Bought used Benz SLK, needs detailing, swirls, scratches, HELP!

[BLK98SLK]

Alright guys, some of you may or may not remember when I first got this Mercedes SLK230, I put up a post about it having white particles attached to it, etc. Got it all off with washing, waxing, and claying a couple of times and now it looks great! EXCEPT FOR IN SUNLIGHT! LOL! This car still has lots of HEAVY swirl marks, scratches, lightly keyed on hardtop roof. I need to resolve the following problems and would appreciate it if you guys could agree w/ somebody else`s info rather than recommend a new product as it will make me even more confused! Thanks:

1) Heavy swirl marks all over car

2) Light scratches and lightly keyed on roof

3) Heavy scratches along front left edge bumper and back left bumper



Here are some pics:

click here (http://web.tampabay.rr.com/apatel3/)

[Dinzdale40]

Do ya got a PC or polishes? We need to know what you have so we don`t tell you to buy something, while you already may have an equivalent or even better product. :)

[BLK98SLK]

No polishes or anything so far. I have a 6" walmart 2600rpm polisher, used it on old camry that I had. BTW, I think I`m gonna do this by hand because I really dont wanna spend over $100 on those 1000rpm polishers because I am still a college student...lol..:D

[GoodnClean]

You`re not going to be able to do much to that type of damage by hand. You`re going to need an orbital, or maybe even a rotary. Do you have pictures?



I remember ya ;)



If you`re working by hand what you want to look at it hiding the swirls as best you can with a glaze followed by a good wax. I`d reccomend:



Meguiars #9 Swirl Mark Remover applied in straight lines with a folded terry cloth towel (100% bath quality) and removed with MF



Something with some nice oils, #81 Meguiars Hand Polish or in a pinch #7 Show Car Glaze, applied with a foam applicator and removed with MF



A good quality carnuaba wax like S100, #26 applied with an applicator and removed with MF.



Like I said this isn`t going to REMOVE your swirls, but it will hide most of them for a while.

[jimmybuffit]

Good advice so far, but I repeat/stress that you won`t remove that damage by hand.



*MAYBE* you`d have some success with a mchine glaze/cotton bonnet/6" walmart 2600rpm polisher. Work slow and have patience.



Maybe.



Jim

[BLK98SLK]

What can I use to remove swirl marks w/ 2600rpm polisher? I was thinking Z5 & ZFX? or maybe those Mezerna products I saw somewhere.....I heard they are good for german cars and that mercedes uses them or something?

[LouisanaJeeper]

Z5 WILL NOT HIDE THOSE SWIRLS



If you want to remove them you will either have to (1) pay a detailer in your area about $100 to polish all them out or (2) put down about $250 for pc/pads/polishes and remove the stuff yourself.



You may be able to use a SMR for dark colored cars or a glaze to minimize the apperance of the swirls, but as soon as the fillers are removed by washing and rain, the swirls will remain.



Something like Scratch X will remove the deeper, locallized scratches by hand.



I used to have one of those type of buffers, it did not remove any scratches for me (cotten bonnet + 3M Fine cut rubbing compound)

[BLK98SLK]

Why can`t a 2600rpm polishing machine not remove it and a 1200rpm PC will??? I don`t get it? What`s the big deal?

[bjwebster]

Originally posted by BLK98SLK

Why can`t a 2600rpm polishing machine not remove it and a 1200rpm PC will??? I don`t get it? What`s the big deal?



A pc isnt generally measured in rpm, since its moving in "random orbits".

The walmart units usually use cheap bonnets, and dont have the power to make any headway on swirls. The unit needs to be able to keep working, even under pressure.

[BLK98SLK]

Supposing I do get a good PC, what`s the strongest stuff I can use to get the swirl marks, scratches, and paint blemishes off? #83 DACP? With what else? This is probably one of the worst paint abuse cases I have seen.......but I got it at a good discount so I bought it knowing it only had cosmetic problems.

[ZaneO]

Menzerna IP and FP are supposed to work very well.

[BLK98SLK]

Originally posted by ZaneO

Menzerna IP and FP are supposed to work very well.

That`s what I`ve heard and Mercedes uses it to so it would make sense to use on my SLK, but I have heard around that DACP is stronger?