Hi guys, so I am in the market for an s2000 and there are currently two that I narrowed my decision down to... an 05 GPW with 65k miles and an 05 BB with 45k miles. The thing is, the BB is a lot cheaper. My dilemma is this, I am coming from a black car and I'm not one that regularly cleans my car, but I like to keep it looking at least decent most of the time (I'll clean it once every 1-2 weeks). I love the way a BB s2000 looks... it has that mysterious, aggressive, mean look.. idk how to explain it. But white is nice too.

My question to you guys is this: Is BB really that awful to drive? I did some research on this forum and read that Berlina Black is a PITA to keep clean and Honda used a lower quality paint for their BBs. Also read that people clean/dust their BBs after every ride. Will BB really be that hard to keep looking nice? I'm not looking to use a porter cable and such, just maybe a wash and wax. To all you Berlina owners, would you go for a GPW if you could? How much time does it consume to keep your berlina looking nice and clean (doesn't have to be SHOWROOM nice) What is your routine for keeping it looking nice?

Pretty much can you guys convince me to get a BB over a GPW? Is BB really that hard to keep looking nice or are people exaggerating the maintenance of it?

 

I have an 05 BB s2k. It does require a lot of cleaning to get rid of the swirl marks if you don't clean it correctly (which I assume you already know since you had black car). I thought I would have never gotten a black car, but I did. I love the car now BUT my original color I wanted was the GPW and I believe the GPW is more limited than the BB. It's all preference obviously and you can't go wrong with any of the colors for the s2k's. I know that really didn't help much but I just wanted to let you know my 2 cents.

 

GPW is the way to go, less maintenance and once it collects dust (within hours depending where you live) you wouldn't notice it keeping the car appearing to have a cleaner look. The black looks the best to me but any little imperfection will show.

 

If I were choosing I would go with BB for some of the reasons you mentioned. Give it a thorough detail to remove any swirls, then wash it properly and spray on a good detailing spray. I recently detailed a black Mustang GT using Nanoscrub, M205 and Blackfire Wet Diamond all paint protection. The finish looked like glass and the slickness of the surface is amazing. I purchased my customer some Blackfire Wet Diamond detailing spray and top quality microfiber towels from Detailed Image and he comments that the stang is much easier to maintain. Just my $.02.

 

Why would color affect the drive?

Black is always difficult to maintain on any vehicle. White really isn't much better.

 

With a good sealant, it isn't that bad, but then it isn't parked out where birds can defile it.

 

in terms of detailing, you can get away with swirls with white vs black

 

black always shows the most imperfections.

 

I'm going through the same issue looking into purchasing a Nighthawk Black Pearl Acura TSX as a daily driver. My s2k is Laguna Blue and it takes a couple of days to show dirt; I was curious to know how much quicker (if any quicker) Black is to show dirt than other dark colors. I use the 2-bucket system for washing my s2k and I detail my own cars so I figure swirl marks won't be too much of an issue. My only concern was whether I would be needing to wash the car every couple of days or if I could just get away washing it once a week or every other week if it's garaged.

 

^^^ Every car is going to get dirty and all but black definitely shows it more. I have 05 bb and i hate looking at it in the sun because it's covered in swirls. But as long as you clean it up by at least using a quick detailer here and there then it shouldn't be too bad.