Washing the ML350

[MB-SV]

I only handwash (do it myself or use one commercial handwash place in Santa Clara). No problem with valets, MB SUV's are common here.

[moomber350]

Just took it to Classic Car Wash this morning, no problem at all, beats washing it myself ... Dealer wash using the same full-cloth machine wash, figure there's no
difference there...

[jimrgraham]

My ML 63 is six months old and has received over 600 exterior express tunnel carwashes so far(and 40k miles). The most in one day was over 40. I'm in the car wash equipment business and there are no reasons to spend the extra money on hand washing(you never know where those mitts have been - on the ground?). Independent studies have demonstrated that the "all-cloth", "brushless" carwashes are far less damaging to a cars painted surface than hand washing with lambs wool mitts. Notice all the nice darker cars on the road with tiny swirl marks all over from hand washing. Just my 2 cents.

[MB-SV]

Mechanical car washes work great until something breaks and nobody notices it for hours.

[red308]

jimrgraham,

I prefer car washes. A very good value. But, I worry about messing up the front-end alignment when the attendant drives the car onto the conveyer line. Any thoughts on how to prevent this? (other than driving on yourself which they will not allow)

Mark

[jimrgraham]

There are many carwashes that you can actually drive through the tunnel and load your own vehicle. I know of Prime Shine Carwashes - although they have many locations East of the Bay Area. Look for "Express" carwashes in your area. They usually only cost about $5.00, but are super high quality and you(the customer) vacuum and wipe down your vehicle yourself for free.

The Express concept has been around for 20 plus years in the Midwest and Northeast and has started to catch on in the West in the last few years.

[BigKutta]

Originally Posted by red308

jimrgraham,

I prefer car washes. A very good value. But, I worry about messing up the front-end alignment when the attendant drives the car onto the conveyer line. Any thoughts on how to prevent this? (other than driving on yourself which they will not allow)

Mark

Look hard, you should find one. In my area, there is one GOOD carwash that will offer exterior wash only and we sit inside and ride it to the track and stay inside during the wash. There is no way I am letting those guys manhandle my car inside with those sharp edged vacuum nozzles. $10 does a gread job on my ML (followed by careful interior detailing by me)