Weatherproof car cover with soft lining - which one to buy?

[janijoeli]

I am looking for a high quality, stormproof, breathable car cover with soft inner lining for my Z3M. I've had cheap car covers before and they tend to scratch the paintwork over time.

So far I've found these two:
Stormforce
Hamilton Classic

Is anyone familiar with either, or have any other recommendations?

Cheers!
Jani

[Alfie]

Mine is made from a material called 'NOAH'. Used by several manufacturers I think.
Soft inside, breathable and washable.

Excellent material and has done really well over the past 9 years.
However, it is now past it's best and splits really easily, so I'll be looking for a new one soon too.

It's best to get a tailored one specifically for your car with 'ears' for the wing mirrors.

A.

[janijoeli]

Thanks for the good tip Alfie!

These guys sell Covercraft NOAH covers, amongst several others.

How much should I be willing to pay for a fully tailored one? £285 for a car cover sounds like quite a lot, almost double the price of Stormforce and Hamilton. Is the fully tailored one significantly better than nearest-fit ones?

[Robert T]

See how much socalmotorsport on ebay want for a BMW one - I bought my NOAH one from them a few years back as it was cheaper buying from the states than the UK back then. Can't just remember the price, but more like £150 than £300.

Cheers R.

Sent from my Galaxy SII using Tapatalk 2

[911sc]

I've had the Hamilton version for years for use with my TR4 and subsequently my 911 when it's not in its Carcoon. Has a zip for accessing the drivers door and is sufficiently soft enough to ensure the paint isn't damaged.

When I bought my Z3m a few months ago, I purchased a cover from METEX which whilst not of the Hamilton standard does the job. Both are interchangeable between my cars.

That said, both will be "carcooned" in the winter and I am intending to buy a second carcoon for the z3m shortly. Don't believe any car cover can get close the protection of a carcoon when the winter arrives!!!

[magicmitch]

hi Jani. I've chipped in before on this topic as I use the Halfords small car cover and its just fine. I'm on my second one now, they cost about £60 but they are a near perfect fit for the Z3, I've never had a problem with scratching, in my experience I have more problems with dust/grit being on the car when I put the cover on. The Halfords cover has a sort of "flocky" inside and I don't think it is would cause a problem and based on the fact that it is such a good fit I'll be sticking with this one. This winter I'll be putting a bath towel over the hood to stop it rubbing though. Pic attached, and yes it is tough to get out once I've parked it down the side of the house!!
cheers

[gookah]

Some people have a garage conversion, I would prefer a living room one

like this one....



My wife may disagree however....

[janijoeli]

Carcoon would be awesome but I am sure my neighbours wouldn't love it that much. Car in a living room... Now the only thing I need is to remove kitchen to extend the living room, fit bigger doors in place of what-used-to-be-kitchen windows, fit a massive lift to second floor and I'm set.

Cheers Mitch, Halfords cover looks very tempting pricewise... Especially as it is on sale now, just £45! I'm a bit worried about it rubbing the roof though, does it have any kind of soft inner lining or why the roof is especially in risk? I mean if it is potentially bad for the roof wouldn't it then rub the bodywork as well?

[magicmitch]

Carcoon would be awesome but I am sure my neighbours wouldn't love it that much. Car in a living room... Now the only thing I need is to remove kitchen to extend the living room, fit bigger doors in place of what-used-to-be-kitchen windows, fit a massive lift to second floor and I'm set.

Cheers Mitch, Halfords cover looks very tempting pricewise... Especially as it is on sale now, just £45! I'm a bit worried about it rubbing the roof though, does it have any kind of soft inner lining or why the roof is especially in risk? I mean if it is potentially bad for the roof wouldn't it then rub the bodywork as well?

Jani, as you might just be able to see from the photo the cover is at its tightest across the roof, and so this where it rubs when there is wind. As I put my Zed to bed for the worst of the winter, this can be 2 or 3 months so it has rubbed across the central support bar and scuffed the fabric a little, nothing too drastic, but putting a towel over will stop that this year. I've never seen any evidence of any scratching on the bodywork and I am a bit of a wax/polish freak!! so would have spotted that on its regular sunday buff up!!

[janijoeli]

Cheers again Mitch, you convinced me to order the Halfrauds cover... My roof is a bit worn already so slight rubbing doesn't really make a huge difference, and I'll use your towel trick for those long, dark months when the car is not driven at all.