2011 Mercedes C-63 Water Spot Removel Correction

[Preachers Sheets]

Safely removes dirt and grime without removing your wax protection. This product is clear coat safe and is phosphate free.



That's what they say, is there soap any good? I was thinking of buying the Z shampoo in bulk but it's either a small bottle or a entire skid of the stuff. Not too sure which way I would go for now.

 

[dengelson]

I'm using it and I like it a lot. It suds up really well and the suds hold up really well. It has enough muscle to clean bugs and road grime without stripping wax. A gallon cost me $20 locally. :xyxthumbs



Oh I should mention that I just bought my second gallon so I put my money where my mouth is.

 

[spartacus_33]

Twenty a gallen is great. We pay through the nose with the shelf bottles. Works fine, but no better than many others.

 

[miguelgf]

Talk about paying through the nose - Meguiar's Gold Class Shampoo.



If you visit a Pep Boys, it'll run you $7.99 for a 16 ounce bottle. Visit a Target - and you'll end up with a GALLON, 128 ounces, for $9.99 or less (got mine on sale for $8.99).



Wanna talk markup on that? Guess packaging and shipping costs more than you'd think.

 

[Preachers Sheets]

I just bought the Gold Class soap last night for like 6.49. I wish I could find the gallon bottles, I would buy one in a heartbeat, no one and I mean no one stocks them around here. No way I am going to use Simple Green on my car either, I hear people use it to clean rims, no way it is touching my Klasse.



I am going to try the Zaino soap, depending on how that works out, I will keep using it or try to buy a Gallon of either Meguiars/Mothers or 3M's soap.

 

[mx5]

Anyone try the new Blackfire soap with Tuff Suds?

 

[Don2000g]

Joed, I can't believe that your local Target doesn't carry the 1 gallon jugs of the Gold Class wash.

 

[imported_Auto Concierge]

Recently completed job, this car would have the most severe damage other than deep RIDS and marring on a new car I have ever encountered, in my opinion the car was left outside for a long period of time with no protection at all as the there was acid etching from bird droppings on all the horizontal surfaces of the car (Hood, roof and trunk) the etching was so bad that even the plastic shroud covering the windshield wiper arm was uncorrectable and will have to be replaced.

The job was originally a new car prep and a mobile job and my thought was light colored brand new car = "Easy job" how wrong I would be as the car required 26 hours of work(Some spots etched to the point of not correctable due too less than 90 microns of finish which tells me a repair was attempted on the worst damage on the roof.

Here is the beginning.

Customer rquested the badges removed.

With the light color the pics do not show the various pockets of damage easily(later at the Mercedes dealer thier service guys confirmed the damage and this was AFTER all the correction).

First round of wet sanding.

Another pic of the damage.

After aggressive compounding step.

After medium polishing step.

 

[imported_Auto Concierge]

50/50's of the trunk area, note the dull film of hard water(reclaimed water most likely) on the right side of the tape line.

Gloss and clarity restored.

Sanding spot on the hood.

Close up of acid etch damage.

More pics of the damage.

Same area after correction.

Hood looking "As new" again.

Here is where I earned my money............... under the hood there was hard water etch but it was really "Baked in " with the heat of the engine.

Here I am rubbing on the water spot removing gel..........for hours!!!!.

There was also deep scratches on various areas of the car like it had been driven through some hedges or something? on the left side of the lower bumper there was a 4" area where the scratch went trough to the primer!!!!! just horrible new delivery condition.

All fixed......

On the lower part of the same area.

Corrected.

The tow hook had some compound on the edge, which tells me a attempt at correction was tried there as well which was a fail.

Taking care of this little problem.

 

[imported_Auto Concierge]

During part of the correction I pulled of and prepped the front areas to be wrapped by Premier, here is the car @ thier facilty.

Wilson of Premier doing his thing.

After the car was wrapped, it was back to my shop just across the freeway for quite a bit more work.

After correction.

Two more spot that were wet sanded.

After correction.

Even more sanding................

But the results were worth it.

Stubborn etch near trim on the windshield.

Working that area which seemed like an "Eternity".

More pics of the etching.

Before I started working on the side mirror water spots my "Buddy" a neighborhood cat was letting me know it was time for dinner.

Corrected.

 

[imported_Auto Concierge]

"B" pillars were predictably in bad shape.

Starting to come back to life.

The finish starting to look better.

Dismounted the wheels to clean the wheels and seal them as the client wanted, the wheel wells were the only part of the car saved from "The horror" of the water spot etching.

Tightened up the rotor/hub assembly and polished/sealed the very attractive caliper.

The day before the client and I were wondering who made the O.E. wheel for Mercedes and I have seen Ronal before on O.E. wheels and Brabus, but they turned out to be Borbet.

Clean and sealed "Tightness".

On the home stretch........ I pulled a "All nighter to get this car completed by 10:00AM-12:00 noon the next day so the car would not get caught in the forcasted rain coming in.

Polishing the tips about 3:00AM, the cat you saw in the earlier pics stayed the whole night over by the wall on some of moving blankets(lol) as it was cold that night and he came thru under the gap in the roll up door. He does this if I am working late and will watch me buff cars for hours if I let him(When Bing was out last @ SEMA he saw the cat visit and do this).

Rubbing hard to get at water spots in the cowl area.

AMG tightness.

Remember the earlier pics of the waterspots.............all gone, after almost having my arms fall off.

Interior did not need much(thank goodness).

 

[imported_Auto Concierge]

Time for "Sun pics" before the rain.

 

[Audiguru]

benz tightness, nice looking car there bob

 

[imported_RaskyR1]

Excellent work Bob! :notworthy:



Given the size of your arms I surprised you didn't rub through the paint under the hood!

 

[Leadfootluke]

Well done.
That looked painful, for you.

 

[Street Dreams]

The work is "eh" but your photo skills are getting pretty damn good! Not bad for someone who just learned about "the e-mail"

:tongue:

 

[Richie's Custom Detailing]

The work is "eh" but your photo skills are getting pretty damn good! Not bad for someone who just learned about "the e-mail"

:tongue:

HAHAHA!:White Horse:

 

[Junebug]

Great job Bob, I know water spots are a major pain! I like your little "buddy" - my daughter's have 2 garage cats and they like me walking on the treadmill but don't care for the sound of a Cyclo.

Question - I bought some stuff from my local detailing store to remove water spots, reading the fine print it sounded kinda nasty, like gloves, eye protection required and need to rinse, etc... I was scared to try it on a customer's car, and acutally bought it for just a bad windshield. What do you use and how do you do it?

 

[bmw5541]

Great job Master Jedi:StarWars:
The owner must have been thrilled after seeing the beautiful job you did. I still find it amazing that a dealer of such a fine car would deliver it in such poor condition. That is why we have detailers with your talents.

Thanks again for the great write up.

 

[imported_Auto Concierge]

Great job Bob, I know water spots are a major pain! I like your little "buddy" - my daughter's have 2 garage cats and they like me walking on the treadmill but don't care for the sound of a Cyclo.

Question - I bought some stuff from my local detailing store to remove water spots, reading the fine print it sounded kinda nasty, like gloves, eye protection required and need to rinse, etc... I was scared to try it on a customer's car, and acutally bought it for just a bad windshield. What do you use and how do you do it?

I have CG water spot remover(gel) and on the Mercedes I used Mark V "Splash, both products are acid based in gel form and are wiped on the spotted area.

I use a foam applicator with microfiber covering and apply a quarter sized amount of the product on the applicator, then rub with linear strokes in each direction with pretty firm pressure for 30-45- seconds, let stand for a minute and use a spray bottle with distilled or purified water and spray the area good then wipe with one micro fiber finishing with another microfiber.

If the etching is severe............ settle in for a good amount of rubbing, in cases where this happens I would rather do this than sand away the clear or in the case of tight areas when you cannot compound the surface, or if it is glass/plastic etc.... a great alternative to using '0000' steelwool on the glass as well which can put micro scratches in the glass surface which you really cannot see with the naked eye, but if the sun hits the glass right or if you like to look at your car with a microscope.......(lol).

Both these products require gloves/eye protection, I wear glasses if you do not then get a set of "Safety glasses"(plastic) and you will be golden but do wear gloves as the products are acid/calcium seekers and you will have hands like a shedding snake or worse if the gloves are not used.

Hope this helps Junebug.