What are some protective measures to take with an outside car?

[Cmassey3]

I live in an apartment and I'll be storing my CF roof '08 M3 outside for most of the time. I've done a preemptive polish and wax on the body(except the carbon roof, will be doing that this weekend). I've also added sunshades to help the interior not get destroyed by the southern us heat. The headliner is already sagging due to the moisture and heat we get here.

Is the best thing to just keep a coat of wax on it, like every 6 months or so? What waxes/products are best for paint/clear coat health for an outside car?

What are some of your recommended tips for keeping an outside car in it's best shape?

[SoCalRPM]

Originally Posted by Cmassey3

I live in an apartment and I'll be storing my CF roof '08 M3 outside for most of the time. I've done a preemptive polish and wax on the body(except the carbon roof, will be doing that this weekend). I've also added sunshades to help the interior not get destroyed by the southern us heat. The headliner is already sagging due to the moisture and heat we get here.

Is the best thing to just keep a coat of wax on it, like every 6 months or so? What waxes/products are best for paint/clear coat health for an outside car?

What are some of your recommended tips for keeping an outside car in it's best shape?

Your best bet is getting a paint protective film (PPF) over as much of the car as you can. This isn't cheap, though.

Next, some might say ceramic coating, but there are factors at play that may alter your decision. Some Ceramic coatings are still prone to water spot issues so while they offer lots of protection they may not be the best solution if you park outside constantly, or having morning dew, sprinkler overspray, rainy climate, etc...

Other than that, yes, a solid foundation of wax or sealant will help.

There's lot of opinions out there on what's the best wax. I recently did 2 layers of Jescar Powerlock+ sealant followed by 1 later of Colinite 845 wax on top. (This was on my wife's car) Then I hit the car with a spray wax, like TW Ice Seal & Shine, every few washes. Repeat after 6mo - 1yr or as soon as you see the water start to "stick" to the surface of your paint in places, as opposed to nice tight beads of water that roll right off.

If you can't swing it for the whole car, consider a PPF on just the carbon roof as that's the most susceptible to failure from sitting out in the elements constantly.

Oh, and tint your windows if you haven't. This will help cut down on UV exposure for the interior.