RC is thicker than Krown, which is why I switched. RC actually uses two different formulas, they use a thicker one for underbody areas and a thinner one (red color) for inner panels. The theory is that you want the thinner one in the panels where it can creep into the seems, and the thicker one for the underbody where it needs to resist the elements more without washing away.
The theory makes sense to me, which is why I've been using them. RC does drip...mostly the thinner inner panel stuff gets warms and runs out onto the ground. I park on the street for a day or so to let the worst run out. Then I put cardboard, or plastic or whatever is around on the driveway and park on that for a week or so. After that, it's usually fine.....It'll drip once and awhile afterwards, especially if the weather gets hot, but w/e. I care about my cars more than my driveway, and in the case of my asphalt driveway, a quick re-coat of sealer every couple of years tidies it up.
Same approach/products here.
I had the BMW spayed while at TheHire's shop and then some more at home. Took the wheels off and sprayed some more RC green (thicker stuff) on the suspension bits and hard to reach places towards the center of the car. Then loosened up the wheel arch liners, washed, dried and liberally sprayed the RC red stuff inside the fenders and bottom of the doors through the drain openings. The RC red stuff is very liquid. I sprayed in the front and it ran all the way to the back along the rocker panel. Same thing when I sprayed in the rear it ran all the way to the front.
Still need to do the trunk lid and the hood with the RC red stuff this weekend after I degrease and wash.
I use a third type - can't remember the name but it's a black can from CT (something with Formula 3000 on it) on the surface. This stuff does not drip and only forms a greasy film which sticks on the paint. I will use this on the rear wheel lip, bottom of the doors, some crannies on the inner part of the hood....
I used this stuff for the past few years on the Outlander and it was pretty effective in slowing down the rust progress in few spots where it started to bubble (bottom of the doors, rear fender where it meets the bumper). I spray this stuff locally, on the painted surface/bubbled area and it sticks there. It gets dirty by spring but in wipes out easily and I re-apply in the fall.
Why would you pay to have it sprayed, and then do significantly more at home?
#1 - I spot-sprayed where the shop did not or could not reach (complement not re-do). I believe they stay away from the wheels in order not to spray on the brakes. They also spray from under the car so the top of the suspension bits does not get sprayed. They don't spray the suspension tower or the spring seats either... things like that. When you take the wheel off and spray from the can with the little nozzle you have more reach and precision. They don't brush off surface rust on suspension ends either before spraying.... Things like that.
#2 - Shop did not spray inner panels. My request was undercarriage only and this is what they did and I paid for.
#3 - I did open up the wheel arch liners to clean and assess condition of the sheet metal everywhere I could anyway to look for rust (it's a new to me 10+ years old used car) so I sprayed at the same time so no big deal
I did not spray over what they sprayed... I guess you get my drift here.
Lol, I thought I was OCD about my cars, and I maintain that I still am, but then I met you... ![:rofl2:](https://www.autos.ca/forum/Smileys/CarTalk/rofl.gif)
My service manager wanted to take off your "friends and family" discount for his pain and suffering
![Kiss :-*](https://www.autos.ca/forum/Smileys/CarTalk/kiss.gif)
LOL.... If he felt that way remind him to send me a "thank you card" for giving him all the P/Ns validated and ready to go in a spreadsheet, kept him from ordering the wrong parts or unnecessary and expensive parts which you would have to return after all or be stuck with them.... ![Grin ;D](https://www.autos.ca/forum/Smileys/CarTalk/grin.gif)
I'll give it to you - I'm anal when it comes to the integrity, cleanness, maintenance of my cars and hell yeah, I do my homework before going into a shop... OCD?... yeah, maybe, I give you a wildcard to tease me about that ... ![Smiley :)](https://www.autos.ca/forum/Smileys/CarTalk/smiley.gif)
Damn, you should like customers like me as it's a stream generator for the shop plus, if I could just bring my parts in, there would be no work at all for the service advisor.... Nil, nada, zilch.
I typically know exactly what parts I want to put in my car and chose and source them carefully (and smartly I should say.... being a bit modest here
).
BTW: Did a $hit load of small little things on the car since.... I bet you'll laugh you a$$ of if I list all the stuff I did, which I will at some point but too busy at the moment doing it.
Have to pay you a visit in few weeks for some new stuff but need to let my credit card cool off a bit as it's red hot now. ![RunAway :run:](https://www.autos.ca/forum/Smileys/CarTalk/runaway.gif)
Just a couple of things to dissect here, and all with respect and coming from a friend, because you're a great dude, and I know you're just mostly just joking around.
You wanted a few basic things done - fluids, brakes, filters, basic things on an E90 BMW, a car we see at least ten of in any given week. You also sourced a few of the parts (like the A/C compressor) yourself to ensure you're paying bottom dollar and again, absolutely zero issues with that. Your goal, like any smart consumer, is to ensure you're paying rock bottom dollar. I'm also happy to give you, just like all the others from here that have come by to support the business and patronize the shop, the friends/family discount on the labor rate.
Obviously, the goal of any business is to make money, and I'm happy to give discounts on labor rate as well as parts, but doing the work obviously costs us something. We do take pride in the fact that we have minimal returns and a near-zero "wrong part ordered" rate. If we do, for the most part our suppliers will happily take something back, because we order enough volume from them that it's good.
My "pain and suffering" joke was because my SM was jokingly sharing about the 67 e-mails back and forth (thanks Gmail, for putting that number right beside the thread) ensuring that the fluids and filters would be up to spec for the 328i, which, again, is a car we deal with literally daily.
But, please don't take offence to us not really preferring any client to bring their own parts in. When you're paying rock bottom on labour, and bringing your own part, you're digging in pretty heavy on the profit margin. Factor in the SM's time to coordinate back and forth, which for sure is a part of his job, and it ends up being a job that's not profitable.
Again, I'm only kidding around with you because we have varying levels of pickiness with customers, and being in the customer service business, we're happy to deal with each one of them.
I still maintain that the non-turbocharged E90 remains one of the most fun cars you can have under $5,000 right now, and maybe even the $10,000 mark. Brought the shop 335i home a couple of times in the past week or two and am still impressed with the driving dynamics of it, like I was with yours.