Car washing rules in Munich

Hi, I live just outside Munich and I have heard that there are various anal rules about washing your own car outside your own house. Anyone know anything, before I get a posse of outraged neighbours at my door?
Cheers.

From what I've read you just don't do it. Having been here a while, I've never seen anyone washing their car at home or on the street. I assume there must be some do-it-yourself designated car washes, but I've never seen them.

http://www.jpoc.net/countries/germany/washcar.html

http://www.campus-germany.de/english/print...t/4.90.335.html

*ching* it now all drops into place. I saw a sign saying "Waschstrasse" in Brauneg at the weekend and wondered whether everyone else had to wait their turn before having a shower, now I know different!

One of the lesser known reasons why you can't wash your car outside your house is because the authorities couldn't agree on the correct dimensions of the hosepipe that should be used.

That's very true Silke. I've heard that German hosepipes are shorter and narrower than those of other European nations.

I'm not really sure how well you would wash your car with that kind of hosepipe.

I reckon it would work the morning after a big beer night...

So I was in the streeet 'windexing' my rental this morning at 8:30 so it would appear that I had taken the time to go to a real car washing garage and therefore wouldn't get charged for not washing it. It had several days of rainy grime on it (so it's MY turn to wash and no one else's?) and it took a little while but no problem there. I know where some washing garages are but didn't have time since I stayed up late putting together my bed so I could sleep on it and this morning came really early.

I was nearly complete with my task and this lady starts complaining out her window at me. Since I didn't understand a word I shrugged and kept polishing my windows. She stayed there and kept griping every so often till I was through. I didn't 'salute' her nor flip her the bird like I wanted to because it just wasn't worth it. (Plus she could have complained and the polizei could have easily found the 'tall american renting from sixti.de'.)

Now, there are probably some regulations against washing your car in the street but that was not what I was doing. No hoses (of any size), no buckets of water, no puddles of soapy mud were present. So just for the record, what is the deal with washing your car on the street or just washing your car in general?

AND what is the deal with local old ladies who always want to tell you what to do like it is their place to do so? Doesn't the old lady fear that the strange auslander that she yelled at could go back and egg her window because she pissed him off?

You are not allowed to wash your car in front of your house if the dirty water with oil and washing liquid goes into the ground. If there is a drainage pit on the street you shouldn't have a problem.
About the old ladies... Can't help you, clueless myself.

No she doesn't. There is a big culture of complaining here, especially amongst old ladies. They love nothing more than to point out any and every infraction of the rules no matter how small even if it doesn't directly affect them in the slightest. Generally here if someone complains then the person in question will apologise and stop whatever it was they were doing. The complainer goes about their business feeling smug in the knowledge that they have improved society and the complainee makes sure that he doesn't do the thing again. Ordnung is maintained.

For example, I was cycling on the wrong side of the road once and a bloke had a big go at me about it. I shouted at him to go and fcuk himself. That would not be a normal occurance if it were two Germans. One would complain and the other would apologise.

Once we were being kept awake late at night by a bunch of loud drunk blokes arguing outside the window. I shouted at them to shut the fcuk up. They apologised and moved on. In Ireland or the UK it wouldn't be eggs but bricks that you'd have through your window.

It all comes down to the whole powertrip thing. People will have a big fat go at you for whatever just because it makes them look more powerful, even if it's just in the "obeying the law" stakes. I've found in my time here that anytime someone has a go for whatever reason, I come back at them a little stronger and a little louder and they quickly back off. Apart from an obvious predilection for starting land wars in Europe, the Germans tend to shun confrontation at all costs. They'll mouth off, but back down very quickly once they see that the person will not be intimidated.

First word I learnt in German was "verboten" and I was just carrying out a very typical Sunday afternoon car wash. I haven't dared since. Now been driving around a little mud bomb for the past few years.

Like the advice though keydeck, come on you deutschies next confrontation and you're mine!

Thought you were allowed to if you only used warm water...but I can imagine Frau ******* from the ground floor going: "Nein Ze bucket ist ze Falsche Farbe, You vill be shot!"

It's predominantly an environmental thing. There are plenty of "designated" car washing places in private car parks, and underground garages, along with an abundance of proper car washes.

Now try mowing your lawn at 2pm on a Saturday afternoon...

YL6

r the rules the same in the country side or is it just a city thing? geez germans have rules and are anal about everything.

to be honset i've prolly never washed a car in my life (maybe once, but other than that my parents always did it, yep i'm spoiled), but for some reason the thought of not being able to wash a car when i want angers me. its something i pictured myself doing someday when i have kids...

damn just another thing to make me miss american life..there arent too many, but the list is certainly growing.

My fave law is still the tax that applies if you put down a patio. Because the water will run off it you see. Abwasserregenwasser tax or some shit. Idiots.

The rules are pretty much the same in the countryside, but are often enforced with more vigour, primarilly because of local houseowners who think they own the streets. Hence I got the a written warning for mowing the lawn at 2pm on Saturday (when it's not allowed to make noise between 12midday and 3pm).

Nobody says you have to like the rules to live here, but you do have to accept them. Personally I think the advantages way outweigh the disadvantages and accept them accordingly. Someone once said to me that in most countries everything is allowed unless specifically forbidden, but in Germany everything is forbidden unless specifically allowed... useful to remember, whether you like it or not.

YL6

Dont you guys grow vegetables? You dont want the neighbors soapsuds getting into your groundwater. Or killing the fish and frogs in your pond. Its not about rules its about respect.

@ Kza - that was a sarcastic remark, right? If the Germans had 'drains' (an interesting concept I know), wouldn't the soap suds just run away into the sewers to join all the other waste? Any fish and frogs down there would probably appreciate some detergent to have a good wash with.

Nothing to do with THINKING that they own the streets - we have to pay tax on the strip of pavement outside the house, are responsible for cleaning it, and liable for people falling over on it.

There are 2 types of drains. Stormwater drains which accept rain water basically and this goes straight into a river or something. Sewers are something different and are more of a sealed system. The drains in the street are part of the stormwater system rather then the sewer system. Your right though, normally its not a problem, a lot of detergents are biodegradable and non-toxic so dont cause any problems in small levels. Still when you have this many people sharing a certain amount of space its important to control what we release into various points in the ecosystem.

The proper places for washing cars have drains that go to sealed systems and this waste water can be monitored and properly treated before being recycled.

When you scale things up, small percentage increases in pollutants over a certain area do cause significant reductions in crop yields for example, and are very hard to clean. If we expect future generations to live as comfortably as we do, its better to be paranoid about how we treat the environment.

I think I am right in saying that rainwater/and land drainage in General is routed to a different treatment plant which has no or little treatment,
However household water waste is treated and cleaned for further use..

I do know of some houses that have had Water traps fitted at the edges of their diveways and this water is diverted back to the household waste.

It is simply an enviromental thing...

G

@ Don Riijna, the patio waste water tax is because that water is going from the patio via a drain into the sewerage system as oppsed to soaking into the ground.
If it is just running off the edge of the patio into the ground, the tax sucks.

@ jimbo. That's the whole point, run off water from the streets can, in theory go straight into the Isar without the need for treatment. Seeing as the target is to have the whole of the Isar within Munich up to EU standard "bathing quality" by summer next year, fair play to them really. I get the MVV anyway!

According to the Munich sewage people: the "solids" they extract from domestic dirty water are burned in a brand new heating plant and the energy won used to provide enviromentally friendly heating / electricity!

Actually this relates to a business idea that I had a few months ago.

In the UK or US lots of people get their car cleaned whilst at work. A couple of guys come round with a van full of cleaning stuff and give your car a right good scrub.

I thought this would work here really well bearing in mind:

- Munich cars are worth a good scrub
- Munich car owners are clearly pretty vain
- Washing your car yourself isnt easy- see above thread

So the big idea is this. Get aforementioned van and add a "draining trailer" to it. They come round to your work, you give them your keys and they wash the car on draining trailor while you work for say between 30 and 100 euro. You could probably recycle the water well enough to keep weight down and at the end of the day you dispose of it responsibly/legally...

Opinions?

I can get my car washed for between €5 and €10 at the normal car wash. So I'm paying a lot more for the saving of time, which is usually not such a big deal as it only takes a few minutes in the normal wash place. You are also washing it by hand which is better for the paint than a machine and generally results in a better wash. But for me it's not a €30+ better wash. I think it's a good idea but the price is ridiculously high.

If there is a tax on patio run off water, then there must be some tax or other on disposing of loads of water from a "draining trailer". Probably more than you'd earn from washing cars.

I say leave car washing to the scouts. Gets them out of that weird shed with those grown men in kiddies school shorts...

@ Keydeck..

The "Textile" car wash mashines are very good and it is almost impossible for it to damage your motor, Unlike in the UK where they use a Nylon Whipping to blast your pride and joy, clean...

As for the Trailer Car wash idea,
If your time is so prescious, Simply pay someone to take the car for you and wait.
Maybe you could ask them to Fill her up and vacuum it aswell.

G

Here is an interesting car wash...

http://a.oneofthelads.com/carwash.php

Also a great test of your spelling...

Have a try!

RT