Product Review: Bilt Hamber Auto Balm

I actually called Pete at AB on Friday. Seems they have yet another bank holiday on Monday so my stuff should go out Tues or Wed. Will try to get one case air freighted right away. Thanks for everyones patience.

 

If I don't get some of that Bilt Hamber and Gloss-It stuff soon, I'm going to throw a tantrum.

 

Karl, i really like it...it was on black and really made the car seem "bright"...i dont know how to explain it, i feel it is a unique look from most other LSPs i have. I will continually keep it around..and another thought, i thought i would struggle applying it thin enough, but thanks to Ken's thoughts on simply pushing the applicator in the jar, instead of swiping, i feel it went on super thin, which is only positive with this stuff. I love it so far, like i said i felt like it got slicker and slicker after a few hours, similar to that of Opti-seal.

 

I've got another endorsement for this stuff. This morning, I won the Honda/Acura class at a Porsche Club of America concourse. I got asked loads of questions about the car, like "who details it for you?" :awesome: Good thing I brought plenty of business cards...

 

Congrats on that!! Now if we could only teach you to use Carnauba Jett! LOL

 

Well I stripped everything off the BMW last night and buffed out the cloudy spots with some Scholl Concepts S30. Only reason I used more than a finishing polish is because I had a few radom scratches I wanted to get out. Went back over it with JW Prime Acrylic then Blackfire AFPP and then a coat of Raceglaze 55. Looks incredible.

AB is a fantastic product and believe everyone when they say is best left on its own and not topped. I'm glad I only experiment on my cars and not a clients. With that said though it took a decerning eye to see the cloudy areas and most people would never ever see it. Now my other experiment with AB is coming to an end as well. I put it on my Jeep back on November 11th and the only thing its had done since then is washes and after the wash is wiped down with DG AW. The stuff is still going strong and I'd really like to see how long it will last but I have another product I'm dying to tryout so the AB comes off today. The stuff has lasted 6 months!! The shine has degraded a little but the beading and sheeting has not. It still beads and sheets like it did the week after I put it on.

 

Thanks for all the useful information on this guys. Maybe we can get a sticky for it.

 

So here's another thing I've learned about this stuff. If you have badly faded black plastic, like say on a side mirror housing, Auto Balm works GREAT on this stuff. My new (to me) F250 has those big black plastic towing mirrors, and they looked terrible. Trim Shine brought them back to life, but didn't last long at all. Auto Balm made them look great, and so far, is proving quite durable. Where dressing mostly ran off in a heavy rainstorm, the Auto Balm has my mirrors still looking good.

Credit for the idea goes to JL, who, in his review of the stuff, tried it on the black plastic door handles of his Jeep. Pretty incredible stuff.

 

Just a note as well, if you lightly mist some water,(mist, don't spray) on a panel before applying the AB you'll be able to spread the AB thinly and easily. This also makes for very easy removal of the AB as it doesn't seem to dry out as quickly. Try it and let me know how you make out.

 

This WORKS. I tried it earlier today and it really does help. Just a very small amount of water is necessary to make this work.

 

Ken, forgive me if this has been asked in the pages of this thread, i hadnt read it all...do we have an update on the ETA of Bilt Hamber into your store?

 

Just talked to Peter this morning and a couple cases of AB are en route via air, left yesterday. Should be less than a week. The rest of it is coming by boat as its just too expensive to ship large orders by air. Thanks for your patience.

 

So here's another thing Bilt Hamber Auto Balm is really good at - protecting your vehicle from cone marks at an autocross. :applause2: For the last month, my two codrivers and I have been hammering mercilessly on my S2000 at local and national autocross events. Part of autocrossing is hitting cones. Cones often leave a part of themselves on the car; front bumper, rocker panels, or rear bumper, depending on how they're hit. It's often seen as a translucent film on the car, sometimes with an orange or black tint to it.

Never has getting cone marks of the S2000 been as easy as it is now with the car wearing BHAB! It's amazing. Some of my fellow competitors, who know I detail, made a point of walking up to the car and just using a swipe of a finger to get the marks off. A lot of the time, I need to use a clay bar to get this stuff off, but not now with BHAB.

The front bumper, in particular, is starting to show some fine scratching from all the autocrossing. Certainly, I don't expect BHAB to protect from something like a really dirty cone struck at 60mph+. But "normal" cone marks lift right off the paint.

I know, kind of an unusual use case, but pretty cool nevertheless.

 

Karl..don't hit the damned cones and you won't have to worry about it!!oke:oke:oke:oke:oke:

 

Ah, if only it was that easy...

My codrivers and I share a similar strategy. Go as fast as we can, all of the time, and don't worry about putting a "safe" run in the bank. We figure if we don't go all out, we'll never uncork one of those runs that makes everybody take notice. The downside is that we tend to hit a lot of cones...:doh:

 

Thanks Karl for posting this review, and Ken for supplying the BH Auto Balm.

Finally got a chance to try it out this past weekend on my girlfriend's Scion TC, and WOW this is some amazing stuff!!

I have never seen metallic flakes pop as much as they do now. Previously, my favorite combo had been Jet Seal topped with 50/50, but in my opinion the BH Auto Balm blows it out of the water.

Simply amazing!

 

Yeah, it's pretty great stuff. Glad you like it! The durability of it is pretty incredible too. My F250 looks like I just did it, and that was back at the end of April.