I picked up my car last week and it will be needing its first cleaning shortly. The car is arctic silver on black leather, no tint, currently with double spoke rims. Unfortunately it will probably need to spend some nights outside for a few months. does this mean i need a sealant? I'm still trying to digest (figuratively, of course) all the specialty items and what they do.

I'm starting from essentially nothing here, so I was thinking of getting one of the kits from autogeek or something. To allow time for shipping, I was thinking I'd grab some touch-up type supplies this weekend and give it a light wash, then fully detail next weekend.

Should I get a kit, or just pick out the things I need? Here's my tentative list:
Stoner Invisiglass
303 Aerospace cleaner (is this right?)
sheepskin or microfiber wash mitt
wash shampoo
waffle weave drying towel or chamois
cotton terry cloths or microfiber towels
california duster

What am I missing? should I get something for the leather or rubber/trim pieces? what should I plan to keep in the car for those emergencies?

The kits aren't a bad thing if you want to be tied to a specific brand of product (Klasse, Pinnacle, P21S, etc) and they generally do save you a little $$.

It looks like you've got a good list of products for a wash/clean. If you've got leather, I'd recommend getting leatherique or lexol - lexol's more common, but it's slightly below leatherique in terms of performance, but on a new car, it shouldn't matter.

Depending on the condition of your paintwork (dealer prep will probally hide most issues if it was done ok - and there will be issues that show up after all the fillers are gone), you may need other things. At the very least, you're going to need some sort of paint cleaner, wax (carnuba or synthetic) and quick detailer. I'd recommend P21S or S100 (same thing just different $$) cleaner and wax. It's a paste wax, but it really goes on easily. Figure on waxing the car every month to month and a half. Carnuba's aren't going to protect much longer than that.

If you want more of a mirror flatter shine instead of a deep wet shine, then go synthetic. For that I'd recommend either Zaino or Klasse. Zaino is really easy to apply, but it magnifies any imperfections in the paint. Klasse is less $$, but the sealant glaze portion of the duo is a PITA to buff off. Also it takes longer to cure before buffing than carnuba, so a full detail will take longer. The advantage here is that you should get upwards of 6 months of protection once the layering process is done (Most Z users do about 5-10 coats, Klasse 3-6 - figure every week or so to do a coat even though in theory you can do one every 12 hrs or so).

As for emergencies in the car, I'd keep a bottle of quick detailer and a microfiber towel - that way you can remove bird bombs quickly before they etch your paint.

Rubber and trim pieces, you can use any of the waxes that I've mentioned above on the plastic pieces, for rubber, Aerospace 303 is an excellent product.

Check the paintwork closely after you wash it 2-3 times...that's when the dealership fillers will have washed out. Then you may need some sort of polish to eliminate swirls, micromarring and scratches...let us know.

Autogeek doesn't have the 303 cleaner, just the protectant.

Ok, decided against the kits. Here's the damage:

Walmart:
$5- Eurow genuine sheepskin wash mitt
$1- large bucket
$3- 16oz spray bottle of Rain-X
$10- original California car duster
$3.50- Stoners Invisiglass
$2.50- Viking tire brush
$2- Detailers Choice terry covered sponge applicator pads (2)

Autozone:
$8- 32oz meguiars Quik Detailer spray
$5- 64oz meguiars deep crystal car wash (this may have been a mistake, anyway, walmart had it for $3.88)

properautocare.com (shipping: $16)
$33- Klasse AIO and SG kit
$18- 16oz Lexol Cleaner and 16oz Conditioner
$12- 303 Aerospace protectant
$25- 25x36 big blue towel (waffle MF for drying)
$25- 5 pack of MF towels (3 detailers, 1 glass, 1 miracle)

Total is about $172. Still need the wax, I'll swing by the Harley dealership for the S100 (P21S) wax. Should I return anything? right now the only thing I have concerns with is the meguiars stuff from autozone. at that point I was still trying to buy everything local.

wow, just one word of advice to you.... You wasted tons of money on MF towels that you could have gotten from Jtinternational or Pakshak.com. I've used towels from CMA, JT, and Pak...and they're all very good, but the price differential for the CMA towels is nowhere near justified. Just a headsup for next time you order towels.

I don't know how much you detail, but if it's with any sort of frequency, you'll need many more MF towels than what you ordered.

For $25, from JT, you could have had 10 16x16 polishing towels of very high quality (shipped).

doh. I didn't see a link to JT inter. anywhere, do they have a website? Thanks for the info.

I was trying to order most everything from one site, I figured it'd be easier. I was hoping for a kit so i wouldnt feel like i was forgetting something, but I guess this is the way I'll have to go. I think i still need some wheel and engine cleaner, maybe some metal polish for the exhaust, and the wax, but that stuff isnt really necessary just yet.

I probably won't need to detail quite as much, my car is arctic silver, not cosmos :D I think this should be enough to get me started.

It's def. enough to get you started.... but in general you don't wanna wash MFs TOO TOO much, and with 3, you'll need to wash them more frequently. JT has no website...

I think his email is JTintern@hotmail.com. His name is tom gong! Be sure to ask for autopia.org pricing....it's much less than his normal pricing. If thats not his email, let me know.

In the near future, you may want to buy a Porter Cable (PC) 7424 Random Orbital Buffer. It makes polishing your car less of a chore and with great results using the appropriate polish and foam pads.

I'm gonna see how the car turns out after a claybar and some Klasse AIO. The paint is in quite good condition, and its silver, so marks don't stand out as much. My sister and brother-in-law just got a black M roadster, maybe I can convince them to buy one and just borrow it. He didn't seem that interested in spending a lot on detailing stuff, but I'm gonna try teasing them with pics of M3ryder's M3.

Originally posted by beowoulf
Autogeek doesn't have the 303 cleaner, just the protectant.
FYI
Check again just placed an order they do have it now.

Just another piece of info.... all members get 10% off at the Autogeek.net website. Just type in Club Member at the checkout.
I order from them a lot and the 10% adds up.:cool: