[ColA]

Here’s a post that is not about battery, charging, drive train or instrumentation! The i3 uses plastics and glass fibre or other compounds so I was wondering whether there are any special cleaning products or polish.
In particular, I have a light patch on the dark gray sill below the doors and wondered how to restore the colour. Is there a spray can?

 

[Rich2508]

Any plastic trim restorer should bring some life back into the sills, they get quite a battering from stones and water. I personally like Autobrite Direct Well Dressed and its great on tyres as well. CarPro Perl aloso very good and can be diluted for a variety of uses. Alternatively and easier to get from places like Halfords is Autoglym trim restorer should do an okay job. Whatever you put in won't last that long due to where it is , but only takes seconds to do so every other wash or so is no hardship.

fir the bodywork I don't use anything different to any other of my cars, in particular Sonax Brilliant Shine Detailer does an amazing job adding some beading protection and is easy to apply.

 

[Chrisp74]

Because there's a lot of black gloss plastic on my car that scratches so easily I always use snowfoam from the pressure washer to get it as clean as possible before touching any panels.
Then its the 2 bucket wash method to try and keep the car scratch free!
Also a fan of Autoglym, not cheap but can be used sparingly.

 

[JohnMars]

I’ve bought this at the weekend.....

Meguiars Ultimate Paint Kit | Halfords UK

Shop the latest Meguiars Ultimate Paint Kit at Halfords UK

www.halfords.com

Has done a fantastic job on my black leaf, east to apply and the wax can be applied to trim to revive without leaving white residue.

 

[SIPABIT]

Here’s a post that is not about battery, charging, drive train or instrumentation! The i3 uses plastics and glass fibre or other compounds so I was wondering whether there are any special cleaning products or polish.
In particular, I have a light patch on the dark gray sill below the doors and wondered how to restore the colour. Is there a spray can?

I would recommend just using warm water and a light soap. Scrub with a bristle brush and see how that turns out. The stuff I use is called P&S Sales but it's a local brand. I'm sure they ship out but started in San Francisco , CA from what I know. I'm sure there's competitive stuff that's easier for you to get that will work well too.

 

[gmt234]

I would recommend just using warm water and a light soap. Scrub with a bristle brush and see how that turns out. The stuff I use is called P&S Sales but it's a local brand. I'm sure they ship out but started in San Francisco , CA from what I know. I'm sure there's competitive stuff that's easier for you to get that will work well too.

This sounds like great advice

 

[Cabbage Patch]

Scrub with a bristle brush and see how that turns out.

With your car covered in loads of scratches I would imagine.

Don’t try this at home!

 

[Goldfish120]

OK you are now on one of my specialist subjects (although I am not bang up to date). I also had challenges with the i3 sills the products you need to restore them are bumper care products - remember those old lightly textured black bumpers we had, the sills are the same stuff. Just give them a good wash then apply the product with a sponge (decorators slightly hard sponge is best.) I use Autoglym Bumper Care or Turtle Wax Tyre and Bumper Care.

For interior all surfaces including any wood, plastics, seat plastics (if you don’t have leather) and the Kenaf (hemp composite) I use 303 Aerospace Protectant - this produces a great finish and is really easy to use. (Using this is an old show car trick). 303 is really easy to use. Can also be used on rubbers to keep them protected and supple. Also is UV protectant (as originally designed for protecting aerospace composite.)

For the exterior paint work, just use a standard exterior automotive sealant / polish e.g Autoglym Super Resin or Maguiars. Use the same car care approaches you would use on any other car. However the top coat is not as hard a laquer as on some vehicles (e.g. our Mercedes C Class has a ceramic paint which is very hard so takes some polishing if scratched). So I go easier on it but it is very resilient. Do hope this helps, the challenge is now I have opened up a auto detailing rabbit hole but I wanted to keep it simple. I just wash my car, dry with a micro fibre and then use the bumper gel. Then when I vacuuming it out use the 303 on a microfibres to wipe all the plastics. Every now and again I will wipe over exterior with a detailing spray protectant. No need to spend hours to keep it nice.

 

[ColA]

OK you are now on one of my specialist subjects (although I am not bang up to date). I also had challenges with the i3 sills the products you need to restore them are bumper care products - remember those old lightly textured black bumpers we had, the sills are the same stuff. Just give them a good wash then apply the product with a sponge (decorators slightly hard sponge is best.) I use Autoglym Bumper Care or Turtle Wax Tyre and Bumper Care.
View attachment 129503
View attachment 129504

For interior all surfaces including any wood, plastics, seat plastics (if you don’t have leather) and the Kenaf (hemp composite) I use 303 Aerospace Protectant - this produces a great finish and is really easy to use. (Using this is an old show car trick). 303 is really easy to use. Can also be used on rubbers to keep them protected and supple. Also is UV protectant (as originally designed for protecting aerospace composite.)

View attachment 129505

For the exterior paint work, just use a standard exterior automotive sealant / polish e.g Autoglym Super Resin or Maguiars. Use the same car care approaches you would use on any other car. However the top coat is not as hard a laquer as on some vehicles (e.g. our Mercedes C Class has a ceramic paint which is very hard so takes some polishing if scratched). So I go easier on it but it is very resilient. Do hope this helps, the challenge is now I have opened up a auto detailing rabbit hole but I wanted to keep it simple. I just wash my car, dry with a micro fibre and then use the bumper gel. Then when I vacuuming it out use the 303 on a microfibres to wipe all the plastics. Every now and again I will wipe over exterior with a detailing spray protectant. No need to spend hours to keep it nice.

Excellent advice. I did wonder about a bumper care product. Thanks.

 

[Goldfish120]

You got me playing around this weekend on my i3 with a few waxes. The best results for my paintwork seem to be from using Carlack 68 complete. This removed all the dirt very efficiently, does not stain rubber and plastic and is flexible and produces a great finish. So really easy to use. There is a Carlack Sealant you can then use. I did the whole car this morning and it looks amazing. Carlack is an acrylic product and can be used on fibreglass, paint, glass and plastics. One of those best kept secrets. In the USA it is called Klasse. Anyway did a #lockdown car clean with this now looks amazing and finish should last up to 12 months. Now need to find some other #lockdown exercise to do 🤔
Turned the car into a mirror

Now need to do the wife’s car I have been told 🤦‍♂️