dsms detail - Merc CLS 63 AMG/Black Gloss

dsms · 09-07-08, 12:19

This car was originally booked for a full wash and seal but upon picking it up at the owners house I saw that it was going to need some correction work. Having this beauty sitting in direct sunlight is the perfect way to show the owner its absolute need for polishing attention.

I drove the car back to my house and let me say that the 6.2L (no its not a full 6.3litre) V8 sounds incredible. Mercedes did away with the superchargers and turbos when devolpoing the new 63's and IMO it gives the car the perfect throaty, resonant sound, then again im a sucker for naturally aspiritaed engines:headbang:... but dont we all love the sound of a McLaren F1 or a Carrera GT? Anyway I will say that in driving this car for a good 20minutes throughtout the day back and fourth from the owners house that its low end torque is a bit weak. Having spent tons of time behind the wheel of a 2006 SL55 (with the supercharger) I find that it really does make a difference below 4k rpm. I think you need to really push this car to expericnce its true potential but in all honesty I cant say, I didnt go faster than 40mph even on a main road, You cant be too careful with other peoples vehicles. When I returned the car later that night (around 11pm) I spent a good 20mins talking with the owner about the car, he was a very cool guy to work with.

Anyways on with the detail, sorry but I didnt take a lot of before pictures.

The car was fairly new with only about 4k on the odo. With that knowledge I figured whatever "dealership prep" that was done on the car (ie. heavy glazes and wax) would still be on the paint, and I was right.

After initial inspection I thought a light corrective polish would take care of the swirls but after stripping off all the old wax and whatever else may have been used i saw the true finish.

I started with the wheels, as usual massive AMG brakes have a tendancy to cook up quite a bit of brake dust. After a thorough pressure wash of the wheels, tires and wheel wells I then sprayed a liberal amount of the P21s wheel gel to the rims and let it sit for about 10minutes. I always grab the P21s gel for delicate wheel finishes and cars with high performance braking systems to ensure no damage is done to either the wheels or brakes.

The tires were scrubbed with the E-Shine APC and so were the wheel wells. Later I dressed the wheels with Adams Invisible undercarrige and the wheels with CG liquid dressing

Heres a quick before shot

The after

Here is the hood before, you can see the hardened water spots left on the finish, good thing the owner opt'ed for my polishing services on this one!

Now onto prepping the finish

I started out qith a P21s Total Auto Wash pre-soak to strip off all prior wax/glaze applied by the dealer

Here is the p21s TAW dwelling

After that came the wash. 2 buckets, 2 shmitts and Zaino Z7 were used, followed by claying and then drying. I like to dry the car using a slick QD product in between to prevent streaking, in this case it was again Megs Last Touch.

Then I took dozens of PTG readings, plenty of CC to work with. It was a new car so I wasnt expecting to many suprises. The car averaged 130-160 microns.

Now it was time for the correction work. The process was as follows

Gloss It Evolution Cut with yellow cutting pads on the Cyclo (x2 in some areas)
Gloss It 1step Machine polish with white finishing pads on the cyclo (jeweling step)

followed by an IPA wipedwon to ensure no filling and then inspection

Here is the finish under the CM5300, the flake really began to show

I then brought the car out into the sun to make sure no holograms were left after polishing, sometimes I find garage lighting isnt enough to thoroughly inspect a finish

Here is the hood in direct sun post polishing, No wax or sealant was applied

I then rinsed the car to remove any polishing dust and carefully dried it.

Here is the car back in my garage after the rinse. Again there is no wax or sealant on it yet.

Now onto the interior which btw has some of the best seats around, thick bolstering ftw!

Before

After

After

Center comsole re-organized

All plastics removed and properly cleaned using 1Z CP

door jambs cleaned and polished

windows/chrome trim polished using 1Z glas polish and adams metal polishes

The LSP of choice was Gloss It Signature Gloss, applied via cyclo with white finishing pads followed by a gloss enhancer QD wipedown

Now for the final finish

This is the same picture I took post polishing only this time the LSP was applied. The finish now has more clarity and depth than before, you can see the P21s TAW label in the reflection from the shelf above

Taken down by the lower panel near the clear bra

dsms · 09-07-08, 12:21

Wheels all finished off

I always have this Bugatti EB110 in my reflection shots, this CLS IMO prodcued the clearest reflection of the picture on the wall I have ever seen

I just love this shot

Headlights were machine polished via the makita and PlastiX

I wish I could have had this car out in sunlight but I finished around 10pm

My favorite

Thanks for looking, hope you enjoyed

zoomzoom mazda5 · 09-07-08, 01:10

Slick as hell!, looks sharp and the work is outstanding!............Awesome!

kaval · 09-07-08, 01:11

Very nice clarity and depth in the paint! Those wheels turned out great too. Isn't it a great feeling when the owner goes with your recommendation!

What is that wheeled thing you have in some of the pictures to kneel on? I could sure use one of those!

Great work!

AZ Ferrari Man · 09-07-08, 01:45

Great work! What is CM5300? Are those lights? The gloss it QD, streak free, one swipes or is it the spray-spread-wipe- flip and buff?

Andrew

Pats300zx · 09-07-08, 02:52

Awesome job. Those cars are so bad ***...

BigAl3 · 09-07-08, 03:03

beautiful, nice attention to detail! it's nice to see a cyclo detail every now & then too

. those are hands down one of these best looking sedans out on the road today...

p.s. is that a microfiber towel i see on the ground?

sal329 · 09-07-08, 03:13

That is a very sweet detail. Every time I look at your details makes me wanna try Gloss It more and more

weekendwarrior · 09-07-08, 05:23

Wow - the gloss is amazing.

dsms · 09-08-08, 02:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by AZ Ferrari Man

Great work! What is CM5300? Are those lights? The gloss it QD, streak free, one swipes or is it the spray-spread-wipe- flip and buff?

Andrew

Yes the CM5300 is a handheld paint inspection 2bulb light made by Infratech. The Gloss Enhancer QD is a versatile product, think of it as being like Zaino Z6+Z8. Its great as a quick QD between washes and also as a nice topper to wipedown the finish after applying the sealant, its actually made with 5% of the same synthetic polymer found in the Gloss It sealants so it adds a little extra protection to the finish each time you use it. Its a spray and buff product, not a quick one swipe dry product but I absolutley love it! I buy it by the case

dsms · 09-09-08, 06:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by sal329

That is a very sweet detail. Every time I look at your details makes me wanna try Gloss It more and more

Im not plugging but so far I have been nothing but pleased with the products and the finish they produce. Worth a shot IMHO.

artikxscout · 09-09-08, 07:32

100% detail nice. How did you get the wheels so clean, it's spotless.