wash place. I'm mostly concerned that the power spray is going to damage the roof or the bonnet stripes, but I need a little power to get the salt off and my hose at home is frozen solid. I won't be using their soap or sponge.

What do you all do?

 

I seriously doubt that a DIY place has enough pressure to harm a softtop or they'd probably get shut down from lawsuits. My cabrio gets subjected to jets everytime I get him clean and not one problem ever. Looks great too. I have him washed about once a week and waxed quarterly. The next "wax" job will be a synthetic wax that's suppose to last a year or more. I've seen cars that have it done and not even a bumper sticker can stick to it! Imagine what it could do for road salt and grime!

 

I use a powerwasher on my cabrio all of the time. It hasn't affected the softtop or the bonnet stripes at all. Just be careful when you spray the stripes that you don't directly aim the spray at the edges or you may start to lift them up.

 

Thanks, now I just gotta skate outta work early to get it done. Good thing the office is empty.

 

i watched someone pull their cabrio into an auto touchless wash... i got
kinda uneasy watching it, but she didn't seem to have any issues.

then i saw a S2000 go in, and no issues with that car either.

times have changed... (in terms of leaks, that is).

 

Same deal,no problem.If I do it at home in summer blow it dry with leaf blower after I am done it works good.

 

I've had zero problems with my cabrio at Touchless or Self wash.

I did have problems with my Detailer. Not sure what he was using but it blurred the black pinstripe on the side of my bonnets

 

ouch. are you going to replace it or just peel it off?

 

So where are you in the Chicago area? I'm not comfortable using a power sprayer on the cabrio roof. There are a few good Hand Wash places that you can go to. Fortunately, I have one close to home that I've used so far this winter (located in Morton Grove). Reasonably priced and a short wait. I'll probably get a hand wax eventually. They like washing the MINI since it's so small

 

I work in Hoffman Estates (found a Busy Bee DIY place there), It got the salt off, but after I stopped at the dealer to ask a few questions they offered to wash it because it was still very dirty (thanks Adam!).

Since the weather is so warm I am going to move my hose into my garage (Mt Prospect) so that it totally thaws, then I can pull it out and wash my Mini in my driveway on warm days like these (a little rain isn't going to hurt me). I'm fairly sure there aren't any hand wash places around that aren't stupidly expensive.

 

Plan is to replace them with new ones going all the way down the front bumper