1993 Merc E320 Cab (dirty edition) - 56k no way

BenP · 07-15-05, 03:54

I picked up this job whilst detailing the Astons and the Bentley. It's a friend of his wife. This car is 12 years old and has never really been cleaned other than washed regularly and had the vacuum put over it every now and then.

I'll start with the interior, so here are a couple of before shots:

I decided to use AG Interior Shampoo on the leather even though it says not to. I fugured it couldn't be that bad, especially as I'd be reconditioning the leather afterwards anyway.

Here are some 'half and half' shots of the leather:

Right side clean, left side dirty:

Seat back clean, seat squab dirty:

And here's a picture of 1 of 9 buckets of water that ended up this colour after cleaning the interior. This only had the dirt from the roof deck, the two rear head rests and one of the rear inside quarter panels in it!

My final process was:
AG Interior shampoo on everything (I used a whole bottle!)
TW Platinum Leather Cleaner/Conditioner
PB Natural Look Dressing
AG Fast Glass

Results:

Next up – exterior!

BenP · 07-15-05, 03:55

The exterior was in pretty rough shape. Lots of stone chips and bumper scuffs here and there. The wheels were also totally trashed, hence there are no close ups of them. There was also a weird paint defect I’ve never seen before in both the doors – almost like someone had painted them with a brush and then clear coated over the top. You can see them in the last picture and if anyone can shed some light on them it would be much appreciated!

Before:

After a couple of passes with SSR2.5 and a Meg’s cutting pad:

Final process was:
Wash SS&S
AG Cabriolet roof shampoo
P21S gel wheel cleaner
Castrol Greentec Bike Cleaner in arches/door jambs
Clay – Blue Magic (a whole bar!)
SSR2.5 (x2 on horizontal panels) with Meg’s cutting pad, which finished down nicely to go straight to:
EX by hand
AG Fast Glass
PB Trim Restorer
AG Cabriolet roof re-proofer
Meg’s Endurance High Gloss tyre dressing

After:

Ben

AndyC_1 · 07-15-05, 05:45

Like I said the other night mate superb!

mystickid · 07-15-05, 06:03

Awesome turn around!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Did you use a PC or Rotary?

BenP · 07-15-05, 06:12

I used PC on this but it's at the limits of what a PC can do. I have a rotary, just haven't got used to it yet!

Ben

Nick M · 07-15-05, 06:42

Looks good Ben !

lix · 07-15-05, 11:15

A class motor car, perfect for pimping about in the sunshine

series1 · 07-15-05, 11:25

Very nice job. It turned out great!

andrewcbho · 07-15-05, 11:34

no, no that is not a defect. The early 90's benz had the "two tone" paint schemes; top half of the car one colour, the bottom half, another colour. In the mid 90's most of those "two tone" designs were facelifted and changed to have a single colour throughout. the bottom half is like clearcoated & painted matte plastic; it can't be dented. This is my dad's car. the bottom half is the same as the car you detailed, it has a noticeable less reflective surface:

andrewcbho · 07-15-05, 11:42

for example.
Here is a "two tone" model:

then facelifted in '98:

and forgot to say, nice work! such a great after shot on the interior, looks new!

that is an awesome car, rare collectible.

BenP · 07-15-05, 12:25

It's not the plastic at the bottom of the door I'm talking about, it's just above the chrome strip in the actual paint itself. When I've got time I'll post up a new pic highlighting the area I mean!

Ben

andrewcbho · 07-15-05, 12:35

sorry, my bad.

i thought thats what you meant because the first time i detailed my dad's car i was stumped, i was like w-t-f is this bottom panel, do i leave it or do i polish it?