ally

i forgot to add, if you can stretch to a water filter then it's a really good thing to have. Aquagleam 0PPM is good, but Raceglaze is probably better, as it's larger and lasts longer, and you can refill the resin, so it's cheaper in the long run. There are plenty of places to buy good resin for decent price too. With these water filters, there is no real need to dry the car as it will not water spot then, although I sometimes still dry it either using a blower, or if I am using a towel I always use a drying aid for protection of the paint. Most of the paint damage is done during drying, so always use your Reload or similar for a drying aid, it can be applied to a wet car and will go further that way. And use no pressure on the drying towel.

The water spot remover is pretty good, if you are using Carpro Reload then the water spot remover should be all you need to use, hopefully no need to polish. And of course, top up with Reload once done and washed etc. The cars can get fairly well contaminated, especially if they live outside which stops the cermaic coat performing as well, many folks think the coating is gone but a good decontamination every 6 months por so often helps, brings back the hydrophobicity and other properties. Gyeon Iron is also good for this, along with tar remover, sometimes a very light clay is required but you might need to polish and recoat after clay so only do that if that really necessary, I hear some of the clay towels are less of a problem for maring but have never used one of those yet. AM Details fine abrasive clay is very good, doesn't really marr and only needs water for lubrication. Jim White of White Details did my car last year and he swears by this clay, never usues anything else.

Which coating do you have on? Try something like Gyeon water spot remover first. If you machine polish you are very likely to remove some, if not all of your ceramic coating and water spots can come back even after polishing. All ceramic coatings need maintenance and protected by a sacrificial layer / topper. There are many out there, some are designed to work with their own brand. I use Kamikaze Overcoat but also use Carpro Reload, and have recently tried P&S Beadmaker which is great looking and lasts a few weeks. For the likes of Kamikaze you would use that every 2/3 months depending on your mileage and wash routines. A little goes a long way.

Mines sometimes does that, bit annoying whilst parking. I’ve coded mines too with Bimmercode so it remembers last setting

When I put those numbers in to Realoem it says specified part was not found, although it does also say black chrome tailpipe tip so maybe they are now ended. I would try Cotswold BMW, I get a lot of parts from them and always find them to be excellent on price and service. Also try BMW Mini Parts

What’s the part number?

I didn’t know either until I saw this thread then looked at mines. I thought it was just the kidneys.

Looks great. I’m sure they can sort you out with some matte finish. If you can’t get it from LRC then Gliptone definitely do it, I have a litre of it at home. I think it’s best applied by spray gun but no harm in trying.

It’s behind the grille under the number plate.

The sponges do a good enough job TBH, especially if it’s a grainy leather. just take your time, build up lots of little thin coats, don’t try to cover it in one go. With mines being nappa leather I removed the seats, masked them off and sprayed the last few coats.

Good stuff. Are you going to spray it or sponge applicator?

Gliptone Liquid Leather dye kits are ideal for this, their colour matching is spot on. Give the areas a light scuff first and clean with IPA

If you are doing this as a one step process then the Rupes yellow pads are good for this. They have a bit more bitter than the white finishing pads.

I used products from Gliptone Liquid Leather when I did my light silver grey E39 Seats a couple of years ago. You get repair glue, filler etc and I also used their colour dye and sprayed it on. Colour match was perfect. First coat was done with a sponge applicator, you can use this for all coats if you like, if you don’t have spraying equipment.

For any LSP, be it wax, ceramic coating or whatever, it has to go on to clean paint. The polishing oils and resudue have to be removed using things like IPA, Gyeon Prep, Carpro Eraser etc are good for this. As above, a sacrificial “topper” is a good idea, I’ve recently started using P&S bead maker on top of ceramic coating and it does a good job. Look for products that are designed to work together for best results.