So, I picked up my new (to me) '08 G37S yesterday, and was showing her off to my colleague (a big fan of 03-07 G35) and popped up the hood to notice that anything black had a sheen to it and felt greasy. Almost like they used tire shine to make everything "pretty". Any ideas on how to get rid of this (not sure how I missed it before).

Edit: I will try and get some pictures of it tonight, but not sure it will show up in a pic.

 

Just get some general spray degreaser. Spray liberally, brush in, rinse off. Then use some Back to Black to get it to look right without the greasy look.

 

Yeah, just a simple degreaser (409, Simple Green, etc) will take it off. I hate having ANYTHING on parts under the hood. I'd prefer simple dust to "goo".

 

degreaser, as mentioned above. I like to use CG VRP dressing to dress up the engine bay plastics and rubber after its been cleaned.

 

I'm nervous about spraying stuff all over my engine bay and messing something up... Is it ok to degrease and wash down the whole engine bay (as long as the engine is cold)? How long should I wait until I drive the car?

 

What I ended up doing this weekend was just taking an old terrycloth rag and wiping it down. It seems to have gotten most of it off.

 

The only thing I ever worry about is the alternator. I cover that with a plastic bag. Other than that, I spray degreaser liberally, brush things down, and then rinse. I remove the bag and dry the engine compartment. Never had a problem starting and running the engine right afterwards. Just about everything is sealed, so not really much to worry about.