Just ordered an AB on Saturday. I tried to like every other color better that Astro black just so I wouldn't be go nuts trying to keep the dust away... but then I decided that it was all about looking cool, dirty or not!

 

I REALY wanted astro black for my mini, but everyone told I'll have to be cleaning it every day to keep it looking clean and any minor scratch will stick out.
What I was saying to my self was hell I'll be cleaning it anyway and pray every day for it to never get hurt :P now I wish I did get astro :(

 

Astro Black RULES!!!!! Don't kid yourself, there are plenty of us out here!

 

AB is much easier to handle than standard gloss Black.

 

I am eagerly awaiting my Astro Black Mini. I should be getting it any day now... but yeah I'm concerned about dirt and scratches, but I love the color. I ordered my AB mini on June 6th and haven't seen to many mini's on the road in that color so I like that it's different. I see a ton of silver, reds, blues, and whites. Astro Black seems to be the rare color.

 

Hello fellow AB lovers.

Im still waiting for mine...
Question about keeping the car clean and shiny:

Im not a detailing guru.. nor i have all the equipments and time to do full detail myself... But i do like to wash the car and try to do a little quick detail. Then ill probably have someone like Octaneguy (my neighbor) to do a professional detail for me once a year.

ANy products that's simple to use for every car wash i do? Prima Hydra or something sounds pretty good.

 

Like Eric (plug Guy) said, astro black is much easier to take care of than a plain black like jet black. The metallic-ness helps hide dust and swirls a little better. It's still a bit of a pain to keep clean though...its all worth it in the end though!

OctaneGuy lives in Playa Vista too? I didn't know that...I'll have to have him do my MCS too!

 

 

Simple formula:

• Use a gentle car wash soap w/generous amounts of hosing before and after sudsing up.
• Leftover car soap water to wash rims (try and stay away from harsh wheel cleaners)
• Car squeegee and microfiber cloth to dry.
• Keep a nice coat of wax on your finish; ANY wax IMO is better than none. Turtle wax to the exotics, they all perform the same basic function.
• Touch up car between washings with a detailing spray like Griots Speed Shine or similar. This can be used to eliminate light brake dust on the rims between washes too.
• The more frequent the washes and waxes, the easier. Building up crud then scrubbing it off might create swirls & scratches. Remember, the MINI is a snap to clean up in no time, which , by the way, is great exercise too. Keeps you out of the gym!

All of this is common sense and everyone has their own secret methods and prefs. My AB has yet to swirl or scratch with almost 2000 miles on the odometer.

Bottom line: You'll love AB, and be rewarded with a beautiful finish in exchange for a little work.

ENJOY!

 

Octaneguy is near me.. not in Playa Vista. But about 10 minutes I believe. Although he is a very busy guy, if you bribe him with Mini mods, he'll show up... lol

 

I suppose that as soon as I've finished posting this, someone else could (and probably will) write to say that, in his/her experience, just the opposite is true. And perhaps it does all come down to personal perception; I wouldn't waste time arguing that point. But I wanted to mention this anyway. Back in the late eighties and early nineties, I owned a light silver-blue car. Nice color. Then, for the rest of the nineties I owned a black car (real, deep black). Then, for five years I had a silver car. And, for the past three years I've had another black car. Certainly, any car will clearly show a ding or scratch (until you touch it up) if you're observing it closely. But I repeatedly found this to be the case: from approximately 10 feet, and farther, away, small scratches and scrapes were much more readily visible on my two light-colored cars than on the two black ones. At an undetermined moment some dear soul charged into the back bumper of my silver car --- not denting it so much, but mucking it up pretty well. I've gotten fairly good through the years with advanced touch-up techniques and I labored intensively to improve/restore it (without resorting to a full repaint). No matter what I did, you could still see from 25-30 feet that something was not quite right, whereas on my black cars, relatively similar problems/restoration were undetectable from the same distance. And that ultimately made the difference for me in my choice of AB (as well as really liking the color, along with MY, PW, LB and CR).
For what it's worth . . . .

 

Mine is waiting for me at the dealer ship right now. Thursday she will be all mine.

 

they are one of the best looking MC color

 

I initially ordered a Laser Blue/Black Clubman. A few days later I changed my order to Astro Black and have never looked back. I can't wait for it to get here.

 

What I did to preserve the newness of the paint:

RULE #1
Never let the dealer WASH your Mini!
I don't care WHO the person is, or how much experience they have, JUST DO NOT LET THEM DO IT. Unless you enjoy swirls in your paint.

I took it home dirty, and demanded it that way, and indicated I'd give them all 10's on the survey. They know I'm ****, they saw the perfect finish on the 4 yr old Porsche that looks brand new, and they obliged.

RULE #2
Clean the car gently and use only 100% cotton or microfiber that you can verify. 100% cotton from WalMart is bound with poly, and poly will scratch your finish. I use Griot's MF and 100% cotton, and I bought some really great new MF from Moe at Glistening Perfection not long ago too. All really good stuff.

First step is to wash with dawn liquid in the bucket to get off any crud they put on at any point between factory and dealer. Then I use P21S auto shampoo, P21S wheel gel, and 100% cotton to wash. I always soak the daylights out of the car, and try to clean at low sunlight conditions (early morning, early evening).

When I put the cloth on the car all sudsy, I just let it drape and pull gently. I do not run it in circles or all over the place. Just lift, drop, drape, pull. Then I rinse in the second bucket, get sudsy, hit another panel. Very methodically, very carefully, and complete the car.

I'm not a big believer in the 'blade' technique as I've seen what it's done to clearcoat. I prefer to use microfiber or an Absorber to get most of the water off.

Then I apply Speed Shine or Quick Detailer with another MF cloth while the car is still a bit damp. I buff it with another MF.

On the first detail for Astro though, I skipped the detail spray as I went straight to REJEX.

Rejex is a sealant, and makes the paint very slippery. I've used plenty of wax, and there are some great ones out there (P21S and others). But with new paint that is absolutely perfect, all you need is Rejex.

I applied Rejex and did each panel slowly and carefully. You can apply to wheels, glass, plastic, etc. The next night I drove 200 miles, mostly highway, and just about all the bugs and doodads hosed right off when I got back.

I detailed it again this past weekend (just wash, not wax), and due to the Rejex, nearly all the dirt washed off on the first rinse.

RULE #3
Enjoy the car, don't park under trees or lightpoles (birds), and have fun. If ever in question, refer to rules 1 and 2.

 

wow thanks for the information. i got my AB/W Mini right before the 4th and I was wondering how Im going to get it to look so clean.

Is it adviseable to go to any of the car washes or will they cause those swirls to come? I dont know if I have the time to wash my car myself each time it gets dirty, but I love the AB color and how it keeps changing to blue hehe.

I have a pic of my car to post but I dont know how to post it. Yeah Im a noob

 

I'm going to hawk this product so regularly they should pay me: I love Meguiar's NXT Tech Wax. It's a synthetic and last a nice long time. Great shine, easy to apply - but doesn't clean as well their Cleaner Wax. It also cost a bit - $14 or so, instead of $5-8. The good thing is that for lazy people like me, it'll bead water for months.

I put it on my 98 Pathfinder when I traded it in, and the appraiser looked at it and said, "Wow! You really took care of your truck." I said, "Uhhhhhhh, yeahhhhh" and had to swallow the "that's the ticket" part before I let it slip out. I NEVER washed that truck, but the magic wax made it look great.

Rejex might be similar in make-up, but I can't vouch for that.

 

If you want swirls, take it to anyone or any place else. If you want swirl free paint, wait and do it yourself. There is no automatic wash place that will give you that same result.

Some no-touch places spray recycled water at high speed (abrasion) and into places it would not normally go. Just do the detail thing one great time at first, then wait until you can wash again. Really.

 

Future Astroblack on the way! I wanted to pick any other color....just because my previous car was black and I don't have a garage..street parking only for me....so I know all the work it takes to keep clean...enough to drive you insane. But I couldn't resist how sexy AB is....I think I left some drool marks on the one I saw at the dealer.... Actually I think the one they had was a little dusty from being outside..but the blue metallic minimized the appearance.

-Jessica.

 

 

 

I have been using a product that has really worked well for keeping my AB clean. It is called Optimum No Rinse Wash and Shine. It is a concentrated quick detailer. You put two capfuls in two gallons of water, then take a MF wash mitt and wipe a section of the car down and then immediately dry it with an MF towel. I can wash the car in a dusty condition in five minutes. It also works well in areas with water restrictions since you can wash a car in your garage with just a couple of gallons.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYOAy...eature=related

I would not use it on a muddy surface, but on the typical dust/water-splash it works great with no sign of swirling.

 

AstroBlack "Yeah Baby"

 

So, does everyone get white turn signals with the AB MCS? I didn't order them originally, but I'm thinking about adding it to my '09 order... The side turn signals are white by default, right?

 

Sides and rear are yellow by default (also known as "egg yokes"). I love the white against the black. Nice contrast IMO.

You wont regret going with the white signals. They're worth the extra few bucks.