HELP - SL65 Black Series......softest paint ever

**kakeuter** · 06-05-2011, 09:59 PM

My customer has a 2010 SL65 AMG Black Series coupe. Now that he has a storage facility for his cars, I can finally start working on polishing the car.

The car is in extremely rough shape, some of the worst swirls and halograms I`ve seen.

Anyways, I knew the clear coat was soft, but after doing some test sections, I am in shock at how soft the paint really is. I was using brand new microfibers (Autosmart yellow MFs from Amazon) and they were still marring the paint. I then switched over to the Eurow Shag towels and got a little better results. Even taping off the hood emblem induced scratches, seriously!

I`m afraid that I am going to be inducing more scratches once I start moving around the car and correcting the defects. I want to get the paint as close to perfection as possible, since the only protection I can see using on this vehicle is Opti-Coat or Aquartz.

Any advice as I tackle this thing? I know the process I`m going to use for removing the defects, but any advice for removing polish without inducing more scratches would be appreciated. I`m going to be ordering some coating products, so if I need to try a different towel, I can order something that yall recommend.

Thank you in advance for your help, this is a very very nice car and I really want to make it right again.

-Kody-

**David Fermani** · 06-05-2011, 10:28 PM

Looks like a real nightmare? All the S`s I`ve done were pretty hard. You`re description of the finish is far different then all the others I`ve heard about too. Has the car been repainted? You did say it had halograms. Regardless, I`ve be certain to finish down with a DA and Menzerna 85RD.

**Bill D** · 06-05-2011, 10:38 PM

Originally Posted by David Fermani

Looks like a real nightmare? All the S`s I`ve done were pretty hard. You`re description of the finish is far different then all the others I`ve heard about too. Has the car been repainted? You did say it had halograms. Regardless, I`ve be certain to finish down with a DA and Menzerna 85RD.

David, I`ll second that for sure. Mercedes is known for its Ceramiclear paint. Great gloss but can be a super [female dog] to polish. Menzerna 85RD is an outstanding choice for it and hard clears in general, like my Audi`s

I`m wondering if this car is possibly an example of variations of paint processes, even across different paint plants. :think:

**David Fermani** · 06-05-2011, 10:43 PM

Originally Posted by Bill D

I`m wondering if this car is possibly an example of variations of paint processes, even across different paint plants. :think:

Not sure? Regardless, from what one of PPG`s CeramiClears reps told me, all the cars manufacturered outside of the US were Ceramiclear. Doesn`t amke sense one would be this soft? If it`s less than 12 months old I`d call a MB local tech rep and have the inspect the finish.

**Bill D** · 06-05-2011, 10:53 PM

Wow, a car of that caliber with questionable paint,

**kakeuter** · 06-06-2011, 06:30 AM

Originally Posted by David Fermani

Looks like a real nightmare? All the S`s I`ve done were pretty hard. You`re description of the finish is far different then all the others I`ve heard about too. Has the car been repainted? You did say it had halograms. Regardless, I`ve be certain to finish down with a DA and Menzerna 85RD.

The car has not been repainted and yes, it`s different than most Benz clear coat. The car is mostly carbon fiber that has been painted, I`m not sure if that has anything to do with it. The finish polish I`ll be doing is 85RD on the DA, it looks incredible on the test spot.

Originally Posted by Bill D

Wow, a car of that caliber with questionable paint,

Yes, it`s roughed up. But given how easy this car marrs up, I`m not at all surprised it`s in this condition.

**Bill D** · 06-06-2011, 07:20 AM

Yeah, I mean having that kind of soft paint on that car given that those cars are *supposed* to have special ceramic particle paint is really

**imported_Picus** · 06-06-2011, 09:20 AM

I literally just did one of these, well, not a black series but an sl65 amg. I should upload the vids; when I arrived the car had some of the worst holograms I`d ever seen. The paint is incredibly soft. I stuck with the DA for most of the job, except a couple trouble spots. Process was 105/mf cutting pad, 205/white LC, PO8RD/black LC. I found finishing at high speed on the DA with 8rd worked better than lowering the speed down as it broke down.

**Bill D** · 06-06-2011, 09:42 AM

Wow, interesting indeed. I`d like to know if the SL65 uses a different paint supplier out of pure curiosity :think:

**kakeuter** · 06-06-2011, 11:22 AM

Originally Posted by Picus

I literally just did one of these, well, not a black series but an sl65 amg. I should upload the vids; when I arrived the car had some of the worst holograms I`d ever seen. The paint is incredibly soft. I stuck with the DA for most of the job, except a couple trouble spots. Process was 105/mf cutting pad, 205/white LC, PO8RD/black LC. I found finishing at high speed on the DA with 8rd worked better than lowering the speed down as it broke down.

Yeah, this one has halos everywhere! The test spot i did I used the exact procedure you did, but I used D300 instead of M105, maybe I`ll give the M105 a shot and see what it looks like. Thanks for the advise on the finishing speed with the 85RD. I`m really dreading this correction, but it`s completely necessary.

**imported_Picus** · 06-06-2011, 12:19 PM

I tried D300 too but it didn`t have enough cut to get some of the deeper RIDS on the car I was working on, so I went to 105. It took me a solid hour of messing around to find a combo I was happy with. :x I will upload the vids tonight, I bet the halo`s in the one I worked on are similar to the one you`re up against. They are absolutely terrible, super deep too. Have fun!

A little more info on finishing; when I was using 8rd/black I was going right to max speed then using light to moderate pressure, super super super slow passes...just left it at max speed, waited for dust, turned off and wiped...that was the best finish I could get. Light pressure/low speed just left micromarring.

I feel bad for the owner, super nice guy but he parks it in a condo garage so it`s dusty as heck all the time, and even the slightest touch with dust on the surface leaves light marring.

**imported_Picus** · 06-06-2011, 12:22 PM

Originally Posted by Bill D

Wow, interesting indeed. I`d like to know if the SL65 uses a different paint supplier out of pure curiosity :think:

No idea. I`ve worked on dozens of black Mercs from the same year and haven`t ever run into paint this soft on one. It was worse than late model JB BMWs, very much like a soft re-spray, but I confirmed it wasn`t a respray.

**JohnKleven** · 06-06-2011, 01:31 PM

I did a silver one, and the paint wasn`t bad on it, but for such a special car, I`m not surprised. You may want to finish with a red pad and ultrafina. You can also use Menzerna Top Inspection to loosen the polish, for a clean wipe off.

**schiddy** · 06-06-2011, 02:42 PM

I think I read somewhere from a menzerna rep that PO106FA was better for softer clears and PO85RD was better for harders ones. Hmmm I`m gonna have to google to see where I saw that.

**imported_Picus** · 06-06-2011, 05:00 PM

IME 8rd finishes cleaner on softer clears, but that`s just my experience. I like ultrafina too but I find it`s hit and miss, I tried it on that SL I mentioned (blue pad, rotary, low speed) and it wasn`t as clean as 8rd via DA.