`02 Mercedes Benz E320

[VroomVroom]

I`ve been meaning to work on this car for over six months now, but a lengthy stay at the body shop and other timing issues delayed things. The car is parked outdoors 24/7, and goes from the foggy, humid, salt air in Daly City to very hot and dry weather further inland. It gets washed every few weeks, but hasn`t had any real paint care in quite a long time.



I started with the interior, which aside from being really dirty, had no major issues.



Before shots:











Products/Process:

Vacuum carpet, mats, seats, & rear dash

Extract mats w/ Bissell Little Green

Dust/wipe all surfaces w/ Poorboy`s S&W

Einszett CP on dash & door panels

Zaino Z9 & Z10 on all leather

S&W on all interior glass



After shots:

[VroomVroom]

Now for the exterior. The car was very dirty, which combined with the silver finish, really hides the swirl marks and other scratches. They were there, though!















Products/Process:

Four Star Ultimate Wheel Cleaner Gel on wheels (30 second dwell)

Duragloss 903 w/ dedicated mitt for wheels

Terry towel w/ wheel cleaner for split spokes

Foam gun w/ Duragloss 903

Two-bucket wash w/ Duragloss 903

Four Star clay w/ Optimum No Rinse lube



Wheel...before, during, and after:













Foam gun action:









Clay bar, before & after a ~ 3`x3` section of the hood:









There were so many contaminants on the finish that I decided to rewash the car after the clay treatment. It`s hard to capture swirls against silver, but this pic does show some of the light marring from the clay (there were plenty of swirls there...I just couldn`t capture them well):

[VroomVroom]

Finally, caring for the paint. The finish was pretty well loaded with swirl marks and a few deep scratches. I`m still learning (dare I say struggling?) to use my rotary, so all work was performed with the PC and 4" pads.



Products/Process:

80/20 Menzerna SIP & FPII w/ orange LC

P85RD w/ white LC

Four Star UPC w/ white LC

Wolfgang DGPC (v.2) by hand

Poorboy`s wheel sealant on wheels

Zaino Z16 on tires (two light coats followed by a buff)



I didn`t capture many pics during the paint correction process (and most of the ones I did take didn`t show the process well enough to share). Because I was working with the PC on a pretty hard clearcoat, the effort took awhile. Plus, it was a really windy day, which meant the EZ-Up couldn`t be used. So, I moved the car in and out of the garage a few times to deal with the sun. It was a bit of an adventure, and I spent just over five hours working on the paint.



Here`s one shot of the hood, after the Menzerna treatment, but before cleansing and sealing. You can see the gloss and a bit of pop from the metallic:





And finally...all done:

[Old Pirate]

Looks great from your pic`s, your hard work show`s it!:2thumbs:

[Bigpoppa3346]

That thing looks GREAT.



The design of that car is timeless, IMO, and with the paint looking that wet I`m sure it will turn heads.

[imported_smprince1]

End results look very clean and glossy. Nice work.

[mikespine]

Nice Job, thanks for the post-Mike

[Jscort98]

Nice job, looks really good. My mom has that same one and I know using a DA on it is hard.

[imported_sal329]

The results of your hard work show, the car looks great

[tom p.]

"WOW" is right! Car looks awesome in that last foto.



How do you like that wheel cleaner? It looks like it does a fine job.

[sixty7mustang22]

Very nice work. The vehicle looks brand new.

[VroomVroom]

Thanks, folks. This was a fun one, but I`m glad to have it off the books.



Four Star`s cleaner is the first "boutique" one I ever tried, and I haven`t looked any further since. It`s gentle, yet remarkably effective, and is terrific on Ze German front wheels.

[E300Diesel]

Very nice wet look in that last photo.... :kewlpics

[roadmaster_Tx]

amazing work!!, that design really is timeless

[gmblack3]

Great work Jerry. The paint has a nice gloss!