Plastic Rear Window

Does anyone know of a good cleaner that is a clear gel, so I don't get all that chalky crap (unavoidable no matter how hard I try) all over the edge of the fabric???

[alanc]

A Cesna pilot showed me a great way to make the plastic windows clear again. We went to one of the little specialty stores in a small airport and got some Meguiar's Mirror Glaze. They use it to clear up plexiglass airplane windows. (It's not just for airplanes, so it might be available at auto supply shops too.) It's 2-step--first clean then polish. You put a buffer on an electric drill and rub that stuff around aggressively. Mine was so bad, I had nothing to lose, so I really went at it. On an 18 year old top, it wound up looking just about new. I think it would have looked completely new if I'd unbolted the top frame to get to the inside better. Eventually, I had to replace the top, but the windows still looked great.

The stuff didn't leave any residue to speak of.

[BDBENZ]

I used the Meguiar's Plastic Cleaner #17 , followed by the Plastic Polish #10. My top had not been used in several years and was cloudy and scratched. It turned out great, clear as a clean glass window with 98% of the scratches removed. My top is original. I bought the Meguiar's at my local Napa store. I understand that it is also available directly from the Meguiars web sight.
BD

BMW sells a kit that includes the rear plastic cleaner as well as convertible top protectant. Both work great. Just did my rear window recently and this stuff works great.

[Marc-1]

Meguiar's has permission to have the Mercedes emblem on there product....this might mean that Mercedes endorses Meguiar's. At this I would assume that Meguiar's is a good brand. So I tried all the products I needed for my car and found Meguiar's to be right up there where Mercedes suggests they are. If you go to your local MB dealer they should have a showcase with assorted things like keychains, coffee cups, T-shirts, etc. In that showcase you should also find car-care stuff. You will find 'rear window' plastic polish by Meguiar's...... It's the bomb!! Works as advertized. I believe Wal-Mart also sells it, but it's about the same price as the MB dealer....Believe it or not.
I also use Meguiar's GOLD CLASS.....CLEAR PASTE WAX....
This is REAL wax and has NO abrasives. Turtle wax and some others need to be looked at very carefully by those with high-end cars. These products are geared toward the 'typical' (no offense intended) car owner, whereas they have an aluminum-oxide in them which polishes the mildow, bugstains, oxidation, etc, off of the paint/clearcoat. I use soap and water for that myself and by using Meguiar's Gold....(no less than three coats).... I found that soap and water is all I need. It's hard old fashioned work but well worth the effort. Oh, the white powdery "crap" that is often seen (accidently) on cars plastic parts ie; handles/trim etc. is Aluminum-Oxide. Not CLEAR WAX that dried!!

[4NDELIT]

I used the meguiars plastic cleaner and polish [17,10] on my friend's 325i convertible, and it did wonders. As far as wax, I use either griot's garage or zymol, but that's a different argument for another thread