CMC Detailing-06 Mercedes E350 correction

mikenap

New member
I had first seen this car last year after it had been "detailed" by another local shop. At the time, it was shiny and black...but still had some light holograms poking through. Some time had passed and those light holograms became less and less "light" so the client contacted me to come in and finally make his black car look right again. Surprisingly, after a year had passed, I still found TONS of compound residue in every conceivable area of the car.



I grabbed a few before pics, but was ready to jump into it so a lot of them didn't come out too well.



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One issue I ran into was the wheel barrels. They probably have never been cleaned since the car was purchased, and laughed off everything I threw at them. I started with Sonax, then moved to Brown Royal 1:1 and finally Meguiar's Wheel Brightener 4:1. When WB didn't make a dent, I just had to cut my losses and move on.



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Not a huge improvement.:rolleyes:



The car was foamed with Meguiar's Shampoo Plus, then pressure-washed off and brought inside to ONR wash and clay it. This was from behind the license plate, easily the dirtiest part of this car. Other than that, the car was pretty contaminant-free.



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Correction consisted of a MF pad primed with D300, compounded with original version M105. Finishing was done with a B&S green pad with Menz 106fa. Machines used were a GG6 DA and Meg's G110. Most of the paint was healthy, save for the driver side fender which was very low. The following pictures are after compounding, before final polishing.



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The following day, David Strum (aka weekendwarrior) came by and offered to lend a hand finishing up the car. Anyone who has met David will agree that not only is he a great detailer, he's also an all-around great guy and good friend. I'm always glad to get a chance to work with him. While I continued compounding the last remaining panels, David got to work finishing the paint. Afterward, we foamed the car with CG CWC (with some remaining Shampoo +, that's why the bottle looks blue!) and applied Meguiar's 26 liquid to the paint. Tires and wheel wells got Hyper-dressing 3:1.



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Thanks for looking!
 
Yikes! I can't believe the residue left behind on that car! How can that pass and be called a professional detailing job?!



Good thing to know about those wheel barrels, if WB can't cut it, it probably can't be improved. Not even Iron X, which would get expensive to use quickly.



Any way, great work! Especially on black!



I had it easy. On Saturday and Sunday I detailed my father's '06 E350. On the exterior just an ABC wash, not even clay necessary and some jeweling with PO85RD and it was good to go. The car is silver though so I really :yo: to anyone who polishes up a black daily driven vehicle to Autopian standard!
 
Bill D said:
Yikes! I can't believe the residue left behind on that car! How can that pass and be called a professional detailing job?!



Good thing to know about those wheel barrels, if WB can't cut it, it probably can't be improved. Not even Iron X, which would get expensive to use quickly.



Any way, great work! Especially on black!



I had it easy. On Saturday and Sunday I detailed my father's '06 E350. On the exterior just an ABC wash, not even clay necessary and some jeweling with PO85RD and it was good to go. The car is silver though so I really :yo: to anyone who polishes up a black daily driven vehicle to Autopian standard!



Thanks Bill, I appreciate the kind words!
 
Mike, I detailed a 350Z roadster about 2 years ago that had not been washed in 3 years. The owner was a Congressional lobbyist and was rarely home. The brake dust was unbelievable. I couldn't put a dent in it no matter what I tried. A2Z, citrus cleaner, APC, simple green, nothing worked. I contacted the owner about trying an unproven method. After explaining the risks he said give it a shot. I used Easy-Off fume free no lye oven cleaner in the blue can. After a 15 minute dwell, the brake dust fell off of the wheels and left an excellent finish. No pitting, marring, softening, etching etc. Just perfectly clean wheels. Obviously I would never do this to any non clearcoated wheels or where less aggressive methods were successful but in this case it worked amazing. Might be worth a try for the absolute worst of cases.
 
pmnewton said:
Mike, I detailed a 350Z roadster about 2 years ago that had not been washed in 3 years. The owner was a Congressional lobbyist and was rarely home. The brake dust was unbelievable. I couldn't put a dent in it no matter what I tried. A2Z, citrus cleaner, APC, simple green, nothing worked. I contacted the owner about trying an unproven method. After explaining the risks he said give it a shot. I used Easy-Off fume free no lye oven cleaner in the blue can. After a 15 minute dwell, the brake dust fell off of the wheels and left an excellent finish. No pitting, marring, softening, etching etc. Just perfectly clean wheels. Obviously I would never do this to any non clearcoated wheels or where less aggressive methods were successful but in this case it worked amazing. Might be worth a try for the absolute worst of cases.



I might have to file that away as a last ditch resort before refinishing is necessary, thanks. I think it's been mentioned before, but I've never had the sack to try it. :nervous:
 
Awesome work Mike - my suggestion (since you didn't ask for it :D) is wheel acid.



How long did the detail take? Again, the paint looks fantastic.
 
tdekany said:
Awesome work Mike - my suggestion (since you didn't ask for it :D) is wheel acid.



How long did the detail take? Again, the paint looks fantastic.



Thanks Thomas. My go-to wheel cleaner has always been Brown Royal. This is the first time it let me down, so I had Wheel Brightener in reserve. I was shocked that WB didn't do any better. What would you recommend, preferably that's easy to come by?



BTW, the detail took roughly 16-17 hrs. I put about 9 hours into it on day one, and 4 hours each for me and David on day two.
 
I am using P&S Aluminum Brightener - picked it up at a local detailing supply store. Even at 1-1 it still cuts like crazy - if worried about using "acid" just rinse everything down before hand with water.
 
ooo glossy and deep reflections. Really nice work on that damn ceramic clear on Mercedes Mike. Love that final hood pic!
 
mikenap said:
I might have to file that away as a last ditch resort before refinishing is necessary, thanks. I think it's been mentioned before, but I've never had the sack to try it. :nervous:



Yep, absolute last ditch and never on unpainted or non-clearcoated wheels. Amazing how well it worked though.
 
tdekany said:
I am using P&S Aluminum Brightener - picked it up at a local detailing supply store. Even at 1-1 it still cuts like crazy - if worried about using "acid" just rinse everything down before hand with water.



I tried finding that online because I'd be interested in it as an emergency product, but the P&S site doesn't offer that particular product for sale :(
 
Mike, nice work car looks great.



I feel your pain on the wheels, I did a 92 Alfa 164 last week that has never had the wheels cleaned what a PITA
 
tdekany said:
I am using P&S Aluminum Brightener - picked it up at a local detailing supply store. Even at 1-1 it still cuts like crazy - if worried about using "acid" just rinse everything down before hand with water.

Thanks Thomas, I'm going to look into that.



Lotuseffect said:
ooo glossy and deep reflections. Really nice work on that damn ceramic clear on Mercedes Mike. Love that final hood pic!

Thanks George!



Ch96067 said:
Great turnaround and awesome reflections!

Appreciate it, thanks.



Woody Wax said:
Mike, nice work car looks great.



I feel your pain on the wheels, I did a 92 Alfa 164 last week that has never had the wheels cleaned what a PITA

Thank you Woody! What did you use on the Alfa?
 
michakaveli said:
Great job Mike..... Quite an outstanding transformation :bounce



The owner MUST have been thrilled!



Thanks for the kind words bud! We need to work together soon, it's been a while since I heard the Mad Russian! :rofl
 
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