1997 E300 | 1st REAL Exterior Detailing Attempt

[E300Diesel]

Breakdown of what was done...



- washed with Dawn (or equivalent)

- clay w/ Griot's clay (yellow in color)

- washed with Griot's Car Shampoo

- Optima Polish with orange Lake Country pad - Porter Cable @ speed 6

- Chemical Guys M-Seal sealant - 2 coats via Porter Cable @ speed 4



I detailed a Jetta the day before and ran out of yellow pads for the Optima Hyper Compound. There are still some areas w/ light in appearance scratches on the trunk lid, etc... But barely noticeable



P.S. I also applied the sealant to the sunroof glass and rear glass. Anything bad in doing that to glass surfaces?



All of these products were easy to apply and remove, especially the Chemical Guys M-Seal. even off of the glass!

 

[E300Diesel]

some more photos

 

[stiffdogg06]

Breakdown of what was done...



- washed with Dawn (or equivalent)

- clay w/ Griot's clay (yellow in color)

- washed with Griot's Car Shampoo

- Optima Polish with orange Lake Country pad - Porter Cable @ speed 6

- Chemical Guys M-Seal sealant - 2 coats via Porter Cable @ speed 4



I detailed a Jetta the day before and ran out of yellow pads for the Optima Hyper Compound. There are still some areas w/ light in appearance scratches on the trunk lid, etc... But barely noticeable



P.S. I also applied the sealant to the sunroof glass and rear glass. Anything bad in doing that to glass surfaces?



All of these products were easy to apply and remove, especially the Chemical Guys M-Seal. even off of the glass!

No, I put PB's EX-P on my windows after each detail. I love beading windows Unless you use a strong window cleaner, you should be fine.

 

[ron231]

Looks great! If you really want to amp up the finish, try finishing with your same Optimum Polish, but on a softer pad like a blue or black one (or white if youre using edge2000).

 

[Nitax]

michakaveli- You following me from all the Benz forums? Looks great!



Zack

 

[tom p.]

Chris, looks good! I know Dave is a big fan of that CG sealant.



Let us know how it holds up. How often do you do this level of job? 1X or 2X per year?

 

[imported_Lightman]

Zack, not sure if I knew you from the mb forum, but I dragged mackyvella on over to the dark side, soon he will be hooked and have a cabinet full of WAY too many detailing products like the rest of us



Tom, I actually have been meaning to try the m-seal, I have the f-seal. I only got the 16 ounce trial size for that reason..However I can't say enough about how easy on/off the fseal is (its about identical in on/off to 5050), and the durability has proven good. This past xmas I polished out and layed down two coats of fseal on my mom's e300, and she said it was finally pretty loose quarter sized beads last month...that's pretty impressive by my book from xmas to august, especially considering she gets a wash once a week without fail. I got her 'cleaning lady' all trained, using the two bucket method with chenille mitt and minimal amounts of wash soap, I think she currently has duragloss, and dries with ww mf. I just recently taught her girl to use AW, and is now going to use that once a month until next xmas when I'm down to do it again It's a beautiful thing for mom Anyway long story short, the word from CG is that mseal is very similar to fseal in use although slightly more durable. I don't think very many ppl have given it much of a shot on this forum so I'm also anxious to hear how it holds up for Chris.

 

[White lexus 23]

looks amazing. i might have to give CG a try!

 

[E300Diesel]

michakaveli- You following me from all the Benz forums? Looks great!



Zack

Hehe, Lightman has been dragging me here for quote some time and I finally had to dive into this detailing thang



I forgot to add the email notification so I han't noticed all the activity on this thread...

 

[E300Diesel]

Chris, looks good! I know Dave is a big fan of that CG sealant.



Let us know how it holds up. How often do you do this level of job? 1X or 2X per year?

Don't know yet. The car is in the garage most of the time, unless I take it to work or out and about so it's much less direct sun light on the paint than before. I'm thinking 3-4 months or so, depending on the amount of spare time and the quality of beading.



Although I gotta say, last time I detailed it was August of 2006 and I applied some KSG. It was beading well for a good 6 months. the KSG was a pain to remove but the M-Seal was cake.



I've been reading these forums and am buying a small arsenal of products. (Lightman called it) I've received a new UDM. Ordered some LC CCS pads (6.5" in: yellow, orange, green, white) already have a blue one (4" in: orange, green, white and 3.5" backing plate). Chubby micro-fiber towels and a ShMITT White/Yellow Wash Mitt. Still have some Mother's clay that I haven't touched and Griot's Car Shampoo. I think I'm covered for my next project. One of these days I'll be doing senior's black on black '99 E300. The thing is COVERED with swirls and scartches, mainly from improper washing technique(s). From my prior recollection I think the UDM w/ 4" pads and Optimum products should make short work of it



Getting ready to do my girlfriends '03 Corolla that's never been detailed. I'm going to try to take better before/after photos this time. I'm learning.



Is there anything special as far as procedure before I would re-apply the sealant on the E300, other than the obvious proepr wash?

 

[E300Diesel]

The M-Seal is still beading up. Since I last detailed it I may have washed the vehicle once, casually rinsed it off 2x and let nature's rain douse her a few times.



I have used the M-Seal on our Taurus and Corolla and it has done a nice job adhering to the surface as in the last 6 or so months, since September and October respectively, I've only washed the Taurus and Corolla ONCE (2 months ago). After the wash I applied a quick spray 'n' wipe of Aquawax 951 from Duragloss. That's IT!



A good thunderstorm with a heavy downpour literally washes the cars. It's amazing... Only a very very light film of dirt adheres to the paint surface. From a few feet away, both cars look as if they've been recently washed. Their finishes look like mirrors :shocked



Although it is time so detail all cars again, I'll start over with the Corolla :waxing: