Ten Easy Ways To Keep Your Car Clean

Great tips to keep your car clean even if you’re pressed for time or just don’t feel like it.

10.) Don't eat in there

Why it's effective: If you can avoid eating in your car, you won't have to deal with all the wrappers, cartons, stains and crumbs that inevitably follow.

9.) Wax it occasionally

Why it's effective: It means you have to buy something and it means you have to spend some time after washing your car, but it's an investment that pays off. Waxing your car occasionally makes washing it the next time easier.

8.) Knock your shoes before getting in

Why it's effective: Wherever it snows and gets slushy, you really can't keep your car from getting dirty on the inside, but you can do a lot just by knocking your boots before you get in.

Sit down on the seat with your legs outside and knock your cold, block-like feet together. Then you just swivel in. It means your footwells won't be quite so grimy and icy.

7.) Keep kids out

Why it's effective: If at all possible, don't have kids and your car will stay much cleaner. If you do have kids, try and contain them in the family truckster and keep your car out of their grubby, dirty, smearing hands.

This may be a lost cause for many of you parents out there, but the rest of you need to stay vigilant.

6.) Clean messes up quick

Why it's effective: If you let a spill or a stain linger for any period of time in your car, it quickly becomes "character" and is impossible to remove.

Remember that time when Jim smacked his head on the doorframe and got blood on the armrest? Of course you do, because you didn't clean it up right away and now it's a stain you never have the time or the wherewithal to scrub away.

5.) Garage it

Why it's effective: While not everyone has a garage available, if you can find some enclosed space for your car, it will stay much cleaner. Mother Nature has a way of bringing every living bird to roost in the tree just above your parked car. There are a thousand other things the elements can bring unto your vehicle, so clear out your old BowFlex and stick your car in there.

4.) Keep a trashbag in the car

Why it's effective: Get either a small trash can or just a trash bag and keep it in your car. It keeps your junk from falling into the tiny cracks around the seats, or from rolling under the seats, and generally getting where you're too lazy to clean.

3.) Every time you leave, take something out

Why it's effective: There are three cleaning regimens that will keep your car clean. Each one requires a different degree of diligence, but they all work. Every time you stop for gas, reach into all the cubby holes and pull out the trash so you can throw it out. Every time you stop and get out of your car for any reason, grab all the trash in your car. If you stop and your car already looks clean, look around for one thing in your car that doesn't strictly need to be there and take it out.

2.) Make a routine for washing

Why it's effective: There's no quick fix to keeping your car washed regularly. You have to either set up a schedule for taking your car to a carwash, or you need to start a routine for washing your own car. Mark it out on your calendar and use the two-bucket method. One bucket has clean water and the other bucket is soapy. Scrub your car clean, soap it up, then wash it all off from the top down. Stay regimented and your car won't ever stay dirty.

1.) Keep it clean so it stays clean

Why it's effective: The easiest way to keep your car from getting dirty is to clean it once and make sure it stays that way. Once it's clean, it's easy to keep it clean, as readerhorspowr1001 explains:

If your car is always clean, you will be more inclined to toss out any trash right away. Similar to the dirty laundry analogy: If you have one pair of dirty socks on the floor, it's much easier to put that second pair there, then the third, then the.... Eventually it becomes a mess.

Also, if your passengers see a clean car, they will notice and clean up after themselves, not to mention compliment your ride.

Article courtesy of Jalopnik: http://jalopnik.com/5922778/ten-easy-ways-to-keep-your-car-clean

Summertime Heat Can Do Real Damage to Your Car

Summer can be a great time! Fun in the sun can include camping, visits to your favorite water parks, relaxation and much more, but there's a downside to all the sun... It can be damaging to your car paint!
Sunlight can cause oxidation which causes fading, and that's bad news, but you're not at a total loss! There are steps the average person can take to PREVENT sun damage to their car.

1) Park in a shaded area: Obviously the easiest way to avoid sun damage is to avoid the sun altogether. Paint is tough, but if you're the typical 9-5 worker, that's 8 hours a day your car can be exposed to sun rays. We suggest seeking out shaded areas for parking, even if it means walking an extra block.
2) Clean off bugs: Insects not only make your car look gross, but the small amount of acid contained in some insects can be enough to penetrate your paint, so be sure to wash your car often... which brings us to our next step...
3) Dry thoroughly: Cleaning your car is great, but you don't want to let water settle. Water can leave behind minerals including salt, which is harmful to the outer coatings protecting your paint, which in the end, can lead to fading.
4) Finally... wax: Wax is the ultimate protector. Waxing fills in small scuffs, and rejuvenates the outer layers of your paint keeping them like new so be sure to wax after washing your car. It's a great way to insure it's dry, and keeps it looking as glossy as the day you bought it.

BMW Uses Their Technology to Train Olympians

We’ll see if this software proves successful for USA athletes like Janet Evans and Bryan Clay who are both enjoying the latest technology from BMW! Are you excited for the Olympics?!

In addition to providing transportation vehicles during the Games -- 4,000 of them -- as well as financial backing to 150 Olympians and Paralympians (11 from the U.S.; the nation most represented by BMW sponsorship is the U.K.), the company has developed new motion-tracking camera software for USA Swimming and velocity-measuring tools for USA Track & Field.

Janet Evans, an American swimmer and one of BMW's athletes, says, "This is the first corporate sponsor I've seen that really cares about what the athletes need." The German automaker, which has an R&D lab in Silicon Valley, approached athletes nearly a year ago and asked them what could make them better. "Their attitude was, 'Here's what we're good at, so tell us what you need and how we can help you,'" says Bryan Clay, American decathlete and defending Gold champion.

The technology BMW came up with allows athletes like Clay and Evans - the latter jokes that the partnership works because, "We are like fine-tuned machines; they want to go fast down the road, I want to go fast in the pool" -- get a more comprehensive look at exactly what they need to tweak for their next lap, run, or jump.

Evans recalls that in the past, to watch the replay of a lap, she'd have to sit on the side with a handheld camera and push pause at just the right moment, constantly hitting rewind and fast-forward in frustration. Clay says he would end up in a similar position after his practice runs, even as recently as the last Summer Games in Beijing. Now, Clay says, "The sky's the limit with this technology. It could change the world of sports."

If it sounds surprising that a German luxury carmaker is offering its sponsored athletes new camera technology, Willisch insists that it shouldn't be. "We're an engineering company," he says. "We're in this for the long-term; we'll be doing this until at least 2016." Indeed, BMW's biggest media buy ever in North America will air during the London Games.

Read more: http://features.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2012/05/31/bmw-olympics-training/

Olympic Ride and Drive Event at Laurel BMW

Well,it sure was a HOT one here at Laurel BMW!  But what a fantastic way to start the holiday weekend; outside driving the new BMW 3 series models to support our USA Olympic and Paralympic teams. We couldn't have asked for a better turn out and we thank everyone who was able to attend Friday!  LET'S GO USA!