I’d heard a lot about the automotive coating Hydrosilex Recharge, from friends in the USA, so I decided to give it a try.

I ordered the ‘Enthusiast Pack’ from their website. It contained their Rewind wax and grease remover, Silica soap and the main event, Recharge coating, along with three quality microfibre cloths. This cost $98, but I figure that if I was going to do this properly I should go the full Monty.

The Rewind product is pretty self-explanatory once you read the label and is used to removing the existing wax and polish from your vehicle’s service. Like most of these products it goes on very easily, you just spray some onto a microfibre cloth or even the section of bodywork that you want to attack and wipe it straight off.

Next, I decided to use the Silica soap supplied in the kit. I used about 100ml in a bucket fitted with a grit-guard and filled with lukewarm water. As with all automotive soaps and snow foams, we’d always recommend that you only use a quality wash-mitt, and under no circumstances use an old pair of pants or a t-shirt. I also steer clear of sponges as you never know what grit and grunge lie beneath the surface that could accost your car’s bodywork.

To be quite honest there are a lot of good car wash soaps around and I’m not entirely certain that the Hydrosilex Silica product was any better or any different to the existing ones that I tend to use on my cars. However, as I said, I wanted to give the products the very best chance to match the claims made on the company’s website and advertising materials.

So, after the first two steps, I was left with a very clean and prepared X5 once I’d thoroughly dried the car with a premium drying towel (CarPro and Meguiar’s offer superb ones, but there are lots out there) it was time to apply the Recharge sealant.

Just like the Rewind preparation solution, Recharge is simplicity itself to apply, once again using a quality microfibre cloth and applying to one cool panel at a time, applying it in a ‘waving’ motion.

Then the magic happened. There’s always something very weird that happens to my cars when I use Recharge, and I don’t say that lightly because regular readers will know I’m a bit of a tart when it comes to pampering my cars.

You then repeat the process and stand back and admire your work. It’s almost as if the bodywork becomes waterproof the moment it goes on leaving the paint like a non-stick saucepan. The surface feels silky and is so slick that it won’t pass the ‘leave a bottle on the surface without it sliding off’ trick.

The manufacturers claim that Hydrosilex Recharge gives your car a kind of transparent hardshell coating that protects it from the elements. I don’t know about longevity as I only applied it eight weeks before the time of writing, but I would say that the black paintwork on my X5 looked incredibly shiny and I think the main difference here is that when I have jet washes has returned to the same level of shine it had when I first applied the product.

When it rains, the surface produces evenly sized little beads on the paint. I’ll report back on this in the spring but my initial experiences of this product are very positive and yep, I’m impressed.

More information from www.hydrosilex.com ENDS.