Meguiar’s

BMWs with soft-tops need a little extra bit of help in order to continue looking great. Well, that’s what the Meguiar’s team thinks at least – hence these two products.

Meguiar’s Convertible and Cabrio Cleaner gives quick and effective cleaning for canvas, cloth, mohair and vinyl tops. It’s ideal for dealing with stubborn stains such as hard water, bird droppings and oil, without drying out hoods.

The Weatherproofer meanwhile uses a comprehensive formula to create a protective barrier offering long-lasting defence against UV-rays, acid rain and bird droppings.

Both can be had for roughly a tenner each so, if they’re as good as Meguiar’s say, then they’re definitely great value for money.

You can order both online (www.meguiars.co.uk) or over the phone by calling: 0870 241 6696.

Official BMW Accessories

If you’ve spent any time searching owners clubs’ online forums for hood care advice you’ll find that one product that is continually recommended by their members is BMW’s official Convertible Care Kit.

Marketed as being the ‘perfect car care kit for convertibles and roadsters’ this kit contains everything you could possible need to maintain car hoods and restore them to their former glory.

Inside you’ll find a plastic care emulsion, which prevents plastics from going brittle, a gentle-action convertible soft-top cleaner, car shampoo (for the rest of your classic’s bodywork), an impregnating agent for first-class protection from the effects of the weather, and a resin remover, which is ideal for removing both tree resin and bird droppings.

You can order a kit from your nearest BMW-appointed dealership. The kit itself retails at £54.95.

Renovo

According to the Renovo team, many of its customers have complained about their convertibles’ rear-screen clouding and discolouring. That’s why they introduced this polish to help.

Every time a soft-top hood is folded, microscopic scratches are formed on the window’s rear screen – this is what causes the window to look cloudy. Renovo’s Plastic Polish restores transparency and is said to clean and condition in minutes. It’s suitable for all plastic windows, perspex screens and even headlight lenses.

Renovo’s Plastic Polish is available in two sizes (50ml and 100ml). Prices start from £10.95 and both can be bought online from Renovo’s website.

Autoglym

Just like Meguiar’s, Autoglym also has a solution when it comes to making sure that your classic’s hood continues to look its best.

This easy to use two-part maintenance kit has a hood cleaner, which as you would expect freshens and revives the appearance of hoods by removing stains from both natural and synthetic fabric hoods. The second part of the kit (the hood protector) reproofs and preserves surfaces from the effects of water absorption.

You can order this along with a vast range of other car care products from Autoglym online (http://shop.autoglym.com). Autoglym’s kit is priced £19.99.