Anything I should know about Mercedes black

[Chris A]

I have been reading and searching for two days now and my head is spinning as fast as any rotary. :)



I bought a lightly used SLK 320

Anyway the paint looks as though it has some light holograming and quite a few swirl marks in it. I have a Porter cable and a whole bunch of Zaino.



Getting ready to buy The SFX foam polishing pad Kit. But not sure what Polishes to use. I was looking at Poor boy`s But read that they can bring in there own scratches.. Read some good stuff about Menzerna FP1 But dont know where to buy it. Not sure about the SFX 2&3 polishes read a few things both good and bad.



I have time to work the paint a few days so hitting it with a real agressive polish might not be the way to go but then I read that Mercedes paints are real tough.



I plan on finishing this up with some Zaino as I have used them for a few years on my Black Solara and loved it.



Thanks.

[s2skimon]

for compound prep work, pre Zaino.. I`ve gone the route of Optimum. Spend some time and search and see what many use via pc at the pre sealant stage



mezerna can be attained through here can`t it ? http://www.properautocare.com



hope that helps

[ronmart]

I read that Mercedes paints are real tough.





That depends on what year you have. If you have a version with diamond clear coat (2005 and beyond and only a few before that) then yes, the clearcoat is real tough. However, the ones before that are super soft. You don`t want to use a super agressive polish with it.



I use Griots Garage Machine Polish 2 to buff out the worst of the swirls on my black Mercedes with a Griots orange foam pad (firm, but more gentle than some). I follow up with Griots Machine Polish 3 for the rest (or for the whole car if the swirls are minor). You can see the results by clicking the links in my signature.



You don`t have to use Griots, but I do recommend starting with your trunk or hood and using the most mild polish you have and then working your way up to more abrasive ones to determine what you need. I`m guessing your car will be old enough to have the softer clearcoat, so you won`t want some of the more agressive ones.

[Chris A]

Ronmart That Carrera looks sweet. Thanks fot the Link Tumbler.



My SLK is a 2001 with 35,000 miles so I am pretty sure it is the softer clear. so now I know that less agressive is the way to go. Searching for more info the Griots stuff and Optimum.



Thank you.

[holland_patrick]

if you look at this thread you`ll see how OPT works..



http://autopia.org/forum/showthread.php?t=55509

[imported_Lightman]

I had a 99 E class mercedes - and griot`s #2 and orange polishing pad did just about nothing for the major swirls that were on it, even with multiple passes on 6. Just fyi - maybe they don`t all have super soft paint/clear...



I am in a similar position with one of my vehicles, and am going to also follow the recommendation above of taking a sample area and starting with mild and going gradually more aggressive until I get the desired results. I have some serious swirls I need to get out and haven`t found time to do it yet. Some say a rotary is the only way to go for these types of swirls, but I am going to try a few more aggressive polishes with the random orbital first to see how it works. I am anxious to try out the SSR 2.5 I just got and see if that does any better.

[ronmart]

I had a 99 E class mercedes - and griot`s #2 and orange polishing pad did just about nothing for the major swirls that were on it, even with multiple passes on 6. Just fyi - maybe they don`t all have super soft paint/clear...



I am in a similar position with one of my vehicles, and am going to also follow the recommendation above of taking a sample area and starting with mild and going gradually more aggressive until I get the desired results. I have some serious swirls I need to get out and haven`t found time to do it yet. Some say a rotary is the only way to go for these types of swirls, but I am going to try a few more aggressive polishes with the random orbital first to see how it works. I am anxious to try out the SSR 2.5 I just got and see if that does any better.



Your clearcoat on your 99 is softer than average, so don`t be confused. The harder clear coat wasn`t even invented until 2004.



Griots #2 (http://www.griotsgarage.com/catalog.jsp?L1=L1_1000&L2=L2_1004&SKU=11162) is still fairly mild. If you didn`t get any swirls removed with that then you should have gone to Machine Polish 1 (http://www.griotsgarage.com/catalog.jsp?L1=L1_1000&L2=L2_1004&SKU=11161). If #1 won`t get it then you are better off leaving them there and using a glaze to fill, because you`ll have to take off too much clear coat to go deep enough to remove them.



Remember, all Griots products are designed to be idiot proof to avoid you getting in over your head and doing damage. There are defintely more agressive polishes out there if you want to go to that.