T-dawg Detailed: 2005 Mercedes Benz S55 AMG

[imported_killerjg]

Not a terribly scientific review here. Went to wash the white Odyssey today and what I had been eyeing since Thursday as dirt turned out to be grease.



This stuff was all over the passenger side of the car. I grabbed my CMA Stoner saw it was safe for clearcoats and tested a bit on the rear quarter panel. What a great product, spray it on a rag and it wiped the grease right off. A huge time saver.



Quickly washed it off with my Gold Class cw, another impressive product, and applied some EF CP. I was concerned about putting a tar remover on as much of the car as I did, but the paint is still there.



LC

 

[t-dawg]

This gorgeous Mercedes Benz S-class was detailed a few weeks ago. Equipped with all the goodies from the factory such as air suspension and a supercharged 5.5L V8 engine, this beast has been majorly tuned and is currently pushing about 650hp/650tq at the wheels (Stock: 510hp/520tq), and is aided in braking by a pair of monstrous 8-piston calipers on the front and 6-pistons on the rear. It has been tested on the dragstrip, pulling in 1/4 mile times in the high-11 seconds range, which is not bad for a car that weighs over 5000lb and has luxuries such as massage seats and heated steering!

The condition of the paint was extremely swirled up, with heavy spider-webbing and light to medium scratches all over the body. It seems that the previous detailer who polished the car prior had left some light hologramming in the paint, as well as excess wax residue in all the cracks around the doors and windows. Owner wanted a full interior/exterior detail on the car, and it was agreed that a double-stage machine polish would be performed on the paint.

Enough with the blabbering, I'll let the pictures do the talking. Total time: 20 hours.

Car looks clean from far?

Closer look:

And another one:

Car covered with a layer of dust:

Wheels were fairly new, but could use some work:

Close up of calipers:

Car had been parked under a tree recently, which left little spots of sap all over the paint, and the occasional bird poop etching:

And the wax residue left by previous detailer:

Gave the car a good spray down then washed and clayed:

Wheels after washing:

Calipers washed and sealed:

Time to inspect the paint. Today's forecast...swirls:

Swirls on hood:

More swirls:

On trunklid:

On to the polishing. Trunklid before:

Trunklid after:

Lower door panel before:

Lower door panel after:

Rear quarter panel before:

Rear quarter panel after:

Rear bumper before:

Rear bumper after:

B-pillars before:

B-pillars after:

After the heavy compounding was complete, car was polished and the paint was refined before being sealed and waxed. Here are the final results.

Hood:

Trunklid:

Remember this before?

Here is the opposite C-pillar after:

One interior picture. Check out the legroom:

360 Forged wheels:

Rear dish:

All done:

Finally after 20 hours:

Thanks for looking!

 

[Old Pirate]

Looks great T-dawg, what process and products were use? and welcome to TID.

 

[EclecTech]

Looks great T-dawg, what process and products were use? and welcome to TID.

+1 Nice pic's too.

Jack

 

[imported_Flash Gordon]

Todays forecast=lots of swirls...lol

Great job T-Dawg and welcome to TruthInDetailing

 

[Puckman]

Beautiful work T Dawg. I'm also curious about products used and process. Whatever you used worked well!

 

[bmw5541]

Car looks freat T-Dawg.

Very nice for your first post.:clap:

Welcome to TID.

 

[theisab]

Car looks great. I'd like to know what you used on the wheels, tires and calipers.

 

[95formulalt1]

great work t-bag:biggrin:

 

[Mobilejay]

Looks great, that last picture of the full car is awesome.

 

[t-dawg]

Thanks guys for the kind comments and warm welcomes! Been a member of many of the other detailing sites, but thought I'd hop on here to share the work (and jump in on the wheel woolies GB!).

Anyways, people seem to be interested in products used for paint correction and wheels/tires, so here it is:

Paint Correction:
Makita 9227 Rotary Polisher
GI 5" Evo Backing Plate
GI 3" Evo Backing Plate
GI 5.5" White Compounding Pad
GI 5.5" Green Finishing Pad
Lake Country 4" & 5.5" CCS Yellow Pad
Lake Country 4" & 5.5" CCS Orange Pad
Lake Country 4" & 5.5" CCS Green German Pad
Scholl's S03+
Scholl's S17
Scholl's S40
Menzerna Super Intensive Polish (PO3.02)
Menzerna Power Finish (PO203)
Menzerna Top Inspection

Wheels, tires, and calipers:
Autoglym Custom Wheel Cleaner
Poorboy's Wheel Sealant
Collinite 845
Autoglym Tire Dressing

For those who enjoyed this thread, let me know if you'd like to see more detailing writeups!

 

[imported_RickRack]

Looks great.

Did this car have the famous Mercedes ridiculously hard clear?

So how are you liking the Scholl line of polishes? How do you think they stack up to Menzerna and what Scholl polishes do you like the best?

Nice work!

 

[t-dawg]

Clear coat on this Benz was definitely harder than most cars out there, but was actually easier to correct than some BMW's and Audi's that I have done, which goes to show that even ceramic clear can vary with hardness.

The Scholl's polishes are amazing, imho they are just as good, if not better, than the Menz lineup, and this is coming from a diehard Menz fan for years. The S03+ is aggressive enough to correct the toughest jobs out there (please don't attempt to use S0, because you are better off polishing with sand ut, and finishes down very well for a compound. I like the S17 over Menz PF, because I think that they both have similar cut, but PF tends to be stubborn sometimes depending on temperature and clear coat type. S30/S40 is soon going to be my go-to finishing polish.

I'd say try Scholl's out if you get a chance, you won't be disappointed.